Page 6: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2003)

Editor's Note

The future of the U.S. Navy is pictured on this month's cover, the three designs that will battle to become the reality known as the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) — a fami- ly of up to 60 (relatively) small, fast, flexible vessels designed to serve a major role in the "plug and play" mil- itary operations of the future.

At press time, the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA) was lamenting the fact that the Senate had effectively cut two ships from the President's 2004 Budget Request — the zeroing of two T-AKE Combat

Force Logistics Ships — and was lobbying hard for their reinstatement. The action does appear particularly capricious at this time, considering the tremen- dous stress already placed upon a short-handed naval force and the exhibition of its dominance in recent overseas matters. While it is more than a mere numbers game, it is undeniable that the need for a renewed U.S. Navy fleet is very real, and despite a slew of christenings and commissionings carried in these pages of late, more firm contracts for the long-term are needed.

The LCS program is a step in the right direction, if nothing more it will infuse the U.S. industry with business for years to come. The LCS contract is particularly noteworthy in its dependence on technologies eminating from out- side the U.S., and the international community has been roused to activity by the lure of Navy dollars. We will track the progress of the LCS competition closely in our pages as it plays out over the next seven months.

While, as the editor of MR/FN I live for the moments to present the next- generation technology such as LCS in these pages, as a person I'm partial to the picture in our "Leading Off" section on page 8, showing the late comedian Bob

Hope in a familiar position, providing comical relief to troops at war. Mr.

Hope, who died last month at the age of 100, has left an indelible mark for humor, humanity and compassion.

On the Cover

Pictured on this month's cover ore the three finalists for the Novy's Littorol Combat Ship (LCS) project. Storting clockwise (under the MR logo) ore the entrant's from

Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and the Both Iron Works team, respectively. Read about the three teams in the "U.S. Report," starting on page 26. 9 Letters 44 People & Company News 51 Propulsion Updates 52 Propulsion Products

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