The U.S. Navy completes the funding of the lcs “Cooperstown”

30 November 2015 – Within the Littoral Combat Ship Program (LCS), the U.S. Navy has issued the consortium consisting of Fincantieri, on behalf of its subsidiary Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), and Lockheed Martin Corporation, the balance of funding of USD 279 million for the construction of LCS “Cooperstown” (LCS 23). A significant share of this amount will be recognized to Fincantieri. The funding approved by the U.S. Congress provides the financing required to maintain the cost and schedule for the ship. As announced on April 16 2015, Congress previously provided USD 79 million in advanced procurement funding for this unit.

This unit is the last of the ten “Freedom” class ships of the program, assigned to FMM in 2010 within the partnership between Fincantieri and Lockheed Martin, number one of the defense sector in the United States. The other 9 ships are: “Milwaukee” (LCS 5), officially entered in the U.S. Navy’s fleet a few days ago, “Detroit” (LCS 7), “Little Rock” (LCS 9), “Sioux City” (LCS 11), “Wichita” (LCS 13), “Billings” (LCS 15), “Indianapolis” (LCS 17), “St. Louis” (LCS 19), and “Minneapolis/St. Paul” (LCS 21). The LCS program is one of the U.S. Navy’s main shipbuilding programs and relates to a new generation of mid-sized multirole vessels, designed for surveillance activities and coastal defense for deep water operations as well as capabilities for addressing asymmetrical threats such as mines, silent diesel submarines and fast surface ships.