U.S. Navy Commissions Littoral Combat Ship Omaha

The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Omaha (LCS 12), during a ceremony on Saturday, February 3, at the Broadway pier in San Diego, California.

The future USS Omaha, designated LCS 12, is the 11th littoral combat ship to enter the fleet and the sixth of the Independence-variant design. She is the fourth warship named for the Nebraska city. 

The first Omaha, a screw sloop-of-war, was laid down in 1867 at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pa., as Astoria, launched in June 1869, renamed Omaha in August 1869, and served from 1872–1914. The second Omaha, a light cruiser (CL-4), served from 1923–1945. The third Omaha, an attack submarine (SSN-692), served from 1978–1995. 

LCS is a modular, reconfigurable ship, designed to meet validated fleet requirements for surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral region. The vessels using an open architecture design, modular weapons, sensor systems and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to provide access to multiple theaters.

The LCS-class consists of the Freedom-variant and Independence-variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom-variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered ships, e.g. LCS 1). The Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and follow-on even-numbered ships). 29 LCS ships have been awarded to date: 11 have been delivered to the Navy, 15 are in various stages of construction, and three are in pre-production states.