Never been inside Lockheed Martin's littoral combat ship? Here's your chance. (Video)

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Corey Wilson

A view of the future USS Detroit from sister ship Milwaukee. The two littoral combat ships that Lockheed Martin is building for the Navy currently sit on the Menominee River in Wisconsin, until their commissioning in 2015. Photo by Corey Wilson

Jill R. Aitoro

Senior Staff Reporter- Washington Business Journal

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Watch your head.

That was among the more valuable words of wisdom shared with me prior to my tour of the future USS Milwaukee at the Marinette, Wisconsin, shipyard, where Lockheed Martin Corp.'s littoral combat ships are built. These aren't aircraft carriers. You'll see pretty quickly on the attached video that it's tight quarters.

Of course, that is sort of the point. The LCS program was created by the Navy to deliver affordable ships that are small enough to make their way into shallow waters and maneuver in tight spots. To pull that off, Lockheed designed a ship that has a modular design, meaning the Navy can quickly swap out technology systems instead of taking the ship out of commission for six months to a year to rip and replace.

Still, while we didn't see any staterooms or a mess hall, it's clear that all 389 feet of the ship are very much accounted for — much of it by the flight deck.

Oh, and to all the sailors out there, pardon my vernacular in the video. Who ever decided it's flight deck instead of launch pad, anyway?

Meantime, if you want to see how these ships are actually dropped into the water sideways, check out the video of Lockheed's Oct. 18 launch of the future USS Detroit.

Jill R. Aitoro covers federal contracting.