Tom Desrosier
Much of what we believe about ourselves, our world and our politics, we learned from someone else.
Sometimes, years later, we still cling to this stufff, long after its proven wrong.
Go figure...
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The Littoral Combat Ship Debacle
FoxNews broke this story on Saturday – The Littoral Combat Ship’s (LCS) construction is way behind, and its construction costs have doubled.
Yes, instead of the 225 Million Dollar ship we envisioned, we now have a 550 Million Dollar ship. And instead of 15 ships under construction, we only have 2 or 3.
Oh gee, how did we let that happen? More on that in a minute.
First, what is a Littoral Combat Ship used for?
Electronic spying of course; and these close to shore missions as well: commando or seal team insertion, minelaying or sea lane denial; anti-piracy, ship-boarding/inspection and perhaps anti-submarine warfare. The philosophy behind the LCS is this: Reconfigure it with mission packages (called plug and fight), then send it close to shore in low conflict areas.
Littoral waters are that chunk of water that extend 60 miles out. These areas are not only shallow, but congested with fishing vessels, and local merchant ship traffic. Believe me – its no picnic just loitering in these areas; you’re constantly dodging traffic.
Up Until now, these missions were being done with Destroyers and Nuclear Submarines that were designed to fight in big, open ocean areas. The nuclear submarine being the most expensive option – at 5 billion dollars each, submarines have traditionally snooped around in these shallow coastal waters, mainly to gather intelligence or hunt other submarines. The risk is ridiculous though – made far worse by the growing intensity of shipping. Imagine operating a nuclear submarine in such waters, while a mere few feet above, hundreds, perhaps thousands of ships are zipping this way and that. Yes, inland waters are crowded beyond belief, and operating a nuclear submarine in such an environment is nuts.
Picture this – a collision in shallow water, with a US Nuclear Submarine disabled on the bottom, its reactor leaking radiation into the environment.
Back to the LCS.
The LCS is designed with a shallow draft, it is mission-reconfigurable, defensible in low conflict settings, and until recently, a bargain at 225 Million Dollars each.
Back to where I started - what happened?
First, the Navy awarded the shipbuilding contracts to two companies that don’t generally build ships. Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.
Second, the “plug and fight”, together with a plethora of other technical innovations. made this ship a risky build, prone to set back and cost overruns.
Here’s more: The Navy’s leadership underestimated the costs by neglecting to account for significant cost elements in the build. Moreover, they changed the construction plans midstream to incorporate more stringent survivability standards. And finally, they failed to properly supervise the ship’s construction, including the quintessentially critical main propulsion turbine.
Go here for the full report:
Just so you’ll know – there are stringent rules governing how ships are designed, build, and paid for. And none of this would have happened had the Navy’s Program Executive for the LCS Program followed them. In the meantime, Billion Dollar Destroyers will continue to board and Inspect Iranian ships for contraband, and Nuclear Submarines will continue to unsafely hug crowded shore lines to gather intelligence.
I’ll sum things up…
Someone needs to get fired.
Tom
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Good read and informative. BTW, did you post this before or after the collision between the Nuke Sub and surface ship in the Gulf. Your write up is prophetic…
Hi Cookie, yes, I wrote it before the collision. 15 Sailors injured. Ouch.
I wish I was wrong, but its going to happen again.
Tom
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