Littoral Combat Ships In Action
(softcover)
#SS14036

Description:
Sea power in the 21st Century is rapidly taking on a new look –
vastly different from the massive and ponderous navies of the
past. Littoral combat ships or LCSs are a class of small surface
vessels that are meant to operate in coastal areas where they can
neutralize the many fluid localized threats that are so
characteristic of the modern age.

Designed for deployment in place of the destroyer or cruiser, the
LCS was envisaged by the Navy as a networked, agile, stealthy
surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric
threats in the littorals.

The U.S. Navy operates two basic classes of LCS: the Freedom
class and the Independence class, the latter being
characteristically a trimaran. In keeping with the basic LCS
concept, crew size, like the size of the vessel itself, is to be
small.

Deployments will thus involve 50-percent fewer ships and 25
percent smaller crews than previously, but quality – the
technical sophistication, versatility, and speed of the LCS – is
to more than make up for the difference in quantity. LCS
versatility partly consists in the vessel’s ability to be
reconfigured for different duties and roles by changing mission
modules.

Mission modules consist of weapon systems, sensors, etc., that
are designed for specific types of task. Specific personnel will
accompany relevant modules. Modules have been designed for
anti-submarine warfare (ASW), mine hunting (MCM), surface warfare
(SUW) and special warfare missions.

Littoral Combat Ships in Action puts you inside these cutting
edge fighting ships and introduces their various configurations
and their modern weapons systems.

Packed with more than 250 photographs. 80 pages.

ISBN = 978-0-89747-806-9.