The USS Freedom (LCS-1)

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The USS Freedom (LCS-1) is the lead vessel in the Freedom-class littoral combat ships used by the United States Navy. Commissioned in 2008 and homeported in San Diego, she is among the first of a new class of combat vessels designed to replace three different ship types and provide the US armed forces with greater global reach. Freedom's motto is "Fast, Focused, Fearless," a fitting description for the ship and her crew. Freedom was born out of the US Navy's need for a multipurpose combat vessel that could operate effectively in littoral waterways. Although the navy already has an impressive arsenal of aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and other "blue water" combat ships that can operate with near impunity in the open ocean, these same vessels are too big and their drafts are too deep to allow them to operate in littoral environments. This consideration is of great importance since many threats to American interests worldwide use littoral waterways to move around. Among the most notable examples of such threats are drug cartels that use small boats to clandestinely transport narcotics to US shores. After a series of teething problems, Freedom finally went on her first operational deployment in February 2013, though as of the time of writing, she has not conducted any actual combat missions related to her primary role. However, she did go on limited patrols in the South China Sea in May 2013 and even transported humanitarian aid to those affected by a natural disaster. Freedom is equipped with a core crew of 40 sailors, an aviation detachment, and a mission package crew of 35 for a total complement of 75 (though the ship was built to accommodate up to 100 personnel). The crew is rather small for a ship her size, but with much of her systems being fully automated for greater operational efficiency and versatility, there is a reduced need for manpower. Her hangar can accommodate two MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, three MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned helicopters, or one Seahawk and two Fire Scouts. The Seahawks can perform search and rescue, medical evacuation, and insertion and extraction of special warfare teams behind enemy lines among other missions while the Fire Scouts can serve reconnaissance, over-the-horizon targeting assistance, limited attack, and resupply roles. Freedom has a BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm main gun that could accurately lob high-explosive rounds out to 9,300 yards. She is also equipped with 21 supersonic RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles to shoot down any immediate airborne threats and two Mk44 Bushmaster II 30 mm guns and four Browning M2 .50-caliber machine guns to ward off small airborne and seaborne threats. Freedom is merely the first ship in a planned class of 12. Her sister ship, USS Fort Worth, has been in active service since 2012, and seven more are currently being built. She was not designed to be the ship that can do it all, but she is nonetheless a vessel capable of defeating smaller yet potent and highly mobile threats against the free world. https://youtu.be/CtPu1I6hWf4