US Navy's Seventh Littoral Combat Ship USS Detroit Launched

The industry team led by Lockheed Martin launched the US Navy’s seventh Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), Detroit, into the Menominee River at Marinette Marine Corporation (MMC), the company announced Saturday.

"It is a privilege to serve as the sponsor of the future USS Detroit and to participate in the major milestones along the way to her assuming her place as part of the great U.S. Navy fleet," said ship's sponsor, Barbara Levin.

Following christening and launch, Detroit will continue to undergo outfitting and testing before delivery to the Navy in 2015.

"It is an honor to continue supporting the US Navy with these capable and flexible warships," said Dale P. Bennett, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems and Training business. "The Lockheed Martin-led team's LCS design is lethal, survivable, and affordable. These ships will help the Navy achieve its goal to increase forward presence, and can be upgraded or modified quickly to meet future missions."

The US Navy awarded the contract to construct Detroit in March 2011. The ship is one of five currently under construction at Marinette Marine.

"On behalf of Marinette Marine, we are incredibly proud to build these ships for the U.S. Navy," said Jan Allman, MMC president and CEO. "We continue to streamline our processes and leverage the craftsmanship and skills of our employees in producing these high quality vessels for our warfighters."

The team is building the Freedom-variant ships, and has already delivered two ships to the U.S. Navy. USS Freedom (LCS 1) completed a successful deployment to Southeast Asia in 2013. USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) will deploy to Southeast Asia in 2014. Milwaukee (LCS 5) will be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2015. Detroit (LCS 7) was christened and launched on Oct. 18, 2014. Little Rock (LCS 9), Sioux City (LCS 11) andWichita (LCS 13) are under construction. Billings (LCS 15) will begin construction this year.