The nation's first Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom (LCS 1), successfully conducted its second and final round of U.S. Navy acceptance trials May 18-22, 2009.

The agile 378-foot Freedom, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin -led industry team, conducted the acceptance trials off the Virginia coast. The trials -- which were a coordinated effort between the U.S. Navy and the Lockheed Martin team -- included operational testing of the vessel's propulsion, communications, navigation and mission systems, as well as all related support systems.

The completed trials featured a successful four-hour, full-power run and both surface and air detect-to-engagement demonstrations of the ship's combat management system. During this second trial, major systems and features were demonstrated, including aviation support, small boat launch handling and recovery, and fin stabilizers, in addition to the full-power run and detect-to-engage sequences.

The Lockheed Martin team design for LCS provides outstanding maneuverability with proven sea-keeping characteristics and innovative design features to support launch and recovery operations of manned and unmanned vehicles. Reaching speeds well over 40 knots, the ship is a highly automated and networked surface combatant with operational flexibility to execute focused missions such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and the potential for a wide range of additional missions, including maritime interdiction and humanitarian/disaster relief. The Freedom-class employs a secure, high-availability ship-wide network that can be controlled from a single workstation and rapidly reconfigured based on mission demands. Freedom was delivered to the fleet in only six years from initial concept, half the time of traditional shipbuilding programs.

The U.S. Navy awarded the Lockheed Martin team a fixed price incentive fee contract in March to construct the Navy's third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). LCS 3, recently named Fort Worth by the Navy, will be built in Marinette, WI.

The Lockheed Martin-led team includes naval architect Gibbs & Cox, ship builders Marinette Marine Corporation, a subsidiary of Fincantieri Marine Group, LLC, and Bollinger Shipyards, as well as best-of-industry domestic and international teammates to provide a flexible, low-risk warfighting solution.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin