Four high-speed U.S. Navy vessels will soon start operating from Singapore. They will be the new face of the U.S. Navy for maritime policing and partnership-building in Asia-Pacific waters, where many countries in the region are trying to find a way to balance the rise of China without provoking a military confrontation.
These vessels, known as Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), come in two different hull and superstructure designs. Sleek and stealthy, both look like maritime marauders from James Bond movies.
Although their deployment to Singapore was foreshadowed last year, the move was only confirmed in April when Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen met his U.S. counterpart, Leon Panetta, in Washington. A joint statement said they had discussed the proposal for the United States to forward-deploy up to four LCS at a time to Singapore on a rotational basis.