Ships launches are sometimes wild affairs, and depending on the method used, making a big splash can be part of the drill. The Freedom Class of Littoral Combat Ships do just that, being slid off the pier where they were built sideways. On Jan. 30, the soon-to-be USS Sioux City was the sixth LCS to take this grand plunge.

The Freedom Class, for which Lockheed Martin is the general contractor, are built at Fincantieri Marinette Shipyards in Marinette, Wisconsin. The sci-fi-looking .

Most probably find it odd that the Navy is buying two classes of ships to do the same missions (although the fact that) while the Pentagon has been pushing one-size fits all solutions like the F-35. With shipbuilding being such a politically charged and pork-laden topic, the two designs have slid by for years as the LCS concept .

The Littoral Combat Ship saga has been just another reminder of the Pentagon’s chaotic and…

, the question of which shipyard will stay in the LCS business is up in the air.

In an unusually scathing memo to Secretary of the Navy Ray Maybus, Secretary of Defense Ashton…

There are some prospects that at least the Freedom Class could continue to be ordered in smaller numbers in the export market, should it be cut from the Navy’s procurement plans., although the high-costs of development and possibly plunging oil prices

It was announced yesterday that Saudi Arabia wants to purchase four extremely up-gunned…

The Freedom Class, which has been in commission for nearly a decade, has recently run into a spate of major mechanical issues while at sea. Two of the $360+ million boats have had . This is not good news for a design that has already struggled for years to meet operational needs.

Meanwhile, the as the ship is seen as a way for the sea-going force to meet its operational ship number goals within ever-tightening budgets. Although an LCS can provide literal presence, no matter how many ships you have, it is as much a question of available capabilities as it is just numbers. When it comes to the LCS that was built to fight in shallower waters, those capabilities remain limited and the ship cannot fight in the upper-end threat environment spectrum without nearby and much more advanced escorts.

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