US launches new combat ship amid China's moves in SCS

The US has launched its newest littoral combat ship, ideal for missions in shallow waters around the Pacific Rim, where the US Navy is increasing its presence as it keeps an eye on China, which is expanding its naval forces in the strategic South China Sea.
Speaking at the launch of the USS Little Rock in Wisconsin, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said it was emblematic of the US Navy's commitment to have a fleet of 304 ships by the end of the decade, enough to maintain a strong presence in all the world's waters.
At the launch ceremony, speakers said the 378-foot-long, 3,000-tonne littoral combat ship (LCS) with only a 13-foot draft is ideal for the missions the Navy faces in shallow waters around Pacific Rim.

That presence means "being where it counts, when it counts," Mabus said yesterday. "That presence reassure allies, it deters potential foes."
"LCS is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore (littoral) environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric 'anti-access' threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft," CNN reported, quoting a Navy fact file on the ship as saying.
LCS ships are designed with what the Navy calls "mission modules," which can be switched out quickly according to assigned tasks.

Littoral combat ships made news earlier this year when the USS Fort Worth, LCS-3, the second in the Freedom class, cruised through the South China Sea, where China is building facilities on reclaimed land in the disputed Spratly Islands, triggering regional concerns.

The US Navy said at the time that LCS vessels will be making more frequent visits to the region.
"Routine operations like the one Fort Worth just completed in the South China Sea will be the new normal as we welcome four LCSs to the region in the coming years.
Deployment of multiple LCSs to Southeast Asia underscores the importance of this 'region on the rise' and the value persistent presence brings," Captain Fred Kacher, commodore of the Navy's Destroyer Squadron 7, said in a press release.
Rear Admiral Brian Antonio, executive officer of the LCS programme, said the Navy will have four LCS vessels based out of Singapore by 2018 as it focuses on the Asia-Pacific region.

China has rapidly expanded its navy in recent years, commissioning its first aircraft carrier in 2012 and adding to its submarine and surface fleets.
The increased military posture comes as Beijing asserts its territorial claims in the East and South China Seas, where it has disputes with several Asian neighbours including Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. The South China Sea hosts major sea lanes over vast mineral reserves.
The Little Rock will now undergo sea trials before official delivery to the Navy, expected in 2016.