The fleet’s water jet-propelled trimaran is about to turn heads across the Wwestern Pacific.
Littoral combat ship Coronado set out from San Diego Wednesday on the ship’s maiden deployment, which will be the first deployment to 7th Fleet for the Independence-class LCS.
The ship will take part in the upcoming Rim of the Pacific exercise off Hawaii and then will conduct operations with Asia-Pacific allies and partners.
In addition to the core crew, the Coronado has embarked a MQ-8 Fire Scout drone helicopter, which has been outfitted with a radar that "will significantly improve the Navy’s surface search capabilities for LCS and its action group," according to a 3rd Fleet release Tuesday.
"It is an honor and privilege to deploy the first LCS-2 variant to the 7th Fleet AOR,", said Cmdr. Scott Larson, the Coronado’s skipper, in the release. "It's time to demonstrate the full potential of these ships to the fleet, and I have every confidence that the Coronado team is poised to execute at a high level in support of vital operational tasking."
This all-aluminum LCS variant built by Austal USA has some eye-popping capabilities, including hitting speeds above 50 mph.
A previous CO described it as "a big military Jet Ski with a flight deck, payload areas and weapons" that "handles like a Ferrari."
It will also be an chance for the LCS to show its mettle in operations. Pentagon officials have raised questions about the ship’s survivability in combat scenarios and this variant has had some issues with corrosion in its water jet tunnels.
The Freedom-class ship Fort Worth broke down in-port amid its 16-month deployment to Singapore and will need extensive repairs to fix its wrecked combining gears.
