History was made here today when the nation’s first Littoral Combat Ship, FREEDOM (LCS-1) — the inaugural ship in an entirely new class of U.S. Navy surface warships — was christened and launched at the Marinette Marine shipyard.
The agile 377-foot FREEDOM — designed and built by a team led by Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) — will help the Navy defeat growing littoral, or close-to- shore, threats and provide access and dominance in coastal water battlespace. Displacing 3,000 metric tons and with a capability of reaching speeds well over 40 knots, FREEDOM will be a fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant with operational flexibility to execute focused missions, such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and humanitarian relief.