If you have been following our blog you may remember several posts that I have written in the past on the new Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).
Delivery of the USS Independence (kind of sounds like the Independence Navy ring doesn't it) was accepted in Mobile Alabama recently. This is the first of a new class of Littoral ships that the Navy will acquire in the future. Littoral ships are designed to operate close to shore in the Littoral or shallow water zone. This kind of gives me an idea of what Naval operations are expected to be like in the future. It seems as though the outlook is for small and Special Ops type unit operations. This leads me to believe that this ship will be used in operations such as drug interdiction, small raids, reconnaissance operations, anti piracy operations and as an all purpose vessel.
The LCS can be refitted to serve in several different roles depending on the mission that it has to perform. It can be outfitted to conduct mine counter measures, surface warfare, or anti submarine warfare. This shows that these ships are versatile and should be around for many years.
This ship is capable of transporting and carrying a small assault force to include troops, vehicles, and assault aircraft. From this I can see how it can be used for antiterrorism and drug interdiction operations.
The LCS is a small surface craft when compared to other warships but offers many advantages which include superior speed, the flexibility to be outfitted for a variety of missions, and a shallow draft. It is also a stealthy vessel mainly because of its hull design.
The ship can be refitted to perform different operations by the use of modules. Each module has the equipment needed for a specialized mission. The beauty of this is that the ship can be converted to perform different operations rather quickly so one ship will replace a variety of other types of ships.
The LCS can also be outfitted with a variety of different weapons and weapon systems to compliment its chosen mission. Some of the armament that it will be outfitted with include the MK110 machine gun and non line of sight weapons systems.

The past Naval warfare of WWII where we would see big Destroyers and Battleships duke it out in gun battles on the high seas is over. Modern Naval warfare will involve a compliment of many different types of technology and weapon systems. It will be chacterized by stealth, speed, and movement. Plans and actual operations will have to be fluid and will have to adapt to the demands of asymmetric warfare. The days of superpowers who go force on force are gone. In order to defeat small guerilla type units you have to in a sense take on their nature. Small mobile forces can prey on larger slower forces by continually nipping at their heels and slowly bleeding them to the point of surrender.

In this sense I really believe that the Littoral Combat Ship is here to stay. It was created to be highly adaptable but I believe that in the future it will grow and morph with all of the possible scenarios that it will be involved in. A good example of a piece of equipment that did this is the Humvee. This vehicle is almost totally different than it was at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soldiers began to modify it out of neccessity to adapt to the use of IED's by insurgents. Now there are several different types of Humvee. This is the nature of warfare. It is a matter of adaptation and overcoming. One side adapts and the other side overcomes. Thus we have a never ending survival cycle which forces all military forces to remain on the cutting edge of technology.