Navy Freezes Deliveries Of Freedom-Class Ships Over Design Fault

The Navy has determined that an engineering issue with the Freedom-class littoral combat ships is a class-wide default and halted deliveries until it is fixed, reports USNI News.

A root cause analysis found that there was a class design defect with the high-speed clutch bearings in the combining gear, which links the Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbines and Colt-Pielstick diesel engines to power the main drive shaft and reach speeds of up to 40 knots.

A pair of propulsion failures on USS...