LCS Hellfire tests completed

The Navy has completed the structural testing needed to confirm that a Hellfire anti-surface missile can safely operate on the Littoral Combat Ship. The missile will deploy with one of the Freedom class LCS later this year, USNI News reported. The service had previously wrapped up structural testing for Freedom variant ships based out of Mayport, Fla., according to a USNI News source. Testing of the Independence LCS variant, which are built at Austal USA shipyards in Mobile, Ala., wrapped up about two weeks ago. The AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missile makes up the surface-to-surface missile module (SSMN) of the ships’ surface warfare mission package. The Independence-variant USS Montgomery (LCS-8), which deployed from San Diego in late May, does not have the SSMM, but is equipped with the over-the-horizon Naval Strike Missile (NSM), USNI News reported. Montgomery was scheduled to pick up the NSM during a port visit to Hawaii in June. Prior to Montgomery’s deployment, Austal-built USS Coronado (LCS-4) experimented with anti-ship missile canisters mounted on the ship’s bow behind the deck gun. Austal-built Independence variants all have even-numbered hulls. A source added that USS Detroit (LCS-7), which is undergoing maintenance, is on track to deploy to the 4th Fleet later in 2019 and would likely bring the with it, the SSMM. Detroit’s deployment would be the first from Mayport in the LCS program’s history. Source: USNI News 07/03/19)