Lockheed Martin Launches U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship 29

The Lockheed Martin-led shipbuilding team on Monday launched Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 29, the future USS Beloit.

LCS is deployed for close-to-shore missions and is a growing and relevant part of the Navy’s fleet. In the last year, Freedom-variant Littoral Combat ships have supported the Navy on various missions including several counter-illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in narcotics seizures. Recently, the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship for the first time has deployed to U.S. 6th Fleet, as a measure of assurance for NATO allies and partners in Europe and Africa.

LCS 29 is the 15th Freedom-variant LCS and 29th in the LCS class. It is the first ship named in honor of the city of Beloit, Wisconsin. Lockheed Martin is in full-rate production and has delivered 11 ships to the U.S. Navy. There are five ships in various stages of production.