A Comparative Study of the US Navy Littoral Combat Ship

An emerging United States Navy requirement for a fast Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is currently being developed to counter asymmetric threats within the littoral, principally: mines, small fast surface craft, and diesel submarines. The LCS is described as a fast, stealthy, low cost naval combatant that leverages the potential of advanced hullforms to meet demanding performance requirements. This paper takes the US Navy Littoral Combat Ship requirements as a baseline and then demonstrates how they might be satisfied using a range of hullforms. The advantages and disadvantages of the monohull, trimaran, surface effect ship and catamaran are explored using a numerical sizing model. Point designs are proposed which examine the feasibility of the results of the sizing model, drawing out design drivers for each hullform. Finally, conclusions are drawn as to the hullform which provides the most cost effective solution to the task of the littoral combat ship.