US Navy to Build Trimaran LCS

Released on Friday, October 14, 2005

The U.S. Navy awarded a Bath Iron Works-led team a $223 million contract for the detailed design and construction of an innovative, trimaran-hull Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as part of its newest ship class. The team will complete the design and construct a high-speed, networked, 127-meter surface combatant ship for delivery to the Navy in October 2007. This award is an option of a contract awarded in July 2003. Bath Iron Works is a subsidiary of General Dynamics.

The General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship features an innovative, high-speed trimaran hull that is based on a proven Austal (Henderson, Australia) design that is currently operating at sea. It will have one of the largest usable payload volumes of any U.S. Navy surface combatant afloat today � providing the flexibility to carry out one mission while a separate mission module is in reserve. The General Dynamics LCS's large flight deck sits higher above the water than any U.S. Navy surface combatant and will support near-simultaneous operation of two SH-60 helicopters or multiple unmanned vehicles. The ultra-stable trimaran hull allows for flight operations in high sea conditions. In addition, the deck is suitable for landing much larger H-53 helicopters, should that become a future requirement.

The General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship's open architecture electronics suite significantly contributes to the ship's ability to facilitate a wide range of missions, while incorporating stealth technology to increase crew and ship survivability. General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems and its team have developed the LCS core mission systems infrastructure � a flexible information technology backbone that allows "plug and play" integration of both the core systems and the LCS mission modules. The approach builds upon General Dynamics' highly-flexible total ship computing environment that meets Navy open architecture requirements and is exclusively built upon published industry standards and non-proprietary interfaces. It allows for future growth and seamlessly integrates both domestic and foreign combat components to create a core mission systems solution that dramatically lowers acquisition and lifecycle costs.

The Littoral Combat Ship is a key element of the Navy's plan to address asymmetric threats of the twenty-first century. Intended to operate in coastal areas of the globe, the ship will be fast, highly maneuverable and geared to supporting mine detection/elimination, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare, particularly against small surface craft.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works is the prime contractor for the General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Team. Partners include Austal USA (Mobile, Alabama); BAE Systems (Rockville, Maryland); Maritime Applied Physics Corporation (Baltimore, Maryland); L3 Communications Marine Systems (Leesburg, Virginia); Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems (Baltimore, Maryland); and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (Washington, D.C).