IMDEX 2013: US Navy looks to prove the worth of LCS
As the first of the US Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), USS Freedom, docks off the shore of Singapore, the long-running debate surrounding the worth of the vessel continues to play out.
Its presence in the Asia-Pacific characterises the overall effort by the US to rebalance a 60/40 split in its naval presence in favour of Asia, as put forward by Leon Panetta when he was secretary of state for defence.
The LCS was brought into South East Asia on 18 April to embark on an eight month deployment of the region, and it is still unclear how much
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