USS Gabrielle Giffords conducts counter-narcotics, LCS test missions

The LCS ship was commissioned in 2017 and arrived in the 4th Fleet's area of operations, Central and South America, in October.

The vessel recently completed a routine Planned Maintenance Availability, which was executed by 24 Navy personnel from the Maintenance Execution Team deployed onboard the USNS Burlington, a floating staging base deployed as a testbed for LCS maintenance and support, the Navy said.

"We are able to demonstrate our capabilities on a daily basis," Cmdr. Rion Martin, USS Gabrielle Giffords commanding officer, said in a press release.

"I'm extremely proud of our efforts," Martin said. "This week, we were able to demonstrate our advance warfighting capabilities with the use of our MK 11057mm gun when we conducted a sinking exercise on an unmanned vessel that was determined to be a hazard to navigation."

The 418 foot-long ship, which carries a core crew of 40 and up to 35 mission crewmembers, has also been involved in anti-narcotics efforts with the U.S. Coast Guard, and conducted at-sea replenishment exercises with five ships of El Salvador's Navy.

It also recently worked with the Navy's 1st Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment to complete flight deck landing qualifications of MH-60L Black Hawk helicopters.

The USS Gabrielle Giffords is currently involved in the UNITAS LXI annual exercise, hosted by Ecuador and involving naval forces from the United States and eight Latin American countries, in the Pacific Ocean.