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The concept behind the Littoral Combat Ship, as described by Secretary of the Navy Gordon England is to "create a small, fast, maneuverable and relatively inexpensive member of the DD(X) family of ships, which will begin construction in FY 2005." The goal is to develop a ship that can be easily reconfigured to be used in multiple roles, including anti-submarine warfare, Mine Counter Measures, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, homeland defense, maritime intercept, support of Special Operations or logistics, in addition to being able to operate with Carrier Strike Groups or Surface Action Groups.
By 2004, preliminary designs by Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Raytheon were submitted to the U.S. Navy for evaluation with plans to begin construction of the first ships by 2005 and to take delivery by 2007.
A international task force has also been put together determine the usefulness of the Littoral Combat Ship in the navies of the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany, in addition to the United States.