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Littoral Combat Ships - Surface Warfare (SUW) Mission Package | | | Description
The SUW Mission Package (MP) provides fleet protection from small boats and other asymmetrical threats. The package can also be used to provide operational security in interdiction missions against terrorist suspects and high seas pirates, and can provide defense against shore attacks while operating in the littorals. These capabilities, when joined together, permit the ship’s crew and the fleet commander to operate with confidence and address threats to the fleet while operating in the littorals and in constrictive environments. The SUW MP augments the core Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) sensor and weapons capabilities with gun, missile, and aviation systems, providing a layered defense capable of rapidly detecting, tracking, and prosecuting small boat threats. Ultimately, this package enhances the safety of the Sailors while permitting the mission commander to maintain operational flexibility. | | | Features
The Baseline SUW MP will include:
• Gun Mission Module EX 50 MOD 0
MK 46 MOD (X) Gun Weapon System with MK 44 MOD 2 30mm Automatic Cannon
Uses all Navy qualified 30mm × 173mm ammunition
400 rounds in turret
Two ready service magazines with 240 rounds each
Three shipping containers
• Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM)
Surface-to-surface missiles capable of engaging fast-moving small boat threats
Launcher system with self-contained technical fire control
Hatch system / support structure / module service panels
Gas management system
Modular control computer
• Aviation Module MH-60R Helicopter
MK299 MOD 2 launchers with 8 HellFire missiles
GAU21 .50 caliber machine gun
M240 7.62mm machine gun
Two support containers
Vertical Takeoff Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (2)
o One support container
• Maritime Security Module
Two 11m Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) with cradles and parts
Two Berthing modules with gear storage
One head and shower module
Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) gear
Boarding teams
• Mission Package Application Software
Mission specific application software that supports the MP in planning and executing the SUW Missions.
| | | Background
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a fast, agile, and networked surface combatant optimized for operating in the littorals. The primary missions for the LCS include countering diesel submarine threats, littoral mine threats and surface threats such as small surface craft attacks to assure maritime access for Joint Forces. The underlying strength of the LCS lies in its innovative design approach, applying modularity for operational flexibility. Fundamental to this approach is the capability to rapidly install interchangeable mission packages (MPs) in to the seaframe. In other words each mission package can be quickly installed aboard an LCS ship to fulfill a specific mission, and then be removed, maintained, and upgraded at a Mission Package Support Facility (MPSF) for future use aboard any LCS ship.
Mission packages were created for LCS in response to an ever changing threat environment and identification of warfighting gaps in the littorals. Because the Navy awarded two different LCS ship designs, all mission packages are interchangeable between both ship designs. A mission package consists of mission modules, mission crew sailors and support aircraft with aviation sailors. Mission modules combine mission systems (vehicles, sensors, and weapons) and support equipment that install into the seaframe via standard interfaces. Thus, a mission package fielded on board an LCS is described in three layers:
• Mission Systems = Vehicles, Sensors, and Weapons
• Mission Module = Mission Systems + Support Equipment
• Mission Package = Mission Modules + Mission Crew Detachments + Aircraft and aviation crew detachments
The Mission Package Computing Environment (MPCE) is the primary interface that enables the mission package to work on the ship. The MPCE is a permanently installed equipment shipset in each seaframe.
The quantity of each mission package type differs based on an analysis of projected operational needs; therefore, mission packages are developed and procured separately from the LCS seaframes. Currently, the Navy plans to procure 55 LCS ships as well as 24 SUW mission packages. This concept reduces the overall cost of the LCS and will allow a smaller crew to operate and maintain the ship’s core systems. The ship core crew consists of 40 Sailors, the SUW MP Detachment will have 19 Sailors, and an aviation detachment will have 23 Sailors.
The first LCS deployment, from February to April 2010, featured the SUW MP configuration. USS Freedom (LCS 1) deployed with two Gun Mission Modules, Mission Package Application Software (MPAS) hosted on the ship’s Mission Package Computing Environment (MPCE), a MH-60S helicopter, the Maritime Security Module (MSM), support containers, and Sailors. LCS 1 operated within the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (NAVSO)/U.S. 4th Fleet (C4F) in the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR). The SUW MP proved to be extremely successful throughout the deployment. During its 47 days operating in the region, U.S.S. Freedom conducted counter-illicit trafficking patrols in the Caribbean Sea and off the coasts of Central and South America, in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South, USSOUTHCOM, and the U.S. Coast Guard, with the SUW MP Gun Mission Module (GMM) fully operational.
| | | Point Of Contact
Office of Corporate Communication (SEA 00D)
Naval Sea Systems Command
Washington, D.C. 20376 | | | | Last Update: 23 November 2011 | | |
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