Littoral Combat Ship

The Littoral Combat Ship is a small, fast surface combatant built in two variants (the Freedom class by Lockheed Martin and the Independence class by Austal USA) and intended to use modular mission packages for mine warfare, surface warfare, and anti-submarine warfare.

The program has been criticized for reliability issues, early retirements, and unsettled mission-package fielding. Several hulls have been retired less than a decade after commissioning, and the Navy has begun replacing the class with the Constellation-class frigate.

Despite setbacks, Independence-variant LCS have been deployed to SOUTHCOM and INDOPACOM, where their shallow draft and high speed remain valuable.

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