Littoral combat ship sets sail on first deployment.

• Author: Insinna, Valerie

* As the littoral combat ship USS Freedom sets out for Singapore this spring, Navy officials are hoping a smooth first deployment will finally prove the ship's worth to critics.

The ship's defenders boast that it is lighter, faster and adaptable, with a modularity that will allow it to accomplish many different missions. However, opponents claim the program is too expensive and the ships are not tough enough to withstand combat.

The Freedom's 10-month deployment to Southeast Asia will be a chance for vindication, said Navy Capt. Kenneth Coleman, requirements officer for the LCS.

"I think when you see the ship operating overseas, doing the kind of missions she's going to be assigned over there, I think that will have a positive feedback loop, that we'll realize that we built a pretty capable platform," Coleman said. "We've manned it with some very talented sailors, both individually and as a team, and we've prepared them to go out and operate in some difficult areas and some difficult circumstances."

The Freedom left San Diego March 1 with plans to proceed to Pearl Harbor and Guam before making its way to Southeast Asia. Its first major event will be the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference in Singapore this May, said Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, director of Navy staff and chairman of the LCS council.

Like other surface combatants, Freedom will conduct maritime surveillance and patrolling operations, interact with the navies of local nations and generate situational awareness, he told reporters in February.

One of the officers of the ship, Cmdr. Tim Wilke, said he expects to conduct training exercises with nations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. It could also carry out military security or boarding missions as required by U.S. 7th Fleet.

The Freedom set sail with a team of 50 sailors collectively called the Gold Crew, which Wilke commands. It will hand over duties to the Blue Crew after about five months. The Navy originally intended a core crew of 40 sailors to staff the littoral combat ship, but officials decided last year that the vessel needed more manpower.

The Freedom will operate independently during its current deployment, though the vessels will sail in groups of four or as part of a strike group in the future.

The Navy envisioned the LCS as a small, quick ship that could easily maneuver in the littorals. Both variants--Lockheed Martin's Freedom-class and Austal USA's Independence-class--can sail...