MQ-8B Fire Scout drone helicopters being deployed to Pacific later this year

The US Navy will soon deploy unmanned surveillance helicopters to the Pacific for the first time.
Four MQ-8B Fire Scouts will be aboard the USS Fort Worth — a littoral combat ship — when it leaves San Diego later this year.
The ship’s deployment to the Asia-Pacific theater will mark the start of a continuous LCS presence in the region.
The presence of the surveillance helicopters is sure to spark interest in a region where airborne cameras and sensors are multiplying rapidly.
The Air Force has been flying its unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance planes from Guam since 2010 and deployed them this summer to Misawa Air Base in Japan, seeking to boost its own surveillance capabilities following clashes with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea.
stripes

USS Coronado Littoral Combat Ship to Conduct Test of Konsberg Norwegian Missile

The littoral combat ship USS Coronado will get a chance at an historic LCS first this fall when it launches a surface-to-surface missile in tests off Southern California.
The US Navy confirmed this week that the Coronado is scheduled to test-launch the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) off Point Mugu, California, where the Naval Air Warfare Center maintains an extensively-instrumented missile range.
The test will follow a successful NSM launch July 10 from the Norwegian frigate Fridtjof Nansen during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises near Hawaii. The frigate fired a single NSM at the decommissioned amphibious ship Ogden and scored a direct hit.
The NSM is a 13-foot-long weapon already in service aboard Norwegian warships and with Polish defense forces in a land-based, truck-mounted version. A helicopter-launched version is under development, and the company recently announced it was working on a smaller, submarine-launched variant.
Kongsberg has been aggressively targeting the US Navy as a potential NSM customer. The LCS, although planned to carry the non-line-of-sight missile, has been without a missile system since the US Army cancelled NLOS development in early 2011. The Navy recently decided to begin development work to adapt the proven Hellfire missile to naval use for the LCS.
The NSM, in the 500-pound class of missile, is significantly larger than the Hellfire, in the 100-pound class. The smaller missile could essentially be a placeholder until a more effective weapon can be identified.
In addition to Kongsberg, other missile makers, including Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, have been working on potential weapons to arm the LCS. Lockheed makes the Hellfire, while Raytheon’s small Griffin missile was briefly considered, then dropped, as an interim weapon aboard LCS.
defensenews

DARPA wants Predator-class UAV on LCS

The US Navy has operated unmanned aircraft from warships since Gyrodyne QH-50 drones carried anti-submarine torpedoes off the flightdecks of destroyers in the 1960s. But they have either been big ships (Pioneers on battleships) or small UAVs (ScanEagles on destroyers). No-one wants to recover a 55ft-wingspan MQ-1 Predator by flying it at a net or catching it on a rope.

Now DARPA wants to enable small ships such as the 2,800-ton Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship to launch and recover Predator-class medium-altitude, long-endurance UAVs. The Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) program seeks to demonstrate a MALE UAV, and associated automated launch and recovery system, that can carry a 600lb payload 600-900nm from its host vessel.

Graham Warwick-aviationweek

US Navy’s $670 Million Fighting Ship Is ‘Not Expected to Be Survivable,’ Pentagon Says

In less than two months, the Navy will send the first of its newest class of fighting ships on its first major deployment overseas. Problem is, according to the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, the Navy will be deploying the USS Freedom before knowing if the so-called Littoral Combat Ship can survive, um, combat. And what the Navy does know about the ship isn’t encouraging: Among other problems, its guns don’t work right.

BY SPENCER ACKERMAN-dangerroom

U.S. Navy Awards Lockheed Martin Contract to Construct Up to 10 Littoral Combat Ships

The U.S. Navy has awarded a Lockheed Martin led industry team a fixed-price-incentive-fee contract to construct up to 10 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).
Lockheed Martin

Viaje inicial del USS Independence/Independence Begins Maiden Voyage

El USS Independence (LCS 2), el mas nuevo buque de combate litoral de la US Navy, partió de Mobile, Alabama por primera vez el 26 de Marzo de 2010, comenzando las pruebas en el mar. El buque de combate litoral (LCS), es un buque de gran agilidad, y con los últimos avances en tecnología naval. Está diseñado especificamente para combatir amenazas costeras, incluyendo submarinos y minas. Desplaza 2.800 tm y puede operar en aguas poco profundas (20 pies). Su velocidad máxima es 45 nudos y su autonomía es de 3.,500 nautical miles. La base del USS Independence estará en
San Diego.
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The Navy's newest littoral combat ship, USS Independence (LCS 2), sailed away from Mobile, Ala. for the first time March 26.
The milestone marks the commencement of initial testing and evaluation of the aluminum vessel.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a fast, agile, mission-focused ship that demonstrates the latest in naval technology. The ship is specifically designed to defeat "anti-access" threats in shallow, coastal water regions, including surface craft, diesel submarines and mines. LCS features an interchangeable modular design that allows the ship to be reconfigured to meet mission requirements.
Independence, the Navy's second LCS ship and the first Independence-Class LCS, was commissioned Jan. 16 in Mobile, Ala. It spans 419 feet, has a displacement of 2,800 metric tons and can operate in water less than 20 feet deep. Propelled by four water jets, along with two diesel and two gas turbine engines, Independence is capable of speeds in excess of 45 knots and boasts a range of over 3,500 nautical miles.

Independence will be home-ported in San Diego.