Coolest. Ship. Ever.

General Dynamics, in conjunction with Austal, has just floated the USS Independence, the second of the littoral combat ships. You could call it a corvette (my preferred term) or a frigate, but you must call it beautiful. It is a trimaran design, with a primary hull down the centerline and two outrigger hulls that provide stability. Not only that, but it has that distinctly brushed metal look that says "I am made of aluminum", so you know it must be awfully light. It is publicized as being very fast, and able to handle rough seas due to the broad support of the outrigger hulls. Of course, there is a noticeable slope to the hull and superstructure, which is du jour now as a means of lowering radar signature. From what's been written about this ship so far, though, the coolest bits are inside. The flight deck is enormous, with hangar space included. Additionally, the aft end holds a significant amount of... pretty much whatever you want to jam in there. You can carry land assault vehicles, cargo, weapon modules, ordnance, aircraft support gear... you're only limited by your imagination and budget. Better still, you have a side ramp for easy roll-on/roll-off capability. No need to worry about crane capacity at the pier.

The Lockheed Martin version, the USS Freedom (I think second grade students named the ships, the third one will probably be the USS Liberty, followed by the USS Red, White, and Blue) is a very conventional light warship, with a monohull design, primarily steel structure and adequate storage capacity in its own right. However, the Freedom is a very conventional hull design. The two fundamentally different ships built to meet the same requirements will square off in some sort of "Corvette Olympics" next year to settle which one becomes the baseline LCS. Let's hope the 'Indy' wins. The beauty to me of the Independence is that there is no need for all that space... today.

My personal belief is that the accelerating proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will continue until manned aircraft only remain for select missions (such as search and rescue or transporting assault troops) or to act as command ships for fleets of UAVs. The open arrangement and systems architecture, along with overall killer-cool looks, is what makes the Independence so appealing. The current mission of aircraft carriers is to sail within reach of a spot where reconnaissance, saber-rattling, or combat air power is needed. In doing so, they drag over 5,000 sailors, two nuclear reactors, and escort vessels with their crew members into harms way. And 100,000+ ton ships don't exactly show up unannounced. A carrier with its air wing can accomplish a great deal, but how often, in the climate of contemporary warfare, is a full blown strike force of two dozen bombers really needed? The cost effectiveness of instead discretely slipping a handful of Independence Class corvettes near to shore, each carrying a modest number of UAVs, can provide local air support at a fraction of the cost. The capacity to carry various mission modules mean that the ships escort themselves in terms of air, surface, and submarine threats. When you think about it, the medium range strike capacity that UAVs are already developing will really negate the usefulness of one of the worst Cold War holdovers, the DDG-1000.

The Independence Class is how the Navy affords their desire for a 313+ ship fleet. Only maintain enough aircraft carriers, LPDs, and surface escorts to throw knockout punches or for sustained operations, and build more than the forecast 55 LCS to patrol and put out fires. You then have a swarm of fast, low-cost (hopefully, still working on that) vessels that can adapt to specific missions and hold down the fort until the capital ships arrive to deliver the uppercut. And, of course, you silently fill in the remaining gaps with eyes and ears in the form of nuclear submarines. Let's not forget them.

Want to see more salivating over the undeniable coolness of USS Independence? Head here.