This is actually an Australian-designed and manufactured ship. Austal Ships designed and built it at their purpose-built shipyard in Mobile Alabama.

+ cost and bang for the buck outstanding
? acutal cost fully Fitted?
- 57 mm has seen it's day. I have seen Devlopement on Railgun but due to power requiremnts this may reqire major over haul
-Mission pods way of the future. I would hope that each ship gets a pod of Tomahawks
- concerned about air to surface or surface to serfice missles could we not afford phallenx fore and aft?
X boats that operate close to shore is a real focus for the Navy. i have seen at least 3 x boats that are mission tasked for this role.
Helos confuse me qty 2? ASW tasked for who. Nobody can run subs except us a mother russia. Other than seal missions this ship cannot hold enough marines.
Consider .20 cannons in support of 50's for close in threats

Just another killing tool for the American Empire.

How does this steel hulled ship remind you of the USS Merrimac, a wooden sided sailing ship from the Civil War era. Perhaps you mean the CSS Virginia, which was built on the buried out hull of the sunken Merrimac?

It is not a steel hull, it's aluminum.

My advice to all/most of you previous commentators on this article...do your homework before you make your less than accurate comments. Check out the wikipedia article on the litoral ships, and most of the comments you made about the design and building of this ship are just not right.

Or look at the peoships website at navy.mil, and yes the Virginia was an ironsides, and so was the USS Monitor that fought the Virginia.

Hey Traveler,if you don't like the American Empire as you call it.Get out of the USA,go live in China or Cuba and don;t forget Vietnam.Perhaps you would like living under the Communist better.
Bottom line:GET OUT OF HERE!!!!

freedom isn't cheap.without ships and wepons like these our freedom would be lost . then who would feed arm and protect the innocent of the world. i feel it's time OTHER countires of the world start help paying for there protection. we are tired of the world breaking the simple working class's back paying for ya'lls freedom .it's time for a change we are getting tired of ingreats...

Nope, his reference is correct. The "Merrimack" was a 4,636 ton wooden frigate while the "Merrimac" was a 684 ton iron-hulled gunboat that served in the East Coast Blockading Squadron and this ship does bear a similar 'upside down hull' look as the Merrimac.

CyberWarrior >> First of all, there's a lot of other countries besides so called communist countries like China, Cuba or Vietnam where USA isn't very well liked. Just FYI.

And some other facts.
The Mk 110 57 mm gun on this ship is a less advanced copy of the Swedish Bofors 57 Mk3 gun which are fitted on the Swedish stealth technology Visby Class corvette built by Kockums in Sweden.

http://www.kockums.se/surfacevessels/visby.html

And about Sweden. The US Navy, together with Australian and Canadian navy, leased the Gotland Class stealth sub HMS Visby complete with a Swedish crew for two years long naval exercises. And she was never caught. HMS Visby on the other hand made several successful attacks. She is so "stealthy" even the periscope is a weapon used to punch holes in ships. :-)

http://www.kockums.se/submarines/gotland.html

But then again, Kockums are world leader in the field of submarine stealth.

Quite fun to see a "small" country like Sweden kicking USA's butt. :-)

between Austal, and Incat, Americas new Navy will be designed by Australians, not bad for a tiny population of inovative thinkers.

I bet they're going to use this against Iran. that'd be fine with me, I'd like to see it in action.

WellWell, just FYI, "hull-penetrating mast" means the mast penetrates into the hull of the submarine itself. With only the periscope penetrating the hull, this is an positive indicator of the stealthiness of the submarine, not a toy to be taunting surface ships with. A large boat with state-of-the-art torpedoes doesn't go around poking fist-sized holes in the bottom of other ships. That would just be silly.

Cyberwarrior & Harley believes that USA does everything for the sake of freedom and rights. HAHAHA you guys need to wake up from that fantasy ...

Bicker bicker sqabble squabble.. People will argue and fight over anything. The USA is not perfect, nor is any other country out there. We all have our advances and things that we're good at. We all have something we contribute to the world. History shows how many times the USA has gone in and bailed out other countries in their times of need, while we have "borrowed" money from many others. It's an imperfect world. The USA was built from immigration... The English took it from the indians and the mexicans. Now everyone comes to the USA for our "freedoms."

