Lcs

[longknife]

Read story @ LCS gets New Drone and Mine Hunter - Business Insider

 

[SteadyMercury]

These ships are often criticized for not being able to hold their own against major blue water surface combatants, but that isn't supposed to be their role the US has plenty of carrier battle groups that would be on the front lines against major naval assets. LCS is supposed to be primarily near shore multi-mission, the only scraps they should be getting into is the missile boats and corvettes Iran puts in the Persian Gulf, they can outrun anything they aren't designed to fight.

I wonder how they'll recover a 27 ft wingspan drone, do like a water landing and crane it aboard? I assume having one won't be at the expense of either of the two SH-60 helicopters it carries.

 

[SteadyMercury]

As a related aside LCS is also getting the griffin missile as an interim short range anti-ship weapon, presumably to engage said smaller attack boats it is likely to encounter in littoral warfare.

Griffin is relatively small gliding missile with a 13 lb warhead that is a candidate to replace hellfire on drones. Reason = hellfire is an expensive missile designed to take out main battle tanks, drones are usually engaging things like pickup trucks, mud huts, and people. A drone can carry three of the smaller/cheaper griffins in place of one hellfire, each of which can handle the strikes required of drones.