Joanna Crews
The U.S. Navy will christen at a ceremony on Saturday a Freedom-variant littoral combat ship Lockheed Martin has built.
The service branch said Thursday it will christen the future USS Indianapolis (LCS 17) at a ceremony that will feature former Senator Richard Lugar, R-Ind., as principal speaker and ship sponsor Jill Donnelly, the wife of Senator Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.
USS Indianapolis is designed as a platform for near-shore and open-ocean missions and for operations against asymmetric “anti-access” threats that include mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft.
The Indiana capital has lent its name to three previous ships that include a World War II cruiser that served in the Aleutians, the Gilbert Islands, Saipan, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
The Navy’s LCS is produced in two variants and is built for anti-submarine and surface warfare and mine countermeasure operations through a primary mission system provided by its interchangeable mission package.
The ship also supports manned and unmanned vehicles for the U.S. joint forces.
Lockheed Martin constructs the Freedom-variant of the LCS that bears odd-numbered hulls and Austal USA builds the Independence variant with even-numbered hulls from LCS 6 onwards.
