Littoral Combat Ships

[Dreadnought]

It is not out of the ordinary for USN ships to carry other weapons and personel not listed in their original layout if going into an area where they believe they may be needed.

In other words the LCS might not be an "unarmed" as many would chose to observe or believe for that particuliar deployment depending upon who is embarked and where.

[kato]

It is not out of the ordinary for USN ships to carry other weapons and personel not listed in their original layout if going into an area where they believe they may be needed.

Those would be mostly small arms though, up to HMGs and grenade launchers. Although the US layout on this kind of thing is usually a bit anemic.

It's not like you can just bolt an extra 76mm gun or some Harpoons onto the helo deck ;)

[Dreadnought]

Those would be mostly small arms though, up to HMGs and grenade launchers. Although the US layout on this kind of thing is usually a bit anemic.

It's not like you can just bolt an extra 76mm gun or some Harpoons onto the helo deck ;)

You had others as well.

[Dreadnought]

It's not like you can just bolt an extra 76mm gun or some Harpoons onto the helo deck


Very true but with modularized payloads they are only limited to what can integrate into the payload loadout and what can be integrated to the ships operating capabilites. In other words you have to be able to fully operate the payload and not just carry it aboard. The modular system has to have somewhat flexibility for whatever upgrades they plan for the future of the hulls. If not then its money wasted on their builds. Take for instance the Tico upgrades and how they were proven flexible in their mods. I would think these ships will only improve with time and adaptable tech.

[kato]

The ships have inherent limits. You won't ever be able to stuff a Mk41 or similar VLS in there without major (really major) internal structural reconfiguration. The deckspace on either type doesn't really look suitable to load e.g. extra Mk38s or similar medium guns on it either. Torpedoes? Where? Basically, you're stuck to reconfiguring within the limits of the modules. Different main gun, a few other armament options to stick in the aft container places.

[Dreadnought]

The ships have inherent limits. You won't ever be able to stuff a Mk41 or similar VLS in there without major (really major) internal structural reconfiguration. The deckspace on either type doesn't really look suitable to load e.g. extra Mk38s or similar medium guns on it either. Torpedoes? Where? Basically, you're stuck to reconfiguring within the limits of the modules. Different main gun, a few other armament options to stick in the aft container places.

Agreed, you cant shove 25#'s of sh%t in a 10# bag. That is a given and thats why its important to leave them modular and flexible. You can only get so much out of them but with the rate weapons sytems are being developed and how small and mobile some are becoming there are still several possibilities given the space and weight constraints.

[jlvfr]

I know this is flogging an old horse but...

The USN would have done so much better with a Meko-style modular light frigate...

[Dreadnought]

I know this is flogging an old horse but...

The USN would have done so much better with a Meko-style modular light frigate...

Well IMO, They are and will be for some time in their infancy. Only time will tell how sucessful the design is and how well it it utilized and modified for future use.

[JRT]

The ships have inherent limits. You won't ever be able to stuff a Mk41 or similar VLS in there without major (really major) internal structural reconfiguration. The deckspace on either type doesn't really look suitable to load e.g. extra Mk38s or similar medium guns on it either. Torpedoes? Where? Basically, you're stuck to reconfiguring within the limits of the modules. Different main gun, a few other armament options to stick in the aft container places.

It looks to me as though it would not be a problem adding the MK 57 peripheral VLS modules in blisters added to the sides of the hangar on Independence class LCS, extending down into the mission bay below.

A four cell module is 26 feet height, 14.2 feet length, 7.25 feet width, and weighs 33,600 pounds.. A cell canister has 28 inches square cross section and 283 inches height, with a maximum encanistered weight of 9,026 pounds.

Cells are larger than those in MK 41. Rocket motor gas management venting is integrated into the module, sized for 45% mass flow increase over rocket motors currently in use.

Follow the link to Raytheon's marketing cut sheet.
http://www.raytheon.com/businesses/r...d_mk57_pdf.pdf

[Chunder]

Well IMO, They are and will be for some time in their infancy. Only time will tell how sucessful the design is and how well it it utilized and modified for future use.

Only been in service with the RAN since 1993 bloke... They aren't like the Perry's, only one chopper...

[kato]

A four cell module is 26 feet height, 14.2 feet length, 7.25 feet width, and weighs 33,600 pounds.

And that freaking huge weight (due to the integral armour) will prevent it from being mounted on virtually anything under 10kt displacement.

Also, those areas to the side of the hangar on the Independence are tiny. Barely wide enough to mount the SRBOC that's placed there.

Btw, for some reason both rocket magazines for the SRBOC (which are port and starboard) seem to be mounted on the starboard side on Independence. Anyone know what's up with that? Portside mag boxes not delivered yet? Or not developed yet? ;)

[Chunder]

Adelaide Class (Read OHP class) have 8 cell mk 41's retrofitted.

Displacement is 4.1 kt full displacement....

Under half your spec.

[Stitch]

Found an interesting website that specifies THREE (3) NLOS-LS modules could be installed on the LCS-2:



The three square boxes (one behind the Mk110, the other two in the superstructure) represent the NLOS-NS cells.

[kato]

Adelaide Class (Read OHP class) have 8 cell mk 41's retrofitted.
Displacement is 4.1 kt full displacement....
Under half your spec.

Those are Mk41. Not Mk57. And that Mk41 completely exhausted the ANZAC's weight reserves btw. A Mk41 module weighs about 33,000 lbs for 8 cells. A Mk57 module weighs 36,000 lbs for 4 cells. And it can't fire default missiles without special canisters either.

Due to the special nature of the Mk57 (partial replacement of hull sections!) it's also pretty unlikely it will be mounted on any ship not specifically built for it from the keel up.

[HKDan]

Stitch,

NLOS is dead. Also, I believe that I have read that those modules are NLOS specific sized and would be difficult to fit other systems in. I agree with Kato that the size of LCS is going to be a limiting factor to what kinds of additional systems can be put on it. Im not expecting to see any other missile systems than Griffin and RAM on LCS(although there are still speculations about possible VLS equipped exports versions), its one of the reasons that I am very interested in the possibilities for using different aircraft off LCS and also in the development of unmanned systems that could be deployed off LCS.