Small warships are those having a displacement of less than 3,000 tons the LCS would displace about 2,700 to 2,900 tons. It had instead supported a future fleet comprising multimission warships, the smallest of which had a displacement of 9,000 tons. And throughout the 2001 defense program review, an effort conducted at the start of every new administration, the Navy had panned the idea of small warships. Just one year earlier, the Navy’s 30-year shipbuilding plan pointedly excluded any mention of small, modular, focused-mission combatants. Inclusion of the LCS in the Navy’s future plans caught many by surprise. It would have a modular mission payload, allowing it to take on three naval threats-diesel submarines, mines, and small “swarming” boats-but only one at a time.

The LCS would be a fast, stealthy warship designed specifically for operations in shallow coastal waters. Navy announced a new family of 21st century surface warships that includes a small, focused-mission combatant called the Littoral Combat Ship, or LCS.

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