Future USS St Louis completes acceptance trials
The US Navy’s future USS St Louis has completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan, Lockheed Martin announced on 16 December.
The vessel, Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 19, will now progress to final outfitting and fine-tuning before delivery, which is slated for early 2020.
The tenth Freedom-variant LCS will join the US Navy’s fleet to carry out a range of roles including anti-submarine, surface and mine countermeasure missions.
Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager, small combatants and ship systems, Lockheed Martin, said: ‘The LCS fleet is growing in numbers and capability, and LCS 19’s completion of acceptance trials means the navy will shortly have ten Freedom-variant fast, focused-mission ships in the fleet.
‘As each Freedom-variant hull deploys, we seek out and incorporate fleet feedback and lessons learned to roll in capabilities for new hulls. As a result, LCS 19 includes a solid-state radar, upgraded communications suite, increased self-defence capabilities and topside optimisation, among other updates.’
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
![How the Hormuz mine threat exposes potential Baltic MCM shortfalls]()
How the Hormuz mine threat exposes potential Baltic MCM shortfalls
Ageing Baltic vessels and an absence of active minehunting vessel programmes in the region have been put under the spotlight in the recent conflict.
-
![“We must end the mentality of ever larger platforms”: Why USVs are scaling]()
“We must end the mentality of ever larger platforms”: Why USVs are scaling
Multiple USV programme milestones announced last week, aligned with a reinforcement of the Royal Navy’s vision for a hybrid fleet, point to innovation-led ambition but also to a structural calculation with resource ceilings that neither London nor Washington can ignore.
-
![As uncrewed naval systems advance, capabilities to counter them are emerging]()
As uncrewed naval systems advance, capabilities to counter them are emerging
Research programmes and system procurement efforts to counter uncrewed surface and underwater vehicle threats are accelerating as naval drone uptake spreads.
-
![US Coast Guard to receive the first three Offshore Patrol Cutters in FY2026 and FY2027]()
US Coast Guard to receive the first three Offshore Patrol Cutters in FY2026 and FY2027
After recording a nearly six-year delay in the OPC schedule, the USCG intends to advance with the programme, reaching multiple milestones in the short term.
