Sam Spade's San Francisco

Think trimarans and catamarans are for ferries? Think again. The U.S. Navy's newest warships are trimarans. Today the Navy announced it wants to build twenty new trimaran warships or, as they are called by the Navy, "Littoral Combat Ships" or LCS.

Take a look at the 21st century police cruiser of the sea.

The Navy's first LCS is USS Freedom (LCS 1). The ship is so impressive that the Navy wants Congress to authorize construction of multiple new LCS trimarans between 2010 and 2015 and take delivery of as many as 20. The Navy hopes to eventually have 55 LCS ships at sea and on patrol.

The LCS design has proven itself because of the extraordinary capabilities the design offers. The ships use trimaran hull design using a semi-planing monohull which allows the twin Rolls Royce MT30 gas turbines to speed the ship over the waves at (the equivalent of) 52 MPH. The rest of the drive train includes two Colt-Peilstick diesel engines and two Rolls Royce waterjets that replace a traditional rudder.

Freedom and her soon-to-be-built sister ships have the capability to create an invisible shield of protection around the ship that easily extends 100 miles out in every direction.

Think: the old Star Trek invisible shields (Scotty! Give me full shields up). But unlike Captain Kirk who could seldom get Scotty to give him the full shield protection he needed (Damn it, Captain, I cannot give you full shields! Some of the dilithium crystals are missing!), the captain of an LCS will have much more reliable technology available to her or him (and hopefully a more agreeable chief engineering officer).

An LCS can use its stunning firepower to protect its crew and assert the authority of the United States anywhere on the planet. Weapons include a BAE Systems Mark 110 57-mm deck gun, a 21-tube RIM 166 Rolling Airframe (RAM) infrared-guidance surface-to-air multi-missile launch system, a 15-tube launch system for loitering attack missiles (LAM) and precision attack missiles (PAM), 2 50-cal deck guns, 2 50-cal ROSAM guns, 6 Mark 46 ASW torpedo firing tubes and an advanced Surface Ship Defense System (SSTD).

The ships carry MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters which can be quickly armed with an M60 7.62mm machine gun on each side and 16 AGM-114 Hellfire missles on four pods. Powered by GE 401C Turboshaft engines driving a four-blade main rotor, the MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters can come buzzing off the flight deck like angry hornets.

An LCS also carries multiple RHIBs (35 ft high-speed combat boats) and they are armed as well.

RHIBs are the rigid-hull inflatable high-speed combat boats used by . RHIBs are constructed of carbon composites with an inflatable tube gunwale made of reinforced fabric. They have Caterpiller 3126 DTA inline-6 diesel power and RHIBs can handle rough seas at (the equivalent of) 40-MPH. RHIBs can be instantly armed with an M60 7.62mm machine gun, an MK 19 40-mm grenade launcher, and an M2 50-mm machine gun. Those RHIBs can come swarming out of the back of the ship like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

By adding the cutting-edge integrated radar, GPS and IFR guided missile-gun-torpedo defense system the Navy is able to assure a bubble of bullet-proof protection around the ship. 


Announcing the decision, Sean Stackley, assistant Secretary of the Navy for RDA, said, "The Navy's LCS acquisition strategy to down select to a single design resulted in a highly effective competition and an industry response that signals a significant potential savings in the LCS program," said Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. "These competitive bids, coupled with the Navy's desire to increase ship procurement rates to support operational requirements, create an opportunity to award each bidder a fixed-price, 10-ship block buy – a total of 20 ships from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2015."

The LCS is designed for a full crew compliment of 40 officers and sailors. The ship can also carry a mission crew of up to 75 that will regularly include a U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Enforcement team.
 
If you're a bad guy in the 21st century that LAST THING you want to see speeding after you is a Navy trimaran carrying a team of serious Coast Guard cops on board with an awesome stockpile of firepower to back them up.
 
The Navy wants a force of 55 LCS trimarans on patrol around the world. Wow!

Click here for a virtual tour of USS Freedom

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