SECNAV unveils new name for LCS: the 'fast frigate'

The much derided littoral combat ship program is here to stay, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Thursday, and it's getting an upgrade: a name change.

Going forward, new Freedom- and Independence-class ships will be christened under the frigate designation that's more suited to the ship's missions, Mabus said in a speech at the annual Surface Navy Association symposium outside Washington, D.C.

"We are going to change the hull designation of the LCS class ships to FF," Mabus said, as frigates have been designated. "It will still be the same ship, the same program of record, just with an appropriate and traditional name."

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