US Navy crew of USS Sioux City LCS conducts live-fire qualification exercise.

The crew of the U.S. Navy USS Sioux City (LCS 11) conducts a live-fire qualification exercise. The ship is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
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The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11), transits the Caribbean Sea, April 10, 2021. (Picture source US. Navy)

The USS Sioux City (LCS-11) is a Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in service with the United States Navy. The ship was constructed by Fincantieri Marinette Marine and launched on 30 January 2016 and commissioned in November 2018.

The LCS is a relatively inexpensive surface combatant equipped with modular mission packages. The LCS program includes two very different LCS designs. One, called the LCS-1 or Freedom-class design, was developed by an industry team led by Lockheed. The other, called the LCS-2 or Independence-class design, was developed by an industry team that was then led by General Dynamics.

LCS procurement has been divided more or less evenly between the two designs. The LCS-1 design is built at the Marinette Marine shipyard at Marinette, WI, with Lockheed as the prime contractor. The LCS-2 design is built at the Austal USA shipyard at Mobile, AL, with Austal USA as the prime contractor.

The LCS was designed to operate in contested littoral waters in conjunction with other Navy forces. The primary missions of the LCS ships are antisubmarine warfare (ASW), mine countermeasures (MCM), and surface warfare (SUW) against small boats, particularly in littoral waters.

The USS Sioux City is 115 m in length, displaces 3,500 tons. The ship is powered by two Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW (48,000 hp) gas turbines, two Colt-Pielstick 16PA6B 6.8 MW (9,100 hp) diesel engines and four Rolls-Royce waterjets. She can reach a top speed of 47 knots (87 km/h) with a maximum cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h).

The USS Sioux City is armed with one BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm naval gun with 400 rounds in the turret and two ready service magazines with 240 rounds each. The armament also includes one Mk 49 launcher with 21 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Surface-to-Air Missiles, four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, two 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster II automatic cannons, eight RGM-184A Naval Strike Missiles, 24 AGM-114L Hellfire missiles, and one Lockheed Martin 150 kW High Energy Laser.

Logistics Specialist Seaman Francisco Villagomez fires an M240B machine gun during a live-fire qualification exercise aboard the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11), April 10, 2021. (Picture source U.S. Navy)