Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) launches a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) during Exercise Pacific Griffin on Oct. 1, 2019. US Navy Photo
The Chinese military sees the Littoral Combat Ship armed with anti-ship missiles as a key element of a U.S. distributed maritime force in the Western Pacific, according to a translation of a 2020 Chinese government research paper on the U.S. Navy’s distributed lethality concept reviewed by USNI News. Read More
Operations Specialist 2nd Class Vincent Hernandez stands watch at U.S. 3rd Fleet’s expeditionary maritime operations center (EMOC), forward-based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, during Large-Scale Exercise (LSE) 2021. US Navy Photo
San Diego-based U.S. 3rd Fleet relocated its command-and-control hub to Hawaii to support the Navy’s Large Scale Exercise 2021 and join an integrated exercise that’s combining live ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), and new technologies with simulated forces designed to synchronize the joint force. Read More
An MH-60S Seahawk helicopter from the “Merlins” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3, provides aerial firefighting support alongside sailors and civilian fire crews on the ground to fight the fire aboard amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on July 13, 2020. US Navy Photo
A federal search warrant filing was unsealed this week in the case of a sailor the Navy officially charged last week with setting the fire that devastated the former USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), rendering the amphibious assault ship unsalvageable. Read More
Federal firefighters assess damage in the hangar bay aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on July 15, 2020. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional details of the sailor accused of starting the fire aboard the former Bonhomme Richard (LHA-6).
The Navy has filed charges against a sailor for allegedly deliberately starting a fire last year that quickly spread and consumed much of the interior of amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), the service announced Thursday. Read More
An MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21 (HSC 21) lands on the flight deck of the independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Tulsa (LCS-16) on July 5, 2021. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — The Navy is making Littoral Combat Ship deployments in the Indo-Pacific region more flexible and unpredictable, allowing the service to respond to impromptu engagement opportunities and ensuring the LCS are not tied to any fixed location for too long, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said during a media conference call on Wednesday in conjunction with his official visit to Singapore. Read More
A firefighter working on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) fire on July 15, 2020. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – Lessons from the fire that took out a 40,000-ton U.S. warship are trickling out into the fleet a year after the blaze, the head of U.S. Naval Surface Force told reporters this week. Read More
Two F/A-18 Super Hornets, assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11, launch from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on April 29, 2021. US Navy Photo
Aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is changing homeports from San Diego, Calif., to Bremerton, Wash., for an overdue dry-dock maintenance period after back-to-back deployments to the Western Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet announced on Tuesday. Read More
USS Charleston (LCS-18) arrives for a contactless port visit ahead of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Sri Lanka on June 23, 2021. US Navy Photo
The Navy will have six Littoral Combat Ships deployed by the end of the year – a record for the program, several Navy officials have confirmed to USNI News. Read More
Screenshot of YouTube video from May 31, 2021 of the hull of Bonhomme Richard arriving in the Port of Brownsville, Texas.
The hull of the former amphibious warship Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) has arrived at the yard of a Texas shipbreaker for dismantling, the shipyard confirmed to USNI News. Read More
The Independence-variant littoral combat ships USS Montgomery (LCS 8) and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) operate in the South China Sea, accompanied by an MH-60S Sea Hawk assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, Jan. 28, 2020. US Navy photo
The Navy is now pushing the Littoral Combat Ships out into the Pacific in force after more than a decade of stops and starts and studies. Read More