On a side note... if you put all your design plans on the net, how effective do you really think this new weapon will be.

"By inyourface at 9:30 AM ON 05/07/08

Cyberwarrior & Harley believes that USA does everything for the sake of freedom and rights. HAHAHA you guys need to wake up from that fantasy ..."

Is there anyone in the world that does?

"When the Commonwealth of Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, one of the important federal military bases threatened was Gosport Shipyard (now Norfolk Naval Shipyard) in Portsmouth, Virginia. Accordingly, the order was sent to destroy the base rather than allow it to fall into Confederate hands. Unfortunately for the Union, the execution of these orders was bungled. The steam frigate USS Merrimack sank before she completely burned. When the Confederates entered the yard, they raised Merrimack and decided to use the engines and hull to build an ironclad ram.

Rebuilt under the supervision of Captain French Forrest, the new ship was named Virginia. She had four inch (102 mm)-thick iron deck with sloped sides, and casement and ten guns, one 7 inch rifle on the bow and the stern each and four on each beam, 3 of which are Dahlgren cannons. Further, Virginia’s designers had heard of plans by the North to build an ironclad. Figuring her guns would be unable to harm such a ship, they equipped her with a ram— at that time an anachronism in a warship[1]. Merrimack's engines, now part of Virginia, had not been in good working order, and the salty Elizabeth River water and addition of tons of iron did not improve the situation."

Not to be a bickerer, but AngusB is incorrect. about the Merrimack. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Virginia#USS_Merrimack_becomes_CSS_Virginia

I saw it in Mobile yesterday. Looks really good. A big head turner.

If you want to read the REAL story of these "bargain" ships (a tale of government incompetence and waste of the taxpers' money on ships that will not, and cannot, perform their intended function), instead of the self-serving Navy handout above, read THIS:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/us/25ship.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=littoral+combat+ship&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Lies, lies, lies. The link above takes you to the REAL story about this epic government boondoggle.

Aussies rock!! How cool is Australia

wallwall, inyourface, traveler
*sigh*
haters and trolls

And Sakebomb, you are right. Other countries act like they're the shining example of SELFLESSNESS. Truth be told, they're no more selfless then the US.

And remember, it used to be the British Empire everyone hated. It comes down to, everyone hates the Top Dog, whoever that happens to be. It just happens to be the US. Too bad no-one seems to notice the Chinese.

Hate the game, not the players.
I've toured the ship and it is AWESOME! Do us all a favor and do your research before you start spouting your "truth" about my ship. And WIKI is not a legit research site... ask any college prof. Since it is open to the public to post whatever "truth" they want to. And the NYtimes? Please! they'll probably tell you that Hillary is going to win the REPUBLICAN ticket, too! (Yea, I know she isn't a Republican... that is the point!) A good site to visit is the Global Security site. Good info on all world militaries.
Enjoy! Go INDY, Beat FREEDOM! (You LCS-1 Peeps know what I mean!)

How about an aircraft carrier for $45million built within six months of an order:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/11226603/Mobile_Coastal_Defence_Systems.html

@WellWell: Perhaps it is true that the Swedes have a more stealthy ship...but to be honest the days of the navy are numbered. Give it 25 years and fighters and bombers will be able to hit any target in the world w/e the use of an aircraft carrier...70% of the navy is just there to protect and support carriers.

The Russians and Iranians have developed gas-shell torpedoes that travel in excess of three-hundred miles per hour. Even if these ships were everything the Navy says they are -- and they're not even close -- why spend billions for vessels that'll be nothing but giant coffins for the sailors who'll be forced to man them?

I remember seeing the Aussie version in the news some time ago, and heard that the US was making LCS design decisions... but this seems to be a fairly quick turnaround in light of the usual military procurement process. The design looks to be a well-rounded compromise, and the use of modular units increases the value IMO.
While I doubt the 208 mil price tag, I would like to see what the cost per unit is after the full production run. This tends to lower overall costs by absorbing the R&D into the complete run. The more they make with minimum changes, the cheaper each will be. There are quite a few weapons systems, in addition to the new torpedo technologies, that can hold this ship at risk. But, that requires that a nation-state actually fire these weapons at a US ship. Drawn-out and stretched or not, the US can still punish any nation that would use force against military targets. The "littoral" part of LCS means that it operates in shallow coastal waters. Even diesel subs with shallow drafts do not like to venture into the shallows, so most threats will most likely be above the surface, and therefore easily detectable by sensors on board. It is about presence. The US military doesn't have to fight, it just has to exist and be seen. In the air and at sea the US has no equals, and other nations know this. This design allows for greater numbers of ships to be built at a lower cost. More presence with less risk to fewer people.

