Why Are the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships So Terrible?

[rangerrebew]

 
November 8, 2020

Why Are the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships So Terrible?

The ships are weak, lack good protection or firepower, and are just plain useless.
by David Axe

Here's What You Need to Know: The LCS program has been an expensive boondoggle.

After spending $30 billion over a period of around two decades, the U.S. Navy has managed to acquire just 35 of the 3,000-ton-displacement vessels.

Sixteen were in service as of late 2018. Of those 16, four are test ships. Six are training ships. In 2019 just six LCSs, in theory, are deployable.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/why-are-us-navys-littoral-combat-ships-so-terrible-172114

[PeteS in CA]

It was a poorly designed and built concept in search of a purpose.

[AL]

It was a poorly designed and built concept in search of a purpose.

You know PeteS, there is something about those ships that just don't look right to me.  I've seen a couple of them, one under way on the Great Lakes, the other in port in Alabama.  If those things are costing three times what they were supposed to cost, something tells me that there are some serious flaws.  Hi-tech stuff is only good while it works, in combat you don't get to call time out for a system reboot.  Is it the technology that is causing the cost overruns?  Like to hear the opinions of these ships from the CPO's that have to make those things do their basic job; go to sea and be prepared to fight and win.

[PeteS in CA]

One of the least reliable components seems to be some sort of "transmission" that changes the ships from one means of propulsion to another. The transmission seems to have the reliability of the 1930s/1940s H-O-R diesel engines in some USN submarines. Though so far the transmission hasn't failed during a combat area patrol.

Another innovation that didn't pan out was the concept of weapons modules that could be changed to fit particular missions, with modules being changed in a matter of hours. Reality was fewer modules than intended that took days rather than hours to change.

In general terms, it looks like too much experimental cool stuff got stuffed into a too small package. The things from stem to stern and keel to mast seem to be big cranky laboratory curiosities not ready for blue water service.

[Fishrrman]

Time to go back to traditionally-designed destroyers and frigates...