Joanna Crews
A littoral combat ship that Lockheed Martin developed with partner Fincantieri Marinette Marine has entered into active service with the U.S. Navy.
The Navy conducted the commissioning ceremony for the USS Little Rock vessel designated LCS 9 on the Buffalo River in New York, Lockheed said Saturday.
The ship, which was the second to be named after the largest city in Arkansas, was delivered to the Navy on Sept. 25 after completion of acceptance trials in August.
USS Little Rock is the fifth Freedom-variant LCS following USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) and USS Detroit (LCS 7) and will join the latter two ships at Naval Station Mayport as their homeport.
The Freedom-class LCS fleet has collectively logged 250,000 nautical miles and two overseas deployments, Lockheed said.
Lockheed, Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Gibbs & Cox and over 800 suppliers across the U.S. are part of the team producing the Freedom-class LCS, with eight more ships under construction and one in long-lead production.
