BUFFALO, N.Y., Dec. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Navy
commissioned USS Little Rock (LCS 9) –– the nation's fifth
Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) –– on the Buffalo River
on Dec. 16. This milestone officially
places the ship, which was designed and built by Lockheed Martin
(NYSE: LMT) and Fincantieri Marinette Marine into active
service.
USS Little Rock completed its acceptance trials in August and
was delivered to the U.S. Navy on Sept.
25. She joins four other Freedom-variant ships in the fleet:
USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), USS Milwaukee (LCS 5)
and USS Detroit (LCS 7). Collectively, Freedom-variant littoral
combat ships have sailed over 250,000 nautical miles and
successfully completed two overseas deployments.
"As a company with strong ties to Arkansas and Upstate New York, we are
privileged to have delivered USS Little Rock to the Navy and see
her commissioned in the state where so many of our employees call
home," said Joe DePietro, Lockheed
Martin vice president of small surface combatants and ship systems.
"We take great pride in knowing that USS Little Rock and her
dedicated crews will serve in the defense of our great nation,
enabling the U.S. Navy to carry out its missions where and when
needed for decades to come."
Named in honor of the patriotic and hardworking citizens of
Little Rock, LCS 9 is the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name of
Arkansas' largest city. She will
join USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) and USS Detroit (LCS 7) at Naval Station
Mayport, her homeport, in a few short weeks.
"These are complex vessels, and it takes a strong team effort to
design, build and prepare these warships for the fleet," said
Francesco Valente, Fincantieri
Marine Group president and CEO. "I am extremely proud of our entire
LCS team, including our shipbuilders at Fincantieri Marinette
Marine, who transformed raw American steel into the capable warship
you see today."
The Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine team is
currently in full-rate production of the Freedom-variant of the
LCS, and has delivered five ships to the U.S. Navy to date. There
are eight ships in various stages of construction at Fincantieri
Marinette Marine, with one more in long-lead production.
The Freedom-variant LCS team is comprised of Lockheed Martin,
shipbuilder Fincantieri Marinette Marine, naval architect Gibbs
& Cox, and more than 800 suppliers in 42 states.
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
97,000 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
Founded in 1942,
Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) is located on the Menominee
River flowage into Green Bay. The largest shipyard in the Midwest,
FMM has delivered more than 1,300 vessels to the U.S. Navy, U.S.
Coast Guard, and commercial customers, including the
technologically advanced Littoral Combat Ship Freedom variant for
the U.S. Navy. In 2008, FMM along with several sister shipyards
also based in the Great Lakes region, became part of Fincantieri,
one of the world's largest shipbuilding groups and number one by
diversification and innovation, with more than 19,400 employees, of
whom more than 8,200 in Italy, 20
shipyards in 4 continents. Fincantieri operates in
the United States through its
subsidiary Fincantieri Marine Group, serving both civilian and
government customers. Over the past five years, Fincantieri
invested more than $100 million in
both capital infrastructure and its resources to support FMM's
transformation into what is now one of the best shipyards in
the United States. Employing
approximately 1,500 employees, today FMM is a state-of-the-art,
full service new construction shipyard.
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.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin