Two Independence class and four Freedom class Littoral Combat Ships, the youngest just three-years-old, would be put up for sale.

两艘独立级和四艘自由级濒海战斗舰将被出售，其中最年轻的一艘只有3岁。

The U.S. Navy plans to make six Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs), two Independence class vessels and four Freedom class vessels, available for sale through its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program in the next two years. The oldest and youngest of the ships intended to be sold have been in service for just under eight years and just under three years, respectively.

在未来两年内，美国海军计划将6艘濒海战斗舰(LCS)， 2艘独立级和4艘自由级，通过其对外军售(FMS)计划卖掉。这批打算出售的军舰中最老和最年轻的分别服役不到8年和不到3年。
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The Navy first publicly raised the possibility of selling off a number of LCSs last year, as the service continues to try to nail down its own plans for what to do with these long-troubled ships.

去年，美国海军首次公开提出了出售一些濒海战斗舰的可能性，因为海军仍在努力确定计划，以处理这些长期麻烦缠身的船只。

Indication that the Navy plans to sell six of its LCSs were presented in its recent 2024 long-range shipbuilding plan. Formally called the Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels for the 2024 Fiscal Year, the shipbuilding plan is dated March 2023. The Navy currently has 13 Independence class LCSs in active service, while a further four are either under construction or being fitted out. The service also currently has ten Freedom class vessels in active service, with a further five currently being fitted out or prepared to enter service. So far, two Independence class vessels and one Freedom class vessel have been decommissioned. The newest Freedom class ship, USS Cleveland (LCS 31) was launched just a few days ago at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, an event that didn't go so well

海军计划出售6艘濒海战斗舰的迹象出现在最近的2024年长期造船计划中。该造船计划的正式名称为《提交给国会的2024财年海军舰艇建造年度长期计划报告》，日期为2023年3月。海军目前有13艘现役独立级LCS，而另外4艘正在建造或舾装中。目前，该军种还有10艘“自由”级现役舰艇，另有5艘正在舾装或准备服役。到目前为止，已经有两艘独立级和一艘自由级退役。几天前，最新的“自由”级航母“克利夫兰”号(LCS 31)在威斯康星州的芬坎提尼海洋系统造船厂下水，但进展并不顺利。



“并不顺利”

The new shipbuilding plan stipulates that in the 2024 Fiscal Year, the Independence class vessels USS Jackson (LCS 6) and Montgomery (LCS 8) will be made available for sale via the Navy's FMS program. Those ships were commissioned in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Then, in the 2025 Fiscal Year, the Freedom class vessels USS Wichita (LCS 13), Billings (LCS 15), Indianapolis (LCS 17), and St Louis (LCS 19) will similarly be made available for sale via the FMS program. Those vessels were commissioned in 2019 (LCS 13, 15, and 17) and 2020 (LCS 19).

这个新的造船计划规定，在2024财年，“独立”级舰艇“杰克逊”号(LCS 6)和“蒙哥马利”号(LCS 8)将通过海军的FMS计划出售。这两艘船分别于2015年和2016年服役。然后，在2025财年，“自由”级航母威奇托号(LCS 13)、比林斯号(LCS 15)、印第安纳波利斯号(LCS 17)和圣路易斯号(LCS 19)也将通过FMS计划出售。这些船分别于2019年(LCS 13、15和17)和2020年(LCS 19)服役。

It’s unclear whether or not the Navy has identified any buyers or potential buyers for these ships already. In the recently released shipbuilding plan, the service notes that “Ships designated for FMS are retained in a hold status for no more than two years in accordance with Navy policy.”

目前尚不清楚海军是否已经确定了这些船只的买家或潜在买家。在最近公布的造船计划中，该军种指出，“根据海军政策，指定用于FMS的船舶将保留不超过两年的保留状态。”

Previously, the Independence class vessels USS Jackson and Montgomery were set to be decommissioned in 2024, and then placed into "Out of Commission, in Reserve" (OCIR) status. The Navy defines OCIR as the "status of a decommissioned Navy ship being held in reserve for future mobilization purposes," meaning that such ships could be reactivated in the future.

此前，“独立”级“杰克逊”号和“蒙哥马利”号将于2024年退役，然后进入“退役储备”(OCIR)状态。美国海军将OCIR定义为“退役海军舰艇为未来动员目的而保留的状态”，这意味着这些舰艇可能在未来重新启用。
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The original decision to divest the two Independence class ships was primarily because of changes in the plan for a set of mission packages intended to be used on both subclasses of LCSs. Both the Independence class and Freedom class LCSs were originally designed to fulfill a multitude of roles within littoral zones through the use of swappable anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, and mine countermeasure packages. The original intention was for all LCSs to be highly flexible vessels, with the ability to switch quickly from one mission set to another.

最初决定放弃两艘独立级舰艇的主要原因是一组任务包计划的变化，这些任务包打算用于两种LCS的子级。独立级和自由级LCS最初设计通过使用可互换的反潜战、水面战和水雷对抗包来实现沿海区域内的多种角色。最初的意图是让所有的LCS都成为高度灵活的船只，能够从一个任务集快速切换到另一个任务集。

The Navy has since abandoned this plan entirely and the packages will be installed permanently – future Constellation class frigates are expected to provide the desired additional anti-submarine warfare capacity. At present, 15 Independence class LCSs are set to perform the mine countermeasure mission, while six Freedom class LCSs will perform the surface warfare mission.

美国海军已经完全放弃了这一计划，任务包将永久安装——未来的星座级护卫舰有望提供所需的额外反潜作战能力。目前，15艘独立级濒海战斗舰将执行水雷对抗任务，而6艘自由级濒海战斗舰将执行水面作战任务。

As the 2024 shipbuilding plan suggests, the Navy is ridding itself of USS Jackson (LCS 6) and Montgomery (LCS 8), the eldest Independence class LCSs, because the service only requires 15 vessels of that class to execute mine countermeasure missions. That the Navy intends to sell these vessels via its FMS process is a new development, and an interesting one given that the shipbuilding plan also highlights that neither of the ships has completed lethality and survivability upgrades.

按照2024年的造舰计划，美国海军正在淘汰最老的“独立”级濒海战斗舰“杰克逊”号(LCS 6)和“蒙哥马利”号(LCS 8)，因为执行反水雷任务只需要15艘“独立”级舰艇。海军打算通过其FMS过程出售这些船只是一个新的发展，考虑到造船计划也强调两艘船都没有完成杀伤力和生存能力升级，这是一个有趣的发展。

While the issues around mission packages have affected both classes of LCSs, talk of decommissioning and even selling various Freedom class LCSs to foreign buyers has been prominent as of late.

虽然有关任务包的问题影响了这两级LCS，但最近有关退役甚至向外国买家出售各种自由级LCS的讨论一直很突出。

It was first thought that the Navy would decommission between eight and ten Freedom class LCSs as part of its 2023 Fiscal Year budget, before plans for a total of nine were suggested. However, a subsequent draft spending bill from the House Appropriations Committee indicated that a total of only four vessels of the class, rather than nine, might have ended up being decommissioned contrary to the Navy’s intentions. This was subsequently confirmed in the 2023 Fiscal Year National Defense Authorization Act, which states that no "more than four" LCSs would be retired, prepared to be retired, or otherwise placed in storage.

最初认为海军将退役8到10艘自由级濒海战斗舰，作为其2023财政年度预算的一部分，然后建议总共退役9艘。然而，众议院拨款委员会随后的一份支出法案草案表明，与海军的意图相反，可能最终退役的该级舰总共只有四艘，而不是九艘。这一点随后在《2023财年国防授权法案》中得到证实，该法案声明不“超过4艘”濒海战斗舰将退役、准备退役或以其他方式封存。

The notion of selling a number of Freedom class LCSs to foreign buyers was even proposed in May 2022 by Admiral Michael Gilday, the U.S. Navy’s chief of naval operations. Testifying at a congressional hearing on the Navy’s 2023 budget request, Gilday argued that various U.S. partners and allies – particularly those in South America – might be tempted to buy the vessels, which have more recently been put to use in counter-smuggling operations.

美国海军作战部长迈克尔·吉尔戴上将甚至在2022年5月提出了向外国买家出售多艘自由级濒海战斗舰的想法。吉尔戴在国会听证会上就海军2023年预算请求作证时表示，美国的多个伙伴和盟友——尤其是南美国家——可能会有购买这些军舰的欲望，这些军舰最近被用于反走私行动。

That said, whichever foreign buyer(s) chooses to purchase the four Freedom class LCSs and two Independence class LCSs will need serious funds to keep them seaworthy. As The War Zone previously reported, it’s been suggested that the annual cost of running a single LCS amounts to around $70 million, compared to approximately $81 million for an Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer (DDG).

也就是说，无论外国买家选择购买四艘自由级和两艘独立级，都需要大量资金来保持它们的适航性。正如《战区》之前报道的那样，有人提出运行一艘濒海战斗舰的年成本约为7000万美元，而一艘阿利·伯克级导弹驱逐舰(DDG)的年成本约为8100万美元。

There will also likely be significant costs to repair and modify the vessels for whoever buys them. Since their conception, multiple design problems have cut across both LCS classes. Perhaps most notably, the Freedom class has suffered issues with its propulsion system as well as with its combining gear, preventing the vessels from meeting their intended performance potential.

对于购买这些船只的人来说，修理和改装它们的成本也可能很高。从它们的概念开始，多个设计问题就贯穿了这两个LCS级别。也许最值得注意的是，“自由”级在推进系统和联合齿轮方面存在问题，这阻碍了这些舰艇实现预期的性能潜力。

Indeed, it was only in May last year that the Freedom class USS Sioux City (LCS 11) became the first LCS of either class to be deployed to Europe and the Middle East in areas the Navy originally intended to use the vessels. Of course, the news that the Navy now intends to sell a number of both LCS subvariants speaks broadly to the fact that the service is still having problems nailing down exactly what it wants to do with these ships in the present, and how many LCSs it needs precisely.

事实上，直到去年5月，自由级苏城号(LCS 11)才成为第一艘部署到欧洲和中东地区的LCS，这是海军最初打算使用这些船只的地区。当然，美国海军现在打算出售两种LCS型号的消息广泛地说明了这样一个事实，即海军在确定目前想要用这些舰艇做什么以及确切需要多少艘LCS方面仍然存在问题。

It certainly remains to be seen who might be interested in buying examples of either vessel class, and to what uses they might be put towards, after their time with the U.S. Navy. The price they will pay for these nearly new ships, which cost around half a billion dollars each, is another big question. If nothing else, the recent decision to sell a total of six LCSs in the coming years marks the latest chapter in the ever-evolving narrative that is the LCS story.

当然，当它们离开美国海军之后，谁可能有兴趣购买这两种船型的样品，以及它们可能被用于什么用途，还有待观察。他们将为这些几乎全新的军舰支付的价格是另一个大问题，每艘军舰的成本约为5亿美元。如果不出意外的话，最近决定在未来几年内出售总共6艘濒海战斗舰，标志着濒海战斗舰的故事又发展出了最新篇章。