LCS draws international interest

From DefenseNews

[That little ship some people love to hate is attracting attention again ... ]

Posted 10/26/06 13:57

Lockheed’s LCS Draws International Interest

By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS, LE BOURGET, France

A steady stream of uniformed and civilian visitors from many countries stopped by the Lockheed Martin desk during Euronaval, the biannual European naval show here that showcases the latest in naval concepts and hardware. And while the American company touted its Aegis combat system and approaches to open architecture, the majority of visitors wanted to know about the flashiest thing on the Lockheed stand — the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).

“There have been a lot of people coming by. Lots of excitement, lots of questions,” David Broadbent, general manager of the Lockheed Maritime Systems and Sensors (MS2) group that’s handling development of the LCS, said on Oct. 26 after three days of showing off the concept.

Officials from at least 20 countries have expressed interest in LCS, Broadbent said.

“Countries want a multimission ship,” he said, noting that the modular concepts built into the design make it possible to fit the ship with vertical launch systems for missiles as well as the SPY-1F version of the Aegis system. In that configuration, Broadbent said, the 3,000-ton LCS is “ton for ton, the most powerful surface ship in the world.”

One visitor was Rear Adm. D.A. Al-Wagdani, vice chief of the Saudi Arabian Navy. Al-Wagdani and the group of officers with him listened intently while Broadbent described the details of a small model of an Aegis LCS, after which the admiral spent some time driving the full-scale LCS bridge simulator that Lockheed also had on display.

Al-Wagdani, like other international officers who spent time at the exhibit, declined to comment publicly on his reaction to the ship.

But Saudi Arabia is seriously interested in acquiring an Aegis version of either Lockheed’s ship or the competing General Dynamics (GD) trimaran design. Both companies have prepared Aegis LCS designs, and sources have told DefenseNews.com that the Saudis are leaning toward the GD version of the Aegis LCS.

General Dynamics did not set up a display at the Euronaval show, although Austal, the Australian parent company of Mobile, Ala.-based Austal USA, which is building GD’s LCS ships, did have a model of the GD LCS.

Lockheed, though, prominently displayed a large poster of an Aegis-equipped LCS it is offering to Israel. The company is working on a $5 million U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command contract to develop design concepts for an Israeli version of LCS and is due to complete the study in December, Lockheed officials said.

At least three alternative designs have been prepared for the Israelis, company officials said, with and without Aegis. The concepts for Israel also show two eight-cell vertical launch systems and a variety of guns, including one concept fitted with the Lockheed Martin/Oerlikon Contraves 35mm Millenium Gun.