Changes to LCS warfare packages

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Navy will unveil changes to the number of mission warfare packages it plans to buy for the Freedom- and Independence-class Littoral Combat ships in its FY 2019 budget, said Capt. Ted Zobel, the LCS mission module program manager. The three LCS warfare packages each have a number of weapons, sensors and unmanned systems used for missions related to anti-submarine, surface, and mine-countermeasures warfare. Changes to existing programs could spell millions of dollars for companies manufacturing those products. The LCS program had planned to buy 24 surface, 24 anti-submarine, and 16 mine-countermeasure warfare modules. “That’s going to change,” Zobel told reporters. He declined to elaborate. The changes were being driven by the Navy purchasing 32 LCS vice 55; and to semi-permanently install the mission equipments instead of having swappable package. The SW package is scheduled to hit initial operational capability in FY-19, followed by the anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures modules in FY-2020. (Source: Defense News 01/16/18) Gulf Coast Note: Austal USA builds the Independence-class LCS at Mobile, Ala. Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City, Fla., has been intimately involved in the mine-countermeasures warfare package development.