Freedom-class littoral combat ship

Freedom class

Freedom shows off her new camouflage scheme on sea trials in February 2013 before her first deployment
Class overview
Builders:	Lockheed Martin
Operators:	United States Navy
Cost:	$362 million
Built:	2005–present
In commission:	2008–present
Building:	6
Planned:	13
Completed:	4
Active:	4
General characteristics
Type:	Littoral combat ship
Displacement:	3,500 metric tons (3,900 short tons) (full load)
Length:	378 ft (115 m)
Beam:	57.4 ft (17.5 m)
Draft:	12.8 ft (3.9 m)
Installed power:	Electrical: 4 Isotta Fraschini V1708 diesel engines, Hitzinger generator units, 800 kW each
Propulsion:	2 Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW gas turbines, 2 Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, 4 Rolls-Royce waterjets
Speed:	47 knots (87 km/h; 54 mph) (sea state 3)
Range:	3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Endurance:	21 days (336 hours)
Boats & landing craft carried:	11 m (36 ft) RHIB, 40 ft (12 m) high-speed boats
Complement:	50 core crew, 65 with mission crew (Blue and Gold crews).
Sensors and processing systems:	EADS North America TRS-3D air and surface search radar, TRS-4D from LCS 17 Lockheed Martin COMBATSS-21 combat management system AN/SQR-20 Multi-Function Towed Array (As part of ASW mission module)
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Argon ST WBR-2000 ESM system Terma A/S SKWS decoy system
Armament:	1 × BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun, 400 rounds in turret and two ready service magazines with 240 rounds each. One Mk 49 launcher with 21 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Surface-to-Air Missiles 4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns 2 × 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II guns (part of SUW module) 24 × AGM-114L Hellfire missiles (planned part of SUW module) Other weapons as part of mission modules
Aircraft carried:	1 × MH-60R/S Seahawk 2 × MQ-8B Fire Scouts or 1 × MQ-8C Fire Scout

The Freedom class is one of two classes of littoral combat ship built for the United States Navy.

The Freedom class was proposed by Lockheed Martin as a contender for a fleet of small, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone. Two ships were approved, to compete with the Independence-class design offered by General Dynamics and Austal for a construction contract of up to 55 vessels.

Despite initial plans to only accept two of the Freedom and Independence variants, the Navy has since announced plans to order up to ten additional ships of each class, for a total twelve ships per class. As of 2016^[update], four ships are active and an additional six are under construction. Starting in 2019, ships of this class will be designated as fast frigates (FF) which will include increased firepower and heavier armor.

On 1 April 2016, the US Navy awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin for LCS-25, the thirteenth of the Freedom-class variants. As of April 2016^[update], delivery of LCS-25 is expected in 2020.

It was announced in early September 2016 that the first four vessels of the LCS program would be used as test ships rather than being deployed with the fleet. This includes Freedom and Fort Worth.

Planning for a class of small, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone began in the early 2000s. The construction contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin's LCS team (Lockheed Martin, Gibbs & Cox, Marinette Marine, Bollinger Shipyards) in May 2004 for two vessels. These would then be compared to two ships built by Austal USA to determine which design would be taken up by the Navy for a production run of up to 55 ships.