The Freedom class USS Sioux City recently became the first of either of the U.S. Navy's two types of Littoral Combat Ship to deploy to Middle Eastern waters.

 USS Sioux City

The service has long said that these vessels, the first of which entered service in 2008, would be ideally suited to operating in the region. However, this historical trip comes as the Navy now plans to decommission and potentially sell off all of its existing Freedom class ships due to a design flaw, combat relevancy, and other considerations.

USS Sioux City and its crew of 75 arrived in the Navy's U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility on May 28, after transiting into the Red Sea from the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, according to a press release. 5th Fleet oversees the bulk of the service's activity in the Middle East, as well as in the Horn of Africa region. Earlier this month, Sioux City had also become the first LCS of any kind to operate in European waters. 

Fire Control-man 1st class Christopher Massengill assigned to USS Sioux City (LCS 11) mans a M2A1 50 caliber machine gun as vessel transits the Suez Canal, May 29. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas A. Russell)

Sioux City is now assigned to Combined Task Force 153 (CTF 153), a recently established U.S.-led multinational naval force that is “focused on maritime security and partner capacity building in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb [Strait,] and Gulf of Aden,” according to the Navy. CTF 153 is one of four international maritime task forces now operating under 5th Fleet's auspices. 

“We’re excited to welcome a littoral combat ship to the Middle East for the first time,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces, said in the Navy's press release. “Sioux City’s arrival is not only historic but essential to regional maritime security given its immediate integration with our new multinational naval task force.”

Sailors assigned to USS Sioux City stand watch on the bridge while transiting the Suez Canal, May 29. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas A. Russell)  

“We're thrilled to have Sioux City join our team,” said Capt. Robert Francis, commander of CTF 153, in a statement of his own. “They’ve worked collaboratively in bringing enhanced capabilities to other regions and that's certainly what we’re looking forward to here in the Middle East while operating with our international partners.”

Before heading to Europe and the Middle East, Sioux City conducted multiple counter-drug deployments in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, which have the most common missions for Navy Freedom class LCSs to date. In April, 2021, the vessel seized 600 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of $24 million from drug traffickers, the Navy said. That October, the ship seized nearly 500 kilograms of cocaine worth $20 million in the Caribbean.

During its time with CTF 153, Sioux City could find itself doing similar interdiction work. Other Navy warships have operated in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden for years now intercepting illegal drugs, as well as illicit arms shipments often suspected to be bound for Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen or terrorist groups in Somalia.

The Navy has for years highlighted how LCSs would, or at least should have been ideally suited to these and other similar kinds of operations in the Middle East, helping to free up larger warships for higher priority missions and being just generally cheaper to operate. Just last year, the service highlighted how LCSs could help fill the gap resulting from the plan to divest all its much smaller Mk VI patrol boats, many of which are forward-deployed in Bahrain.