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From the article on Topshee's Town Hall meeting:View attachment 98412
"Construction is scheduled to begin at Conrad Shipyard in Louisiana in March 2026, with the first vessel expected to be delivered later that year under a Navy program of record. After delivery of the first ship, Blue Water plans to ramp up production to between 10 and 20 vessels per year."
"Boston-based shipbuilding startup Blue Water Autonomy has unveiled the Liberty Class, a 190-foot autonomous surface vessel designed for rapid, repeatable construction as the U.S. Navy looks for ways to grow fleet capacity while its traditional shipbuilding programs remain under pressure."
"The vessel is designed to sail more than 10,000 nautical miles, carry over 150 metric tons of payload, and support a wide range of mission packages, including sensors, logistics systems, and weapons."
"The ship is based on Damen’s Stan Patrol 6009 hull, which features the company’s distinctive Axe Bow—a vertical bow intended to improve seakeeping by cutting through waves rather than slamming into them. More than 300 Axe Bow vessels are already operating worldwide, allowing Blue Water to focus its engineering effort on autonomy rather than hull development."
"What sets the Liberty Class apart isn’t just the mission set, but how it was developed. The vessel was designed entirely with private capital, a rare approach for a full-sized Navy ship, but one the company says allowed it to move faster and avoid the long development timelines that have become common in major federal programs."
A Privately Funded Autonomous Warship Puts a New Navy Shipbuilding Model to the Test
Explore the Liberty Class autonomous warship, a breakthrough in rapid, efficient shipbuilding for the U.S. Navy's fleet capacity.gcaptain.com
10 to 20 hulls a year
4x Mk70 PDS with four cells each
160 to 320 new cells per year added to the fleet.
Arleigh Burkes have 90 cells
And the US can't build three of them a year.
Even the Legends take 3 to 4 years.
Legend Class National Security Cutter
The Legend-class national security cutter (NSC) is built by Huntington Ingalls Industries (formerly Northrop Grumman Ship Systems) for the US Coast Guard (USCG) under the Deepwater programme.www.naval-technology.com
On the other hand these tagalongs may make up for deficiecies in the Legends and the LCSs.
To me the expedient solution is a mass of autonomous sensor nodes to detect contacts so that our existing platforms can respond to them. There are a number of existing UUV's and USV's available that we could use as a stop gap measure while the CDC's are designed and built.
We have the AOPS (and Coast Guard) that can act as mother ships for these platforms. This should be the short term focus to my mind.
