Breaking news
USS Fort Worth sets sail from Wisconsin shipyard on its maiden voyage for commissioning.
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Naval Industry News - USA |
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USS Fort Worth sets sail from Wisconsin shipyard on its maiden voyage for commissioning | |||
Built by the Lockheed
Martin team, the future USS
Fort Worth (LCS 3) set sail Aug. 6 from the Marinette Marine
shipyard in Wisconsin on its maiden voyage to Galveston, Texas, for
its commissioning Sept. 22. Fort Worth will transit through the Great
Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway before sailing down the East Coast and
across the Gulf of Mexico on its way to Galveston. |
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Using
lessons learned from building the nation’s first LCS, USS Freedom,
the Lockheed Martin team made Forth Worth quicker, better and more affordably.
As with other new ship classes, Fort Worth incorporates enhancements
that account for the valuable feedback from first in class ship, USS
Freedom (LCS 1). These changes include an extended surface area that
provides an upgraded capability for the ship to carry more fuel and
enhances the range, speed and payload and internalized buoyancy tanks
which bring even greater stability. |
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“LCS
is critically important to the Navy. Delivering Fort Worth two months
early shows how we’ve made building these ships more efficient
already,” said Joe North, Lockheed Martin’s vice president
for Littoral Ships and Systems. “Our team’s shipyard investment
and streamlined processes are making us more efficient and more affordable.” Since deploying two years early in 2010, Freedom has sailed more than 59,000 nautical miles. It is preparing for deployment to Singapore next year as part of the United States’ new defense strategy that increases the focus on the Pacific. Construction of the Lockheed Martin team’s next two Freedom variant LCSs – the Milwaukee (LCS 5) and Detroit (LCS 7) – is underway in Marinette. Little Rock (LCS 9) and Sioux City (LCS 11) were awarded in March 2012, and the industry team is procuring long-lead materials for their construction. |