The US Navy has received a proposal for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fiscal year 2010 contract from Lockheed Martin.
The US Navy awarded the Lockheed Martin team a fixed price incentive fee contract in March 2009 to build the navy’s third LCS, LCS 3.
The Lockheed Martin design proposal is for a highly manoeuvrable vehicle capable of reaching speeds of over 40kt that will be used for mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and other missions in littoral or ‘coastal’ zones.
The ship will be a highly automated and networked surface combatant, using a high-availability ship-wide network that can be controlled from a single workstation and rapidly reconfigured based on mission demands.
The LCS will also be equipped to support launch and recovery operations of manned and unmanned vehicles.
Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors vice-president and general manager Dan Schultz said that the company would build off the successful delivery of LCS 1 and current construction efforts on LCS 3 to more efficiently produce the new class of warship.
The navy is expected to award a contract this year for additional littoral combat ships to either Lockheed Martin or General Dynamics, winners of the initial competition phase.
