US ship in Asia 'makes history'
June 3, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday visited the US Navy's littoral combat ship in Singapore, a symbol of Washington's strategic "pivot" toward Asia.
The LCS is designed to be the Navy's ultimate multitasking vessel despite significant development problems.
The USS Freedom, the first of 52 LCS vessels the Navy plans to build at a total cost of US$37 billion, arrived in Singapore in mid-April for its first deployment.
Four such ships, which are designed to operate close to shore, will eventually be deployed at the city-state's Changi naval base.
The aim is to increase US military presence in the region by avoiding a two-week voyage from the US west coast before deployment.
Hagel gave the program his strong backing in remarks to the crew from the Freedom's bridge.
"You're making history out here," he told them. "What you represent to our partnerships in the Asia-Pacific can't be overstated."
The 120-meter USS Freedom is a whole new type of ship. Like a Lego model, it can be adapted for specific missions through a system of interchangeable modules and crew.
"We see it as like a truck, you can put different things inside," said its captain, Lieutenant Commander Clayton Doss.
The ship currently has a "surface combat" module including a helicopter, two 30mm cannon and two powerful Zodiac speedboats for its Southeast Asian role.
Of the 100-strong crew, 38 are dedicated to the surface combat module. They will be replaced by others if the ship is reconfigured for an anti-submarine or anti-mine role, Doss said.
Replacing one module with another takes no more than four days, he said.
The aim of the design is to keep the ship light and speedy - the LCS can sail at more than 40 knots - and avoid having to carry equipment and crew to perform different tasks.
"The other reason that modularity is so helpful is that it's very hard to know what types of combat systems you need to deal with the challenges in the future," Doss said. "We have three mission packages now, it doesn't mean those are the only three, we'll continue to create new ones."
The US Navy believes so strongly in the concept that such ships will eventually make up almost 20 percent of its entire fleet.
Apart from the four to be berthed in Singapore, eight others are expected to be based in Bahrain.
But the program has suffered some troubling teething problems.
"The LCS program has become controversial due to cost inflation, design and construction issues with the lead ships built to each design, concerns over the ships' ability to withstand battle damage, and concerns over whether the ships are sufficiently armed," said a Congressional Research Service report in April.
After about 30 months of operations, the Navy discovered cracks in the superstructure and hull of one ship, along with corrosion.
Doss said the problems were being solved.
The LCS is designed to be the Navy's ultimate multitasking vessel despite significant development problems.
The USS Freedom, the first of 52 LCS vessels the Navy plans to build at a total cost of US$37 billion, arrived in Singapore in mid-April for its first deployment.
Four such ships, which are designed to operate close to shore, will eventually be deployed at the city-state's Changi naval base.
The aim is to increase US military presence in the region by avoiding a two-week voyage from the US west coast before deployment.
Hagel gave the program his strong backing in remarks to the crew from the Freedom's bridge.
"You're making history out here," he told them. "What you represent to our partnerships in the Asia-Pacific can't be overstated."
The 120-meter USS Freedom is a whole new type of ship. Like a Lego model, it can be adapted for specific missions through a system of interchangeable modules and crew.
"We see it as like a truck, you can put different things inside," said its captain, Lieutenant Commander Clayton Doss.
The ship currently has a "surface combat" module including a helicopter, two 30mm cannon and two powerful Zodiac speedboats for its Southeast Asian role.
Of the 100-strong crew, 38 are dedicated to the surface combat module. They will be replaced by others if the ship is reconfigured for an anti-submarine or anti-mine role, Doss said.
Replacing one module with another takes no more than four days, he said.
The aim of the design is to keep the ship light and speedy - the LCS can sail at more than 40 knots - and avoid having to carry equipment and crew to perform different tasks.
"The other reason that modularity is so helpful is that it's very hard to know what types of combat systems you need to deal with the challenges in the future," Doss said. "We have three mission packages now, it doesn't mean those are the only three, we'll continue to create new ones."
The US Navy believes so strongly in the concept that such ships will eventually make up almost 20 percent of its entire fleet.
Apart from the four to be berthed in Singapore, eight others are expected to be based in Bahrain.
But the program has suffered some troubling teething problems.
"The LCS program has become controversial due to cost inflation, design and construction issues with the lead ships built to each design, concerns over the ships' ability to withstand battle damage, and concerns over whether the ships are sufficiently armed," said a Congressional Research Service report in April.
After about 30 months of operations, the Navy discovered cracks in the superstructure and hull of one ship, along with corrosion.
Doss said the problems were being solved.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
