U.S. Navy receives 10th Littoral Combat Ship

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Fincantieri Marinette Marine on Monday delivered the future USS Little Rock, a Freedom variant Littoral Combat Ship, to the U.S. Navy at its shipyard in Marinette, Wis.

The Little Rock is the Navy's 10th LCS and the fifth Freedom variant delivered to and accepted by the service.

The ship was completed last summer and is expected to be commissioned into service in December, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.

"Today marks a significant milestone in the life of the future USS Little Rock, an exceptional ship which will conduct operations around the globe," Capt. Mike Taylor, LCS program manager, said in a press release. "I look forward to seeing Little Rock join her sister ships this fall, with 100 percent of propulsion power available for unrestricted use."

Fincantieri Marinette Marine said additional Freedom variant ships are currently under company construction. The future USS Sioux City will enter into trials soon, the future USS Wichita was christened and launched in September of last year and is conducting system testing in the Menominee River, and the future USS Billings was launched in July and is to begin trials next year.

The Littoral Combat Ship is a modular, reconfigurable ship. It can be reconfigured with three types of mission packages -- surface warfare, mine counter-measures, and anti-submarine warfare.