US Navy studies potential of using Littoral Combat Ships as drone moterships

The US Navy is studying the potential of using Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) as motherships for unmanned vessels, with the “current phase” of its study expected to wrap up in 2023, according to a letter to key lawmakers obtained by Breaking Defense.

“The Navy continues to conduct fleet experimentation in pursuit of future capabilities across multiple platforms, including an ongoing study of the supporting infrastructure required to operate a future hybrid manned/unmanned fleet,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro wrote in a February 1 letter.

The memo was sent to House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, and House Appropriations defence subcommittee chairman Rep. Ken Calvert.

If the LCS can be used in such a manner, it could give new life to a ship that has been plagued with design and production issues almost from inception. While the Navy is actively seeking to retire the LCS from its inventory, lawmakers have fought back, with the argument that rather than scrap the ships the service should find a new way to use them. After back and forth debate, in the fiscal 2023 budget Congress allowed the Navy to retire five of the nine Littoral Combat Ships the service wanted to decommission.

Del Toro’s letter was prompted by a requirement in a previous defence spending bill directing the service to provide the congressional defence committees with information about “alternative uses” for the Littoral Combat Ship.

“This effort uniquely focuses on dedicated platforms acting as a mothership for a variety of future unmanned capabilities,” the letter continues. “To date, this study has analyzed current Navy platforms that could be repurposed for this concept.”