SAN DIEGO (NNS) – Acting Secretary of the Navy Sean J. Stackley, announced the newest littoral combat ship, PCU Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), will be commissioned June 10 during a ceremony on the waterfront in Galveston, Texas.
LCS 10 is the ninth littoral combat ship to enter the fleet and the fifth of the Independence variant. In spring of 2014, the keel of Gabrielle Giffords was laid down. The ship was launched on February 26, 2015 and christened June 13, 2015 during a ceremony at the Austal shipbuilding facility in Mobile, Alabama.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a fast, agile and networked surface combatant, optimized for operating in the littorals. The primary missions for ships like Gabrielle Giffords include countering submarine threats, littoral mine threats and surface threats, such as small surface craft attacks, to assure maritime access for joint forces. The underlying strength of the LCS lies in its innovative design approach, applying modularity for operational flexibility. Fundamental to this approach is the capability to rapidly install interchangeable mission packages (MPs) onto the seaframe to fulfill a specific mission and then be uninstalled, maintained and upgraded at the Mission Package Support Facility (MPSF) for future use aboard any LCS seaframe.
The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g. LCS 1). The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).
After commissioning in Texas, she will make her way to homeport in San Diego.
For more information about the Littoral Combat Ship class visit http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=1650&ct=4