US Navy holds Lockheed Martin responsible for LCS Freedom gear repairs

The US Navy (USN) is holding ship prime contractor Lockheed Martin responsible for repairs after determining that a propulsion system combining gear-material defect on the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was a latent defect-design issue, the USN said in a statement on 21 January.

“Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the Freedom-variant LCS, will be responsible for the repairs,” the USN said. “The cost will be shared between the government and Lockheed Martin along the provisions of the contract. Lockheed Martin will be contractually responsible to resolve the defect on all ships.”

In a statement released the same day, Lockheed Martin said, “In partnership with the US Navy, Lockheed Martin is aggressively pursuing a resolution to the gear issue the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship is currently experiencing.”

The USN also said, “The government has investigated a material defect with the combining gear on the Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship. A joint Navy and Lockheed Martin team with RENK AG, the original equipment manufacturer, conducted a root cause analysis (RCA) and determined a class design defect exists with the high-speed clutch bearings.”

A design fix has been developed, and is in production, to be followed by factory and sea-based testing, the USN said. “The navy is determining the plan to install this fix on ships in the fleet. The fix will be installed and tested on new construction ships prior to the navy taking deliveries of those ships. Measures have been implemented to mitigate risk to the in-service Freedom-variant ships while the navy moves swiftly to correct the deficiency and minimise operational impacts.”