Richard Thomas
The US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme looks as though it will mark 2024 as being the end of the road for the twin-variant warship class, with the now officially named USS Pierre (LCS 38) joining the USS Cleveland as being the final iterations of their respective designs.
Taking place at manufacturer Austal’s shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, on 18 May, the USS Pierre is the 19th and last of the Independence-class LCS vessels, which when conceived in the mid-2000s along with the Freedom-class variant, were intended to offer the US Navy a new multirole warship and fill the gap of the departed Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates (FFG).
However, the vessels have been plagued by issues, to an extent that the US Navy has sought to decommissioned hulls decades ahead of schedule and develop the Constellation-class FFG to add much-needed combat capability to the service’s battleline.
Intended to provide forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence functions, the LCS are thought by the US Navy to be unable to operate in a contested environment such as could be seen in any conflict with China. Delays have also hit the mission modules designed to slot into the LCS warships to enable them to fulfill additional roles, such as mine countermeasure operations, further limiting their usefulness for the US Navy.
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