Who needs these when the Arabs will sell oil very soon at $50/gal and the Indians and Chinese out eat the World of White men .... ? The days of the White man's Empire are over, soon the Islamic Empire will fail too spectacularly as they run out of oil and go into the sands ... The World of Dharma will rule soon !

@REDMAN: That 70% protection wouldn't be much of a protection against a stealth sub, would it. I mean, when US Navy leased the Swedish sub for a hunting exercise during two years they didn't even catch it once. But the Swedish sub managed to make several surprise attacks.

The only reason to keep a fleet with carriers is so you are able to attack other countries, and not defending your own country. And the so called fight against terrorism in Irak is nothing but bullcrap. The real reason is named "Oil".

Luego la gente de ese país no tiene vacunas, o se ven cada vez más en la pobreza, o están obligados a tener más de un trabajo a la vez para sobrevivir. En fin, todo un ejemplo

think about this tho what about if you wished to capture the ship poke a few holes in the bottom and let some nerve gas out kills the crew you come and take over the ship and sail it back to your docks fix the few holes and boom almost free ship

By Alan Srout at 11:44 PM ON 05/07/08

How about an aircraft carrier for $45million built within six months of an order:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/11226603/Mobile_Coastal_Defence_Systems.html
_________________

That's not an aircraft carrier, its a target.

I don't think I have seen this density of stupidity ever before, given the majority of comments here.

Opinions are like rectums...everybody has one. Let me give you my rectum. The US isn't perfect or even the "savior" it's population, media, and politicians tout it to be. NO ONES COUNTRY IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER!!! China kills it's own population in so many ways and reasons no media or foreign investigator can keep up. India is to damned proud of being shamed in the eyes of the other nations it is willing to LET it's population STARVE! The Swedes during WW2 aligned itself with the Nazi's out of fear. The U.S. conducts CONSTANT "Black Operations" in just about EVERY country. Ally or foe. This article was originally posted in the name of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY!!! NOT POLITICS you self absorbed, media blinded, opinion deaf morons.

Man.. there sure are lot of retards here...

Hate the politics, or love it... that ship is a neat piece of engineering. Although, the amount spent on it could probably have been better spent elsewhere.

IT'S ALUMINUM jlwcfm

Ok, I hear a lot of complaining about the cost of the ship, believe it or not, thats actually on the low end of prices for war vessels. And inyourface, shut the hell up, our government might not do everything for freedom and rights, but it sure as hell does everything it can for America, the country and its people. The whole world expects the US to fix everything. When entire populations are suffering, half of the world will blame our nation for not intervening and offering aid. But when we do the other half will accuse us of involving ourselves in foreign issues for selfish reasons and trying to spread our government where it doesn't belong. And don't try to bring anymore of your extreme left-wing liberal propaganda in here, because you can't prove its credibility. Just because it's on the internet does not make it true. And just because you found it makes it less believable because one thing is for sure, if your looking for something negative on the internet, your gonna find it.

Austal designs now make up the littoral classes of the navies of Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain and the US, and provide the Westpac Express for Marines on Okinawa, with Nulka as the prefered option for active ECM for the navies of Australia, Canada and the US, another Aussie design, with Incats wavepiercers now regularly used by US troops, revolutionising US Navy proceedure with the 2 crew system, and Metalstorm, revolutionising area denial and fire support as well as close in protection for ships, Australian designs are changing the way the miltary does business. Watch to the south for more in the evolution of naval warfare.

I want 1.

justshutup wrote,
our government might not do everything for freedom and rights, but it sure as hell does everything it can for America, the country and its people.
Ay, and there's the rub - to hell with the rest of the world, eh?
America burns more oil than the rest of the world put together (except for China and India). It really is time the US started to consider the Big Picture.

55 of them? What is that, about 1/5 of the whole US Navy? Does that make sense?