Littoral ship makes presence felt in Northeast Asia

The USS Fort Worth’s participation in a bilateral exercise with South Korea this past week begins what the Navy envisions will be regular visits by faster, shallow-draft ships to Northeast Asia.

Until last week’s Foal Eagle exercise started, the Fort Worth had operated primarily in Southeast Asia, where up to four littoral combat ships may be scheduled for long-term rotations by 2018.

The Fort Worth’s participation in the exercise has stirred South Korean media interest, especially in light of North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper singling the ship out as purported evidence that Foal Eagle is a prelude to an attack.

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