Navy's next littoral combat ship completes acceptance trials

Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The future LCS Minneapolis-St. Paul, the U.S. Navy's newest littoral combat ship, completed acceptance trials on Lake Michigan, the Navy said Monday.

The Navy's 11th Freedom-class ship, currently designated LCS 21, was designed and built by Lockheed Martin's Fincantieri Marinette Marine Shipyard facilities in Marinette, Wis.

The trials included a full-power run, maneuverability testing, and surface and air detect-to-engage demonstrations of the ship's combat system, Lockheed Martin said in a statement. Major onboard systems, including aviation support, small boat launch handling and recovery, and machinery control and automation were also successfully demonstrated, the company said.

The ship will undergo final outfitting and fine-tuning before it is delivered to the Navy in early 2021.

"LCS 21 joins a fleet of sister ships delivering unique flexibility and capability to the U.S. Navy," said Joe DePietro of Lockheed Martin. "Freedom-variant LCS are inherently capable to serve freedom of navigation, drug interdiction and humanitarian missions, and with additional capabilities onboarded, they can serve further focused missions."

Freedom-class ships have a steel monohull and an aluminum superstructure. At 388 feet in length, the multipurpose ships typically carry a crew of 51, and are capable of navigating in near-shore environments.

The future USS Minneapolis-St. Paul was christened and launched on June 14.