The Navy will christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, USS Billings (LCS 15), during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony Saturday, July 1, in Marinette, Wisconsin.
The future USS Billings honors the largest city in Montana. It will be the first ship of its name in naval service.
(The future USS BILLINGS (LCS 15) will launch on July 1st at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin. The 389-foot ship was moved out to its launchway on June 16 by 18 self-propelled transporters. It will take about seven seconds for the future USS BILLINGS to splash into the water upon launch. Courtesy of Lockheed Martin and YouTube)
Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Sharla Tester, the wife of Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the ranking member of the Senate Veteran’s Affairs Committee, will serve as the ship’s sponsor.
The ceremony will be highlighted by Mrs. Tester breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow to formally christen the ship, a time-honored Navy tradition.
“The christening of the future USS Billings brings this great warship one step closer to joining the fleet, where it will, for decades to come, serve as a tribute to the great people of Billings and the state of Montana, as well as the highly skilled men and women who built our nation’s newest littoral combat ship,” said the Honorable Sean Stackley, acting Secretary of the Navy.
The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams.
The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g. LCS 1). The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).
Each LCS is outfitted with a single mission package made up of mission modules containing warfighting systems and support equipment.
(The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program is a bold departure from traditional Navy shipbuilding programs based on its use of innovative acquisition, construction, manning, training and operational concepts. Courtesy of the US Navy and YouTube)
A dedicated ship crew will combine with aviation assets to deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors in support of mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare or surface warfare missions.
USS BILLINGS (LCS 15) Design Specifications
- Hull: Advanced steel monohull
- Length Overall: 118.6 meters (389 feet)
- Beam Overall: 17.5 meters (57 feet)
- Draft: 4.1 meters (13.5 feet)
- Beam Overall: 4.1 meters (13.5 feet)
- Full Load Displacement: Approximately 3,400 metric tons
- Top Speed: Greater than 40+ knots
- Watercraft Launch & Recovery: Up to Sea State 4
- Aircraft Launch and Recovery: Up to Sea State 5
- Propulsion: Combined diesel and gas (CODAG) turbine with steerable water jet propulsion
- Hangar Space: Two H-60 Helos (either MH-60S or MH-60R) and up to three VTUAVs (MQ-8B or MQ-8C Firescout).
- Core Crew: 50; Accommodations for 98 sailors
- Integrated Bridge System: Fully digital nautical charts are interfaced to ship sensors to support safe ship operation
- Core Self-Defense Suite: Includes 3D air search radar (4D in hulls after LCS 17), Rolling Airframe Missile (SeaRAM after LCS 17), medium caliber 57-mm Mk 110 deck gun, EO/IR gunfire control system and decoy launching system.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program is a bold departure from traditional Navy shipbuilding programs based on its use of innovative acquisition, construction, manning, training and operational concepts.
The LCS sustainment strategy takes into account the unique design and manning of LCS and the associated mission modules.
Elements of this strategy include reliance on off-ship support; a new paradigm of maintenance execution focused on scheduled preventive maintenance periods and off-ship performance of preventive and facilities maintenance; and a crewing/deployment model which uses rotating crews to operate the ships, thus ensuring continual forward presence with shore support.
