MARINETTE, Wis., Oct. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin
(NYSE: LMT) and Fincantieri Marinette Marine marked the beginning
of construction on Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 27, the future USS
Nantucket, with a ceremony in Marinette. As part of a ship-building
tradition dating back centuries, a shipyard worker welded the
initials of Polly Spencer, USS
Nantucket ship sponsor and wife of U.S. Secretary of the Navy
Richard Spencer, into the ship's
keel plate. This plate will be affixed to the ship and travel with
Nantucket throughout its commissioned life.
"The USS Nantucket will confront many complex challenges," said
Richard V. Spencer, the U.S.
Secretary of the Navy. "It will confront humanitarian relief all
the way to great power competition, drawing on the strength of
every weld, every rivet applied by the great people here."
Unique among combat ships, the focused-mission LCS is designed
to support mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare
missions today and is easily adapted to serve future and evolving
missions tomorrow. The Freedom-variant LCS is:
- Flexible — Forty percent of the hull is easily
reconfigurable, able to integrate Longbow Hellfire Missiles, 30 mm
guns, and manned and unmanned vehicles designed to meet today's and
tomorrow's missions.
- Lethal — LCS is standard equipped with Rolling Airframe
Missiles (RAM) and a Mark 110 gun, capable of firing 220 rounds per
minute.
- Fast — LCS is capable of speeds in excess of 40
knots.
- Automated — LCS has the most efficient staffing of any
combat ship.
"LCS' built-in flexibility makes it unlike any other Navy ship
in the water today," said Joe
DePietro, vice president and general manager of Small
Combatants and Ship Systems. "LCS can serve a multitude of missions
to include surface, anti-submarine and mine countermeasure missions
by quickly integrating mission equipment and deploying manned and
unmanned aerial, surface or sub-surface vehicles."
LCS 27 is the first Navy ship to be named after Nantucket, Massachusetts in more than 150
years. Nantucket has a deep connection to sailing and maritime
traditions, serving as a whaling hub in the 1800s and as the home
of generations of American sailors since the town's beginning. The
previous USS Nantucket, the first to be named after the island, was
commissioned in 1862 to serve during the American Civil War.
"I have been given a very special honor in being the sponsor of
the future USS Nantucket. I am happy she is being built here in
Marinette, Wisconsin, which has an
impressive history of shipbuilding," said Polly Spencer, LCS 27 sponsor. "Thank you to all
the talented people who are bringing this ship to life… it is going
to be an amazing journey that I am thrilled to be on."
LCS 27 will be the 14th Freedom-variant LCS and will
join a class of more than 30 ships. It is one of six ships in
various stages of construction and test at the Fincantieri
Marinette Marine shipyard.
"We are very excited to begin construction of the future USS
Nantucket," said Jan Allman, CEO of
Fincantieri Marinette Marine. "Our men and women are proud to put
their efforts into giving the Navy versatile ships to keep our
country and its interests safe."
Multimedia assets are available here:
- Social media video: https://vimeo.com/365396145
- B-roll: https://vimeo.com/365406413
- Speaker remarks: https://vimeo.com/365402844
- Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143371902@N04/albums/72157711268036447
For additional information, visit our website:
www.lockheedmartin.com/lcs.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and
services.
About Fincantieri Marinette Marine
Fincantieri is the
leading western shipbuilder with a rich history dating back more
than 230 years, and a track record of building more than 7,000
ships. Fincantieri Marine Group is the American subsidiary of
Fincantieri, and operates three Great Lakes Shipyards: Fincantieri
Marinette Marine, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, and Fincantieri ACE
Marine. Fincantieri Marine Group's more than 2,100 steelworkers,
craftsman, engineers and technicians in the United States specialize in the design,
construction and maintenance of merchant ships and government
vessels, including for the United States Navy and Coast Guard.
About Gibbs & Cox
Gibbs & Cox, the nation's
leading independent maritime solutions firm specializing in naval
architecture, marine engineering and design, is headquartered in
Arlington, Virginia. The company,
founded in 1929, has provided designs for nearly 80 percent of the
current U.S. Navy surface combatant fleet; approaching 7,000 naval
and commercial ships have been built to Gibbs & Cox
designs.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockheed-martin-led-team-begins-construction-on-navys-littoral-combat-ship-the-future-uss-nantucket-300935104.html
SOURCE Lockheed Martin