The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is the US Navy’s newest warship, designed to operate in near-shore environments, while also having the capability for open-ocean operation. There are twenty-six of these fast, agile ships in commission, with more in production or pre-production. Among the list of responsibilities given to each Littoral Combat Ship are:

• Defeating “anti-access” threats (i.e. mines, fast surface craft, and quiet diesel submarines)
• Maritime security
• Sea control
• Supporting forward presence

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Freedom and Independence Class LCS

There are two variants to the Littoral Combat Ship, the Freedom class LCS and the Independence class. These two classes have distinct differences that depend on the industry production team. The Freedom class designer is no other than Lockheed Martin. They provided the Navy with their odd-numbered hulls (LCS 1, LCS 3 etc.). The Independence class was led by General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works (who led LCS 2 and LCS 4), and Austal USA (who created the subsequent even-numbered hulls).

The Future of LCS Usage

Beginning in 2002, the Navy still promotes the Littoral Combat Ship program today. In fact, as recently as September 30, 2023, the next Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 34) has officially been commissioned under the name USS Augusta. With that being said, the Navy has also had to decommission LCS-7 and LCS-9 (USS Detroit and USS Little Rock respectively) as recently as September 29, 2023. Of note, these decommissions were after less than a decade of service. Serving for over 30 years, below is a list of ships that were also decommissioned in September 2023:

• USS Lake Champion
• USS San Jacinto
• USS Bunker Hill
• USS Mobile Bay

In addition to the Freedom-class, the Navy has also asked for the decommission of two Independent-class vessels, those being LCS-6 and LCS-8 (USS Jackson and USS Montgomery respectively). The Navy spoke about this request, noting that their fiscal budget for 2024 could not maintain eight Littoral Combat Ships devoted to surface warfare, lowering that number to six in total. This is helping their efforts on improving multiple areas of manning, training, and sustainment activities.

The Problems With Littoral Combat Ships

The overarching problem with LCS seems to be the haste at which they are making them. Dozens of these ships have been made over the last couple of decades. However, the problem stems from these ships not being thoroughly prepared for their missions out at sea. Multiple Littoral Combat Ships have broken down at sea and have also had weapons systems fail on them. It has also been pointed out that these ships are not capable of dealing with other modern threats around the world, which has caused ire, considering these are the newest line of combat ships the US has to offer.Related read: Can the USS Cooperstown Get a Hit Before it Strikes Out?

The Cost of Littoral Combat Ships

Another point of contention about the Littoral Combat Ships is their cost. The Littoral Combat Ship costs around $500 million to make. The project overall has cost tens of billions of dollars in production. While it is important to note multiple ships have recently been marked for decommission, this does not inherently mean a complete loss of value. Additionally, many decommissioned ships are selling to allies. Further uses for a decommissioned Littoral Combat Ship includes:

• Donations to museums or memorials
• Artificial reefing
• Use as a target vessel
• Domestic dismantling and recycling

While there are multiple uses for these ships, few of them are worth the monetary value that they would have on a mission.

Are Littoral Combat Ships a Failure?

There are two ways to think about the success/failure of Littoral Combat Ships. The first is by observing the issues with these ships in the past. These ships are having issues with their lethality and survivability. As a result, decommissioning occurs early on. On the other hand, many of these ships are in use today, with the Navy still supporting their usage. In addition, each Littoral Combat Ship has a use for either missions or training. Others are selling to allies as a part of the Navy’s shipbuilding plan.Read next: The USS New York Is Heading to Manhattan For Veterans Day 2023