USFreedom, the first littoral combat ship (LCS) of the United States Navy, arrived in Singapore on Thursday on its eight-month maiden deployment.

The ship, the first in the Freedom class, pulled into the port at Singapore's Changi Naval Base at noon with 91 sailors on board, including the surface mission package personnel and an aviation detachment to operate an embarked MH-60 helicopter.

In a briefing on the ship, US Ambassador David Adelman said the deployment is part of the US plan to rebalance its Navy assets to the Asia Pacific as announced by former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who had said that about 60 percent of US war ships will be deployed to the Asia Pacific region.

The deployment of the LCS will be rotational, with a crew swap half way through its eight-month deployment in the region.

"The deployment is really to Southeast Asia. While much of what USFreedom does will be managed here in Singapore, she will be deployed throughout the region during her time here," Adelman said.

The ship departed her San Deigo homeport on March 1, and has made port visits in Hawaii, Guam and most recently in Manila, capital of the Philippines.

The US Navy said it will participate in the upcoming International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference in Singapore next month. It will join regional navies and other 7th Fleet units as a participant in exercises Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) and Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT).

Freedom has a displacement of 3,500 tons and a top speed of more than 40 knots. It has a draft of 4.3 meters, making it suitable for operations in shallow waters.

Timothy Wilke, the ship's commanding officer, said it is extremely agile, maneuverable and flexible.

The LCS platforms employ modular mission packages that can be configured for three separate purposes such as surface warfare, mine countermeasures, or anti-submarine warfare.

The US Navy is also hoping for the lessons learned from the port visits and maiden deployment of Freedom to inform follow-on rotational deployments and the overall LCS program.

Wilke said the ship arrived in Singapore on time for her maiden deployment.

"Freedom has met every milestone of this deployment on time and with the professionalism you would expect of US Navy Sailors," he said. "I'm proud of Freedom's accomplishments to date, but I'm also looking forward to putting the ship through its paces over the next several months while deployed more than 8,000 miles from homeport."

US former Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the US plan to potentially deploy littoral combat ships in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2011. It was later announced that up to four such ships will be deployed in Singapore.

Adelman said that the schedule has not been formally announced for the deployment of the next littoral combat ships, but "there is some expectation that a second littoral combat ship is likely to arrive within the next 20 months."

Singapore, a city state in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, a choke point on one of the world's most important trade routes, has said that the US sailors will be living on board the USFreedom during her deployment in Singapore.

Adelman also said earlier that the ship will be deployed here but the words "station" or "base" would be inaccurate. There will no sailors permanently stationed in Singapore but there will be facilities for the combat ships, he said.