Underwater killers: Navy's mine-hunting technologies wait for the Littoral Combat Ship.

• Author: Wagner, Breanne
• Position: FUTURE NAVY

THE NAVY HAS A NEW SUITE of anti-mine technologies designed to roll on and off a ship as needed. It just doesn't have the ship yet.

In September, the service unveiled a transportable "mine warfare mission package" that will one day replace current minesweeping boats, which are scheduled for retirement in 2016.

The new mission package is slated to go aboard the littoral combat ship. But it is not yet clear when exactly the LCS will enter service. The program so far has been beset by cost overruns and schedule delays.

The Navy's ability to deploy the new mine warfare technology is tied to the fate of the LCS. The ship's current troubles, Navy officials insist, will not leave the fleet ill-prepared to tackle mine-sweeping missions in the future.

The possibility that LCS may not be ready by the time the minesweeping ships are decommissioned in 2016 is not currently being considered in future planning, said Gary Humes, the Navy's mine warfare program manager.

He said he is confident that LCS vessels will be in the fleet before 2016 or 2017. "The timeline right now for mine countermeasure decommissioning and the ramp-up of LCS marries quite well," Humes said in an interview.

Yet the LCS program schedule stands on shaky ground. Original plans called for 55 of these new ships to be operational in 2013. But the Navy is now struggling to keep the program afloat, following a decision to cancel one of the two prototypes that were to be built by Lockheed Martin. A competing design is being built by General Dynamics. Analysts project that the LCS will fall further behind in the next two years.

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The mine warfare package was delivered as scheduled in September. It includes a suite of sensors, weapons and unmanned systems--bundled in a rectangular container that is sized to fit only on LCS. It is one of three different mission packages that the Navy wants to deploy aboard the ship. The service plans to buy up to 24 mine warfare systems, which are designed to locate and destroy sea mines floating in deep water or planted in shallow water and surf zones.

"All we're waiting for is a sea frame," Humes said.

One of the components of the mine warfare package--the remote mine-hunting system--was installed on the USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) destroyer in August.

The ship crew has no specific plans to test the RMS, but may conduct impromptu exercises if time allows, Humes said.

The Navy does not intend to buy anti-mine systems for the DDG class, he...