LCS program vastly different

SAN DIEGO – The Littoral Combat Ship fleet has spent the last year in the midst of reorganization, and preparations for a new way of conducting business after a 2016 LCS Review recommended injecting simplicity, stability and ownership into the program. A year into implementing the recommendations, the LCS fleet looks different than initially envisioned. LCS ships now fall under one of two squadrons: LCSRON-1 in San Diego or LCSRON-2 in Mayport, Fla. LCSRON-1 will eventually have four divisions and consist of the first four ships in the Independence class to focus on testing hardware, software and concepts of operations to support bringing new mission module equipment into the fleet; a surface warfare division; a mine countermeasures division; and an anti-submarine division. LCSRON-1’s surface warfare-focused Division 11, the first warfare-focused division to stand up, will include USS Jackson (LCS-6) as the training ship, and USS Montgomery (LCS-8), USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) and USS Omaha (LCS-12) as the ships to forward deploy. For the training ships, “what we’re going to do is build a more senior crew with a little more resident LCS expertise so they are able to train and certify the three ships that will each be blue and gold, six crews,” said LCSRON-1’s Capt. Jordy Harrison. LCSRON-1 staff won’t deploy. The commander’s sole job is to make sure crews and ships are ready to deploy, overseeing training, maintenance, manning and certification to deploy. (Source: Part 1 of 3 USNI News 09/06/17) Gulf Coast Note: All LCS home-ported in San Diego are Independence variants built by Austal USA shipyards in Mobile, Ala.