The remote minehunting system will start developmental and operational test in February. Weekes said in his presentation UISS has already completed its initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) and is near a formal IOC declaration. LCS is going to give them a little bit of a punch working alongside them,” he said. “LAW is going to help the Marines move their gear around. The LCS, with its own Naval Strike Missile launchers onboard, could be nearby, launching its own strikes or hosting unmanned systems that could collect targeting data for the Marines ashore.Ĭiting last month’s Steel Knight exercise, conducted by the 1st Marine Division and Expeditionary Strike Group 3 in California, Kitchener said the exercise included some experimentation “where we’re passing data from Marines to ships, ships to Marines - that focus on controlling ” and looking for ways to use LCS and its payloads. Kitchener said he envisions a scenario where Marines might be moving about the First Island Chain in the Pacific in their future light amphibious warships (LAW), a platform still in the concept design phase, using their organic sensors and Naval Strike Missiles to take out enemy targets and then hurrying to a new location before they can be found.

He said the LCS is also a “very potent hull” to use alongside Marines operating in small units under their new expeditionary advanced base operations (EABO) concept. Kitchener said the service has changed the way it prepares and certifies ships ahead of deployments to match these desired mission sets. For these missions, LCS could launch manned or unmanned vehicles into the air or water using its large mission bay and flight deck. 7 media roundtable.īased on fleet commander feedback, Naval Surface Forces identified surface warfare and MCM as continuing priorities, but also found that counter-trafficking and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions were of great importance. went out to the number fleet commanders and said, ‘Alright, what do you want it to do? And what missions do you want it to execute based on the environment we’re in now?’” Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm.

“We weren’t sure LCS was executing the missions it was designed for.

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