Lockheed Martin and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) have entered a teaming agreement to partner on the Multi-mission Combat Ship (MCS), which is based on a DSME hull design and intended for the corvette market.
The multi-mission ship is based on the Freedom-variant littoral combat ships Lockheed Martin is building for the U.S. Navy.
Unlike the modular design of the LCS which allows the U.S. Navy to configure the ships either for antisubmarine, anti-surface or mine warfare, the international version of the ship would be fitted with anti-air and surface warfare equipment.
Lockheed Martin has come up with this design in order to provide smaller budget navies with a ship capable of performing a multitude of missions.
“DSME’s MCS hull design coupled with Lockheed Martin’s expertise in program and systems integration will allow the team to bring this capable ship to the international marketplace at an affordable price,” said Joe North , vice president of Littoral Ships and Systems at Lockheed Martin Mission System and Training.
Lockheed Martin and DSME are looking for additional business opportunities in the international naval market where, as Lockheed Martin says, “integrated, multi-mission corvettes will play a vital role in coastal protection as well as regional operations”.