U.S. Navy Fact Sheet

Littoral Combat Ships - Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Mission Package

Description
The first increment of the MCM Mission Package represents a major step towards achieving the Navy’s goal of providing organic mine countermeasures for strike groups. Future Joint Force Commanders will have forces at their disposal to conduct MCM operations—ranging from first response mine detection through neutralization and influence mine sweeping—before the arrival of joint power projection forces. As they join the Fleet, LCSs will assume more of the Navy’s responsibilities for MCM missions.

MCM configured LCSs will perform MCM operations in ways that are significantly different from the Navy’s current inventory of mine hunters and sweepers. Today’s mine warfare ships were designed to operate inside a minefield. Conversely, the function of the MCM-equipped LCS is predominately to transport and deploy manned and unmanned off board surface and semi-submersible vehicles with MCM sensors and systems to the vicinity of the minefield, while remaining outside the mine threat area itself. This approach ensures that the mine threat is neutralized while keeping the Sailors out of the minefield. A suite of off board sensors and systems will be used to detect, localize, neutralize and, if necessary, sweep mines.

Background
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a fast, agile, and networked surface combatant optimized for operating in the littorals. The primary missions for the LCS include countering diesel submarine threats, littoral mine threats and surface threats such as small surface craft attacks to assure maritime access for Joint Forces. The underlying strength of the LCS lies in its innovative design approach, applying modularity for operational flexibility. Fundamental to this approach is the capability to rapidly install interchangeable mission packages (MPs) in to the seaframe. In other words each mission package can be quickly installed aboard an LCS ship to fulfill a specific mission, and then be uninstalled, maintained, and upgraded at a Mission Package Support Facility (MPSF) for future use aboard any LCS ship.

Mission packages (MPs) were created for LCS in response to an ever changing threat environment and identification of warfighting gaps in the littorals. Because the Navy awarded two different LCS ship designs, all mission packages are interchangeable between both ship designs. A mission package consists of mission modules, mission crew sailors, and support aircraft with aviation sailors. Mission modules combine mission systems (vehicles, sensors, and weapons) and support equipment that install into the seaframe via standard interfaces. Thus, a mission package fielded on board an LCS is described in three layers:

• Mission Systems = Vehicles, Sensors, and Weapons
• Mission Module = Mission Systems + Support Equipment
• Mission Package = Mission Modules + Mission Crew Detachments + Aircraft

The Mission Package Computing Environment (MPCE) is the primary interface that enables the mission package to work on the ship. The MPCE is a permanently installed equipment shipset in each seaframe.

The quantity of each mission package type differs based on an analysis of projected operational needs; therefore, mission packages are developed and procured separately from the LCS seaframes. Currently, the Navy plans to procure 55 LCS ships as well as 24 Mine Countermeasures (MCM) mission packages. This concept reduces the overall cost of the LCS and will allow a smaller crew to operate and maintain the ship’s core systems.