Lockhheed Martin AEGIS-equipped variant proposed for Saudi Arabia
Posted on 01/03/2011 8:22:08 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
USN, Lockheed: Foreign LCS Sales Could Lower Costs
By John Reed Monday, January 3rd, 2011 3:50 pm
Now that the U.S. Navy has decided to buy both classes of Littoral Combat Ship, the sea service and Lockheed Martin have begun to eye international sales as a way of further reducing the costs of the once-troubled program.
“Since the LCS program began, we’ve believed this was a ship of a size and of the cost that many international navies would be interested in,” said Paul Lemmo, vice president of Lockheed’s mission systems and sensors division during a Dec. 29 teleconference.
He then pointed out that the Saudi Arabian navy “has expressed interest” in buying an LCS type vessel and that Israel had at one point eyed Lockheed’s version of the ship.
“I think those are two signs that this will be an attractive platform for the international market,” said Lemmo.
Most importantly, “any construction here in the U.S. for foreign navies will hopefully reap benefits for the U.S. Navy in terms of cost savings for their ships.”
Earlier in the month, Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Gary Roughhead told lawmakers the same thing when urging them to allow the Navy to buy both classes of ship.
“I also believe The designs of the ships and flexibility of the ships, and also the costs of the ships, open up the potential for foreign military sales that would otherwise not be there,” said Roughhead during a Dec. 14 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
On Dec. 29 the Navy awarded Lockheed Martin and Austal USA contracts valued at more than $430 million apiece to start work building the first of what could be a total purchase of 20 ships split evenly between the two companies between now and 2015.
Lockheed makes the Freedom Class LCS while Austal USA makes the Independence Class vessel.
We’ll see what happens on the international market for the vessels, which the U.S. Navy expects to cost about $440 million each. Concerns remain over the costs of establishing a common combat system for both classes as well as the progress being made on the ships mission modules, which have encountered testing difficulties.
The U.S. plans to eventually buy a total of 55 LCSs.
Lockhheed Martin AEGIS-equipped variant proposed for Saudi Arabia
which one of two is the trimaran?
Would you want to run “The Slot” in it in 1942? The Japanese navy circa 1942 would be able to slaughter it. It’s only hope would be to see them first and run away. Sickening,,,
The Independence class is the tri-maran.
The Israelis were looking at LCS-1 pretty closely and wisely passed on it.
Saudis may be dumb enough to bite.
I don’t know how they’re going to get all the stuff they claim they’re going to cram on the Aegis LCS-1 design without pushing it so low to the water it looks like CSS Virginia; LCS-1 is overweight as it is.
Looks like the DDG-2000.
You would assume that the Australian CEAFAR and Israeli EL/M-2248 AESA radars would make more sense than the SPY-1 series, being far lighter and efficient. Though the Israeli option wouldn’t be halal for the Saudis.
The Saudis don’t bite unless they get something substantial for it. The LCS negotiations have been going on for a couple of years now.
As it is, the only BMD duties a Saudi LCS can do would be in conjunction with the USN, so missile defense is not the only thing on their mind.
One of my projects one of these days to really understand the CEAFAR radar; the US has been fooling around with it to some degree.
The radar on the Aegis versions of LCS-1 and LCS-2 would be the SPY-1F, which is quite a bit smaller than the Regular SPY-1B/D; it’s the radar on the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen Frigates.
A lot of people will look at the massive loadouts of weapons and equipment of these LCS versions for export and wonder why we don’t have them - they do have a point, given the basic helplessness of our LCSes, but on these loaded versions of the LCS, a LOT is almost certainly sacrificed; the crew is probably crammed into triple-racks worse than the worst Marine accommodation on our oldest amphibs, the range is likely even worse, etc.
That is classic. LOL
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