Meet the Littoral Combat Ship: US Navy’s $500 Million Warship

More than 17 years ago, the U.S. Navy christened the first of a new class of warship designed to operate in near-shore environments. The so-called Littoral Combat Ships or LCS would be fast and agile, capable of countering 21st-century coastal threats such as missile-firing boats, small submarines, and mines.

The LCS is a class of Small Surface Combatants equipped with capabilities specifically designed to address global challenges in littoral regions. The LCS is intended to facilitate joint force access in these littorals, operating either independently or within high-threat environments as part of a networked battle force that includes larger, multi-mission surface combatants.

Littoral combat ships are comparable to corvettes found in other navies. The LCS class consists of two variants: the Freedom-class and the Independence-class.