US Navy's sleek slick Pirate Killer

Navy's new pirate-catcher!  It only took them 50 years to figure out that trimarans are fast!

The only thing keeping it from doing it's job would be the international "five mile limit" law. Ships operating within this limit fall under that nation's jurisdiction.

  Here are  some recent photos of the LCS 2 (to be USS) Independence .  She's at 43 knots here running at half power.  NOTE the absence of a bow wave.

Turns tightly, also; allegedly this also was done at 43 knots...and from the look of the small bow wave, she's still in the turn.

And then we have the massive helo deck big enough for a CH-53.  Last time I talked with the SURFPAC guys years ago. THIS was the LCS they liked because of the huge storage capacity under that flight deck and the size of the flight deck.
 

Here it is under construction.....

There have been rumors about the U.S. Navy's speedy new triple hulled ships, but now they're for real.

The U.S.S  Independence was built by General Dynamics. It's called a "littoral combat ship" (LCS), and the tri-maran can move its weapons around faster than any other ship in the Navy. (Ironic that with all that high tech built in, the ship reminds us of the Merrimac ironclad from Civil War days.) 

Littoral means close to shore, and that's where these very ships will operate.  The y're tailor-made for launching helicopters and armored vehicles, sweeping mines and firing all manner of torpedoes, missiles and machine guns.

The se ships are also relatively inexpensive.  This one's a bargain at $208 million, and the Navy plans to build 55 of them.

This tri-maran is the first of a new fire breathing breed, ready to scoot out of dry dock at a rumored 60 knots.. It's like a speedy and heavily armed aircraft carrier for helicopters.

Pirates Beware!!!

Hooray for the USA !!!