WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The U.S. Navy plans to name a combat ship after the City of Wichita.
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts said in a news release Thursday that the USS Wichita will be the third to bear the name and honors the largest city in Kansas.
The ship is designed to be fast and agile with the flexibility to execute missions close to shore in mine, anti-submarine and surface warfare.
The USS Wichita will be built by Lockheed Martin for delivery in February 2017. It will be 378 feet long and able to travel at more than 40 knots.
U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo says the last USS Wichita was a replenishment oiler decommissioned in 1993. The first USS Wichita was a heavy cruiser used during World War II in the invasion of Okinawa.
