Lockheed Martin has laid the keel for the 19th Littoral Combat Ship-class vessel, the USS St. Louis. The ceremony was held at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisc.

Ship sponsor Barbara Broadhurst Taylor oversaw the ritual of welding of the ship's initials into the keel.

"It is a tremendous honor to serve as the sponsor of the future USS St. Louis," Taylor said. "The keel-laying ceremony is a great milestone, and I look forward to supporting the ship and its crew throughout the building process. I know the people of St. Louis and Missouri will proudly support her when she is commissioned and officially enters the Navy fleet."

The Freedom-variant LCS, of which is currently under full rate production by Lockheed Martin, with four vessels delivered to date.

"We are proud to build another proven warship that allows our Navy to carry out their missions around the world," said Joe North, vice president and general manager of Littoral Ships and Systems at Lockheed.

The LCS is designed specifically to operate in shallow coastal waters, along with regular sea operations. It is designed to be modular, allowing multiple weapons and sensor packages depending on the mission of the ship.

The vessel's standard armament is a MK 110 57mm gun, and can also be equipped with RIM-110 RAM surface-to-air missiles and a variety of other ordnance. It can carry up to two helicopters and vertical take-off drones like the MQ-8 Fire Scout.

Tweet

Rolls-Royce engines for Korean frigates
Washington (UPI) May 18, 2017
Rolls-Royce reports that it is supplying MT30 gas engines to power three new Daegu-class frigates of the South Korean Navy. The engines are for the second, third and fourth vessel of the eight frigate program. The second frigate is being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, while Hyundai Heavy Industries is building ships three and four. "Our continued supp ... read more

Related Links
Naval Warfare in the 21st Century

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only