WASHINGTON, DC - Nine Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships currently in Navy service – the youngest of which was commissioned in 2020 – have been marked for disposal as part of the Pentagon's FY 2023 budget proposal, USNI News is reporting. The ships – USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), USS Milwaukee (LCS-5), USS Detroit (LCS-7), USS Little Rock (LCS-9), USS Sioux City (LCS-11), USS Wichita (LCS-13), USS Billings (LCS-15) and USS St. Louis (LCS-19) – are part of the 24 ships the service has chosen to decommission in FY-23 for an estimated $3.6B in savings. The Freedom-class ships had been tapped for the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission package. The key component was a towed variable depth low-frequency active sonar that the Navy doesn’t have in its fleet. While VDS showed promise, the Raytheon-built AN/SQS-62 VDS suffered stability and towing issues with the Freedom-class, according to Navy officials. As a result of the poor performance, the Navy announced it had terminated the mission module on March 28. (USNI News 03/29/22) Gulf Coast Note: The USNI article did not mention any Independent LCS, built in Mobile, Ala. LCS 2 (Independence) has already been decommissioned along with LCS 4 (Coronado); along with Marinette (Wis.) Marine-built LCS 1 (Freedom) and LCS 3 (Fort Worth). All Freedom Littoral Combat Ships in Commission Tapped for Early Disposal - USNI News
UPDATE: Navy also identified five cruisers by name for disposal: USS Bunker Hill (CG-52), USS Mobile Bay (CG-53), USS San Jacinto (CG-56), USS Lake Champlain (CG-57) and USS Vicksburg (CG-69). (Source: Military.com 03/20/22)
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