Matthew Nelson
The seventh Freedom-variant littoral combat ship constructed by a Lockheed Martin-led industry team has entered into active service with the U.S. Navy.
Lockheed said Saturday the military service held a commissioning ceremony Saturday for the USS Wichita, or LCS 13, at Naval Station Mayport in Florida.
Ships of the Navy's Freedom class are built and tested at a Fincantieri Marinette Marine facility. Each LCS is designed to travel at a speed of more than 40 knots and support anti-submarine, surface warfare and mine countermeasure missions.
The vessels are equipped with a combat management system, rolling airframe missiles and a Mark 110 gun technology.
 "We remain focused on delivering these ships as quickly as possible with increasing capability and lethality," said Joe DePietro, vice president of small combatants and ship systems at Lockheed.
The Navy is scheduled to accept its future USS Billings ship, or LCS 15, from the industry team this spring.
