Tonk would want to be at the helm of this one.
Tonk, know you'll always be with the Quartermaster and Helmsmen.
Posted on 05/03/2008 1:58:16 PM PDT by LJayne
I have no idea how GenDynamics is doing, but this first ship looks absolutley wicked!
Its tri-maran hull combined with the capabilities and look of a warship makes it something out of this world!
(Excerpt) Read more at instapinch.com ...
Oooh-ee! I want one of them!
Way C-O-O-L-!!!!!!!!
view later
Lord Vader your ship is ready .
Very cool, but also very over budget (as is Lockheed’s competing ship). There’s talk the Navy will cancel it.
One look at that hull and you know it’s gonna be fast.
http://instapinch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/in-dock-prior-to-launch.JPG
http://instapinch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/indy-afloat.JPG
http://instapinch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/pierside-austal-6.JPG
Tonk would want to be at the helm of this one.
Tonk, know you'll always be with the Quartermaster and Helmsmen.
Which is why the whole LCS concept is fundamentally flawed from the start and massively over-budget. The speed wasn't worth it.
At least LCS-2 isn't quite the embarassing disaster LCS-1 is.
Perfect for ramming.
I fear you may be missing the main point of the new Littoral Combat Ships. Appearances aside, the main new feature of these ships is that there is a very small number of crew required. These ships are far more automated than anything previously conceived.
It looks very dubious whether they will be able to be manned by the small number of people claimed.
The Mission packages have huge numbers of unmanned air, surface, and underwater vehicles. They’re unmanned, but require a lot of specialized maintenance. The FFG-7 ships in the 70s ended up needing 20 more crew than they thought, leaving the ships pretty cramped.
I suspect there are Admirals who would trade places with senior O-4 LCDRs to command this ship.
“Littoral Combat Ships”
To me this sounds like a mission for the Coast Guard, not the U.S. Navy.
That wouldn't help. These are O-5 commands.
I am sorry to see it named the Independence, only because the first war ship I ever visited was the REAL USS Independence
in Norfolk, back in 1963. It is/was quite a ship. I had a great tour by an old ham radio friend who was a legal officer at the naval base. The Intrepid, a smaller carrier was docked beside the Independence.
That’s right. Senior O-4s, the best of their year group who are assured of O-5 upon taking command.
http://www.strategypage.com/military_photos/chinese_stealth.aspx
Nice time for the USN to try to play catch-up to the Chicoms.
Reminds me of the Monitor and the Merrimack!
GenDynamics can be proud of the “Independence!”
That is awesome!
I work at Bender; I’ve got to know, where did you get this picture? I took one just like it.
The slanted sides remind me of the C.S.S. Virginia(Merrimack).
This is a whole new paradigm for warship design. Very much cool!!
May she always triumph over her challengers.
It’s at the site posted by LJayne.
"H. L. Hunley, almost 40 feet (12 m) long, was built at Mobile, Alabama, launched in July 1863, and shipped by rail to Charleston, SC on August 12, 1863. On February 17, 1864, Hunley attacked and sank the 1800-ton steam sloop USS Housatonic in Charleston harbor, but soon after, Hunley also apparently sank, drowning all 8 crewmen. "
Jules Verne would have been proud.
Charlie don’t surf.....
The PCOs of both the Freedom's crews are O-5s already.
Might not want to use it for ramming, it’s aluminum hulled. But it is very cool looking!
I’m very interested in seeing how these two radically different designs (LCS 1 and 2) stack up to each other. Here’s hoping that at least one of them can get the job done at an acceptable cost.
Wow, very impressive.
feh...
Looks like a mini frigate with pontoons...
If it don’t launch aircraft, then it ain’t....
Thanks for the link pabianice.
Have you seen the museum near Norfolk with the exhibit about the Monitor and Merrimack! It is phenomenal.
BUMP for later
Oh, very nice!
Check out the tag for the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/lcs-gd.htm
Cool! I hadn’t heard of that one!
“Lord Vader your ship is ready .”
Lord Vader and his 12 penetrators?
Hey Jeff, check this out!
The one pic seemks to show both a 20mm CIWS and a RAM launcher. That would be good for anti missile defense.
The Bofors au57mm auto cannon will be a great littoral weapon.
Lots of room on the helo pad and in the hangar, and lots of room (for this size vessel) in the ROR cargo area, as well as a small well deck for spec ops.
I like the General Dynamics Design. 
Wow! That is one mean looking warship in profile as well. Thanks for the pic! I hope that the Navy is able to procure enough of these to keep on projecting American power well into the future.
“Charlie don’t surf....”
Good one! Missed by most I guess. And there’s the rub - how well the Chicoms would do against the US Navy when the metal starts flying.
Looks like the Monitor.
I’ll bet she moves quick through the water.
They will come with a number of mission packages that can be changed out in a day to refit them for different functions. Some of the packages are ASW for anti-submarine, anti-mine operations, special operations, and probably one for anti-surface (ship on ship combat) missions.
Each displaces as much as a medium sized frigate at about 2800 tons full load. Each has a common defense suite and sensor suite that includes a principle gun and short range anti-air defense.
We are building two brands in competition now, this trimaran design from General Dynamics, and a more traditional hull desgin from Lockheed, which was luanched last year.
Here is a poc of the Lockheed vessel, LCS-1 USS Freedom.
Current competition calls for 3 ships of the best design and 2 ships of the next best design. Many feel that both ships will be built, maybe 36 or more of the winner, and 24 or so of the 2nd place. But we shall see.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.