Military trimarans - USA do not stop there

The deck of the LCS trimaran has a large landing strip, sufficient for two Sea Hawk 60 anti-submarine helicopters and a number of unmanned aerial vehicles. Since the trimaran is highly resistant to rolling, it will be able to accommodate aircraft not only in coastal areas, but also on the open sea in rough conditions. In the future, not only SH-60s, but also much larger Sea Stallion H-53 helicopters will be able to land on its deck.

In terms of payload-to-weight ratio, the trimaran will be one of the most effective combat ships and a record holder among aircraft carriers in terms of runway height above sea level. The trimaran's basic armament will include a 57 mm artillery mount and a short-range anti-aircraft missile system. In addition, the LCS will use special weapon modules that can be installed depending on the nature of the task at hand.

US Navy trimaran warship

Currently, three types of modules have been developed: anti-mine, anti-submarine and strike. In the anti-submarine and anti-mine versions, the surface ship will carry unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, as well as a number of underwater vehicles designed to search for and destroy underwater targets. In the strike version, the ship will be equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles carrying short-range anti-ship missiles. The capacity and load-carrying capacity of the surface vessel will allow it to carry all three types of weapon modules in its holds — the crew will be able to install and dismantle them directly while sailing, quickly adapting to the current combat situation.

The developers claim that the system for configuring and controlling the weapon systems will be extremely simple and easy to use. It will be enough to simply connect a particular module to the ship's networks for the ship to determine how to work with it — literally on a plug-and-play basis.

In 2009, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin are to build two prototypes of the trimaran, and only after testing will the Pentagon make a final decision on which of them will go into large-scale production. According to plans, by 2018, the US Navy should have more than 50 ships of this class.