SINGAPORE, Feb. 28 — The first United States littoral combat ship USS Freedom is expected to arrive in Singapore in mid- April for its inaugural ten-month deployment, local media reported on Thursday.
The U.S. Navy also said on Thursday that the ship will depart San Diego, the United States on Friday.
The warship will be in and off Singapore for about eight months, local daily Lianhe Zaobao reported.
The 378-foot-long USS Freedom is the first in its class and was commissioned in 2008.
The ship will have a crew of 91 people, including mission package personnel and an aviation detachment to operate the MH-60 helicopter. Mid-way through the deployment, a crew swap will be conducted, the U.S. Navy said.
Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the maiden deployment of the ship is a clear signal of the Navy’s ” enduring commitment to maintain security and stability in the vital Asia-Pacific region.”
“Rotationally deploying our new littoral combat ships improves our warfighting capability and directly supports the Navy’s rebalance strategy to the Asia-Pacific,” he said.
The littoral combat ship, with a displacement of 3,000 tons, is seen by the U.S. Navy as the answer to multi-mission capable ships that are faster, can operate in shallow water and require a crew of less than 50 to operate.
Fast, agile and mission-focused, the littoral combat ships are designed to employ modular mission packages that can be configured for separate purposes such as surface warfare, mine countermeasures, or anti-submarine warfare.
The Ministry of Defense of Singapore said that the sailors will be living on board the USS Freedom during her deployment in Singapore.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates first revealed the U. S. plan at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in 2011 that it planned to deploy littoral combat ships in Singapore.
David Adelman, the United States Ambassador to Singapore, said in an interview later that the United States may eventually deploy four littoral combat ships in Singapore. He added that the words ” station” or “base” would be inaccurate. There will no sailors permanently stationed in Singapore but there will be facilities for the combat ships.
US littoral combat ship to arrive in Singapore in April on maiden deployment
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