US Navy Schedules Commissioning Of Next Littoral Combat Ship Wichita On Saturday

Faizan Hashmi Published January 10, 2019 | 03:06 AM

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2019) The newest US littoral combat ship Wichita will be commissioned during a Saturday morning ceremony in the state of Florida's Naval Station Mayport, where the vessel will be homeported, the Navy announced in a press release.

"US Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas will deliver the commissioning ceremony's principal address," the release said on Wednesday.

"Kate Lehrer, author and wife of Wichita [state of Kansas] native Jim Lehrer, the former anchor of 'The MacNeil-Lehrer news Hour' on PBS, is the ship's sponsor."

The future Wichita is a fast, mission-focused platform designed for operation in near-shore environments as well as the open-ocean, the release said.

The ship is designed to defeat asymmetric "anti-access" threats such as mines, quiet submarines and fast surface craft.

The Wichita is littoral combat ship number 13 in a planned fleet of 33 ships, according to the Navy.