Within the Littoral Combat Ship Programme (LCS), the consortium consisting of Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) and Lockheed Martin Corporation, have delivered Little Rock (LCS 9) to the US Navy at FMM's shipyard in Marinette.
Little Rock is part of a programme started in 2010, which comprises 11 units, all fully funded, on top of the two units delivered before 2010 (Freedom and Forth Worth). The Fincantieri and Lockheed Martin team is currently in full-rate production and has delivered five ships to the US Navy to date. There are currently seven ships in various stages of construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, with one more in long-lead production.
The LCS programme Freedom-variant is a mid-sized multirole vessel, designed for surveillance activities and coastal defence for deep water operations as well as capabilities for addressing asymmetrical threats such as mines, silent diesel submarines and fast surface ships.
