USS Sioux City (LCS 11) became the first littoral combat ship to be deployed to the Middle East after the ship and its crew of 75 personnel arrived in the Red Sea on May 28, not long after departing from Mayport, Florida, back in April.
“We’re excited to welcome a littoral combat ship to the Middle East for the first time,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), said in a quoted statement. “Sioux City’s arrival is not only historic but essential to regional maritime security given its immediate integration with our new multinational naval task force.”
The CMF is a multi-national naval partnership established to promote security, stability, and prosperity across some 3.2 million square miles of international waters, according to the US Naval Forces Central Command.
The CMF is led by the US and headquartered in Bahrain with the US Fifth Fleet, the numbered fleet responsible for American naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean. The fleet’s area encompasses 21 countries and includes critical waterways like the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb, and Suez Canal.
The Freedom-class vessel is part of the CMF’s newest Combined Task Force on international maritime security and capacity-building efforts in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb and Gulf of Aden. The group was formally established on April 17, 2022.
“We're thrilled to have Sioux City join our team,” said Capt. Robert Francis, commander of CTF 153. “They’ve worked collaboratively in bringing enhanced capabilities to other regions and that's certainly what we’re looking forward to here in the Middle East while operating with our international partners.”
The other task forces of the 34-nation partnership focus on maritime security and counter-terrorism (CTF 150), counter-piracy efforts (CTF 151), and Arabian Gulf security and cooperation endeavors (CTF 152).
The decision to deploy USS Sioux to the Middle East comes alongside the US Navy’s plans to decommission a total of nine littoral combat ships–three of which are less than three years old.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday defended the service’s decision earlier this month, informing the House Armed Services Committee that the anti-submarine ships were not living up to their expectations.
“I refuse to put an additional dollar against a system that would not be able to track a high-end submarine in today’s environment,” Gilday told the congressional committee, noting that the vessels’ anti-submarine warfare system “did not work out technically.”
The vessels slated for decommissioning reportedly cost the Pentagon an estimated $3.2 billion, but only a fraction of the total construction costs will be recouped.
The US’ littoral combat ships represent two classes of vessels designed to conduct American Navy operations near shores. Records obtained by the Navy Times and later confirmed by service officials showed that half of the US Navy’s littoral combat ship fleet was beleaguered by structural defects that allowed hull cracks to develop on several vessels.
Artist rendering of Lockheed Martin's Hellenic Future Frigate (HF2). The US-based contractor declares "HF2 could be produced in Greece, which would build Greece’s shipbuilding capabilities and bring hundreds of high-quality jobs to the country for decades."
Additionally, US-based defense contractor Lockheed Martin is currently in extended negotiations with the Greek Navy to modernize the country’s service with Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ships upgraded to make the vessel more lethal and survivable.
Greek officials have given the American side a negotiation deadline of September 18, 2022. The original proposal presented in December 2021 already met its March 2022 deadline.