Israel and Saudi Arabia are examining the future Littoral Combat Ship's capabilities but have not committed to buying any ships, according to a U.S. Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Navy and Israel will conduct a technical study of the LCS to see whether it fits with Israel's requirements to replace Sa'ar-class corvettes, the official said. Israel first inquired about the LCS about a year ago, the official added.

Saudi Arabia, which is looking to replace its aging Eastern Fleet ships, is in the early stages of discussions with the United States on the LCS and received an unclassified briefing, according to the official.

“There is no commitment to buy,” the official said.

The official stressed that the United States is not in negotiations with the countries to sell them ships. For now, the interactions are “basically just discussions,” the official said. Many countries have inquired about the LCS since the Navy began development, but Israel and Saudi Arabia seem to be the most interested countries so far, the official said.

Any LCS sales to U.S. allies would help promote interoperability and reduce costs for the U.S. Navy, during a time when the Defense Department is facing budget pressures, the official said. The Navy conceived the LCS as a relatively low-cost ship, with a target price for each hull of roughly $220 million.

Capt. Tom VanLeunen, a spokesman for the Navy's acquisition chief, confirmed that the Navy has signed a letter of agreement with a country to conduct a study of the LCS design, and other countries have shown interest too. But he declined to comment on the names of the countries.

A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington said the Israeli navy is in the process of assessing its long-term strategic needs and is considering several options, including the LCS. No decisions have been made, he added. A spokesman for the Saudi Arabian Embassy did not provide a comment by press time (Dec. 16).

Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics are each leading separate teams to design and build competing versions of the ship. Sets of interchangeable modules are under development that will enable the LCS to fight diesel submarines, underwater mines and small boats.

A General Dynamics spokesman would not comment on potential foreign customers.

Paul Lemmo, business development director for Lockheed's maritime systems and sensors division, said the company has briefed many countries on LCS capabilities but would not name any.

“The ship is of the size and price tag that fits very well in the international market,” Lemmo said in an interview last week.

Not all countries are interested in having interchangeable modules, he said. Instead, these navies could use the LCS as a multimission ship with weapons for air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface ship warfare all on board at once. But weapon complements on such foreign LCS versions would be scaled down from the modules envisioned for the U.S. Navy LCS, he noted.

Some countries have asked about having multifunction, phased-array antennas on board with vertical launch cells, he said. Others have inquired about a towed-array sonar to hunt for submarines. “We think there's room to do that,” he added.

By the end of the year, Lockheed expects to have each part of its first LCS in some stage of construction. A launch date is scheduled for summer 2006. GD, meanwhile, is scheduled to build its first LCS in FY-06.

Lemmo acknowledged that the closer the LCS gets to entering service, the more interest foreign countries have expressed.

“They realize it is real and want to know more about it,” he said.