The Navy last week rolled out its Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) mission package for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
This first LCS ASW package adds to other, already-developed LCS packages that includes such systems as the MK 46 30mm gun and the Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) rocket system demonstrated earlier this summer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Va.
The ASW package will be trucked to Newport, R.I., where it will undergo trial testing in late March or April. Later tests will be conducted in the Bahamas.
And later still, the ASW package will be loaded onto the first LCS, Freedom (LCS-1) built by Marinette Marine [MTW] in Wisconsin for prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT].
The Navy took delivery of Freedom on Sept. 18 (Defense Daily, Sept. 19).
ASW mission package engineering testing on Freedom is scheduled to begin in FY ’10, where the ASW package will be tested in finding and tracking a real submarine, Navy briefers said in a video conference.
Developmental testing will run through early FY ’11. Operational testing will begin in FY ’11 and continue into FY ’12, according to the Navy.
Engineering testing of the ASW mission package will begin on General Dynamics‘ [GD] Independence in late FY ’09. Developmental testing is scheduled for FY ’10 into FY ’11 and operational testing is planned for FY ’12, the Navy said.
The ASW mission package will conduct multi-sensor ASW detection, classification, localization, tracking and engagement of submarines in the littoral operating environment, the Navy said.
The ASW package involves multiple sonars operated well away from the LCS, so its location isn’t revealed by the sonar. Those sonar units of differing types would be carried on a Sikorsky [UTX] MH-60R helicopter, Fire Scout–Northrop Grumman‘s [NOC] vertical takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle, and an unmanned surface vehicle, along with various towed assets.
The budgeted end cost, in FY ’05 dollars, of the first baseline mission package of each variant in the FY ’09 President’s Budget (PB ’09) request is: $46.3 million for the ASW package (procured in FY ’11), according to the Navy.
Unlike the Mine Warfare (MIW) mission package or the Surface Warfare (SuW) package, the ASW mission package is unique in that the containers, or flat racks, are TEUs (Twenty Equivalent Unit) without any sides.
All three mission packages share a number of components. Each of the mission packages carries a MH-60, either the armed R or S variant. So there are two TEUs for support of the H-60 on each of the mission packages, according to Northrop Grumman, the mission package integrator (Defense Daily, July 12).
The ASW and MIW both have 11-meter Rigid Inflatable Boats., although they are slightly different. The ASW and MIW packages also share Lockheed Martin’s AN/WLD-1 Remote Mine Hunting Systems (RMS).
Fire Scout has one TEU for support equipment and that is common across all three mission packages.
The other thing that is common across all three mission packages is the Mission Package Computing Environment (MPCE) and the Multi Vehicle Communication System (MVCS).
MPCE is comprised of four 19-inch racks. It has a common set of hardware that gets permanently installed inside LCS, unlike the other mission packages (Defense Daily, July 12).
The LCS is a high-speed (55 mph) vessel operating in near-shore waters that can take out enemy submarines, mines, and terrorist-piloted “swarm” boats, tiny vessels loaded with bombs bent upon destroying Navy ships.
That high speed is critical in interdiction missions, such as heading off approaching swarm boats, Rear Adm. Michael Mahon, deputy director of surface warfare, said.