The Lockheed Martin -led industry team submitted its proposal for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fiscal year 2010 contract to the U.S. Navy on July 31.

The Program Executive Office, Ships, is expected to award a contract this coming fiscal year for additional Littoral Combat Ships. The U.S. Navy is proceeding with a limited competition with winners of the Flight 0 phase of the program, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.

"Lockheed Martin's proposal builds off our successful delivery of LCS 1 and current construction efforts on LCS 3 to more efficiently produce this new class of warship," said Dan Schultz, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors. "We have taken significant steps to reduce the number of labor hours required to build the ship, including streamlining production processes by working with lean manufacturing experts from across Lockheed Martin, Fincantieri and Bollinger."

He added, "Lockheed Martin is committed to providing the Navy with an LCS that will maximize its ability to meet its 21st century mission and we are optimistic that further cost reductions are possible as LCS enters serial production."

The U.S. Navy awarded the Lockheed Martin team a fixed price incentive fee contract in March 2009 to build the Navy's third LCS. LCS 3, the Navy's future USS Fort Worth, is being built in Marinette, WI, with more than half of the ship's modules currently under construction. Its keel laying took place July 11 and the ship is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2012.

USS Freedom (LCS 1) was delivered to the fleet in only six years from initial concept, half the time of traditional shipbuilding programs. In May, it successfully conducted its second and final round of U.S. Navy acceptance trials off the Virginia coast. The trials - which were a coordinated effort between the 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. Freedom recently completed successful structural test firings; the 57-mm gun was fired 70 times; Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) fired two rounds; Terma Soft Kill Weapons System (decoys) and 50-cal machine guns.

The high quality of USS Freedom was validated during the acceptance test as the ship received fewer problem reports, or trial cards, than any recent first-in-class U.S. Navy ship.

The Lockheed Martin team design for LCS provides outstanding maneuverability with proven sea-keeping and stability 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. This system, combined with an Aegis-based open architecture command and control system, went from design concept to delivery in just 18 months.

The Lockheed Martin-led team includes naval architect Gibbs & Cox, ship builders Marinette Marine Corporation, a Fincantieri company, and Bollinger Shipyards, as well as best-of-industry domestic and international teammates.

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