MARINETTE, Wis., July 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)-led industry team is preparing the nation's third Littoral Combat Ship, Fort Worth, to start sea trials this fall.

Fort Worth, the second ship of the Freedom variant of the LCS program, was christened in December 2010. Now more than 93 percent complete, it remains on cost and on schedule. Builder and acceptance trials are scheduled early this fall in advance of delivering the ship to the U.S. Navy in early 2012.

"The team is focused on driving affordability initiatives through the entire process, and we'll soon begin construction on the nation's fifth LCS," said Joe North, vice president of littoral ship systems at Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems & Sensors business. "We remain committed to helping the Navy bring new and needed littoral capabilities to its fleet for current and future war fighting needs."

On LCS 3, the future USS Fort Worth, the team completed light-off of the ship's diesel generators this May and light-off of the main engines and rolling the propulsion shafts this month. LCS 3 is being constructed with 30 percent fewer production hours as a result of lessons learned from designing and building USS Freedom.

USS Freedom, the nation's first littoral combat ship, has completed preparations for upcoming final contractor trials. Trials include testing of the surface warfare mission package and the deck landing qualifications of the MH-60R 'Romeo' helicopter to ensure safe and reliable interoperability between the aircraft and ship.  Since its commissioning in 2008, the ship has sailed 55,000 nautical miles.

In addition to Marinette Marine Corporation, a Fincantieri company, the Lockheed Martin-led team for LCS 3 includes naval architect Gibbs & Cox as well as best-of-industry domestic and international companies.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

For additional information about Lockheed Martin, visit:
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/ms2/ and http://www.lmlcsteam.com

SOURCE Lockheed Martin