The "littoral combat ship" that was to make up one-sixth of the U.S. Navy fleet continues to be a work in progress as one of the vessels heads out from Pearl Harbor to take part in a "sink exercise" off Kauai during Rim of the Pacific war games.

The uniquely shaped USS Independence, an all-aluminum trimaran with a narrow, pointy bow and wide stern, will launch a Seahawk helicopter Thursday that will fire a Hellfire missile at the retired USS Ogden, a 569-foot amphibious transport dock ship.

The 64-inch Hellfire will be one of many munitions that RIMPAC nations put into the Ogden before it sinks.

In the fall, meanwhile, a sister ship of the Independence, the USS Coronado, will be fitted with a canister for the test-firing of Norway’s potent long-range Naval Strike Missile, officials said.

Adding firepower to the controversial "LCS" — the Navy also is exploring Longbow Hellfire missiles — is one of the options on tap for the warships that have been criticized as being under-gunned and under-armored while also experiencing cost overruns.

On a tour of the 418-foot ship Tuesday, its captain, Cmdr. Joseph A. Gagliano, said multiple factors have to be considered when looking at the survivability of a vessel like the Independence.

"Anytime we build a ship, we’re concerned about the survivability of the ship, because these are warships and we intend to use them in combat," Gagliano said. "I think that’s something that we have to look at. It’s a balance between the survivability of the ship and the cost of the ship and how you are going to employ it. So when we weigh all three of those things together, I can tell you as the commanding officer of this ship — I’m confident in taking this ship into combat."

Gagliano added that he is confident in the design, speed, weapons capability and overall survivability of the Independence.

The Pentagon and Congress are less so, however.

On Feb. 24, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he was cutting back purchase of the two variants of the LCS from 52 ships to 32.

"The LCS was designed to perform certain combat missions — such as mine-sweeping and anti-submarine warfare — in a relatively permissive environment," Hagel said. "But we need to closely examine whether the LCS has the independent protection and firepower to operate and survive against a more advanced military adversary and emerging technologies, especially in the Asia-Pacific" region.

Further, if the Navy were to build out the LCS to 52 ships, they would represent one-sixth of the future 300-ship fleet, Hagel noted.

Given tight budgets, shipbuilding resources need to be directed toward platforms that can operate "along the full spectrum of conflict," Hagel said.

Not mentioned were the concerns about a growing number of Chinese missile ships that outgun the LCS.

Hagel directed the Navy to submit alternative proposals, including a modified LCS or different ship designs, to "procure a capable and lethal small surface combatant, generally consistent with the capabilities" of frigates, which are being retired.

Two types of LCS are being built — the trimaran Independence class, and more traditional, steel hull, aluminum-deckhouse Freedom class. The USS Freedom, LCS 1, participated in RIMPAC in 2010 and deployed to Singapore in 2013. Lockheed Martin produces the Freedom class while Austal USA builds the Independence variant.

The LCS, with a 57mm deck gun, was intended as an inexpensive and fast mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments and threats such as smaller surface craft, diesel-electric submarines and mines.

Gagliano said the Independence, based in San Diego, checks a lot of the boxes.

"The idea behind the design of the ship is it takes a ship that’s this long, which is 420 feet, lifts it up out of the water, because we only draw about 13 or 14 feet of water," Gagliano said. "So the design of the ship is such that we can take a ship this size into shallow waters in the places that the United States Navy has never been able to go before."

A destroyer, by comparison, has a draft of about 30 feet, he said.

A traditional Navy ship of the same size might have 200 crew, but with automated systems the Independence can operate with about 50, according to Gagliano.

The Independence can swap out mission packages. For RIMPAC, it’s carrying a 36-foot rigid-hull inflatable boat and detachment of helicopters for an anti-surface warfare focus.

With a 104-foot width at its stern — 46 feet wider than the Freedom — the Independence has a big helicopter deck and equally big mission bay beneath it.

Gagliano said the Independence can deploy with two Seahawk helicopters or six unmanned Fire Scout helicopters.

The littoral combat ships were forecast to cost $220 million a ship, but that has ballooned to more than double that, according to media reports.

A possible competitor mentioned for the LCS is a Navy version of the Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter built by Huntington Ingalls Industries.

But a reconfigured LCS may still rule the day.

"The ship has the ability to grow," Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert said in March. "It has speed, it has volume and it has capacity."