Wednesday, September 09, 2009

LCS - going evolutionary?

We're having a fun time over USNIBlog on the gift that keeps on giving; LCS.

It seems that there and elsewhere, a new thread going on that LCS is a fully evolutionary program with plans to address survivability, increase crew size, fixed mission hulls, etc.

Really? Funny, from its birth, I though it was "transformational."

There is a difference between an evolution in thought in the face of fiscal and financial realities as you get to the right side of the timeline, and inculcating the evolutionary design concept from the beginning. That is the difference between LCS and such historically successful
inter-war period Cruiser program prior to WWII.

The future? Well, you are seeing it. As we have mentioned as far back as '06, as you move towards the right side of the timeline, we will no longer be able to live on the PPT promise about cost, mission modules, crew size and survivability. We will have to accept the three-dimensional facts that are pierside with bunting and adjust as best as we can.

Is that evolutionary or reactionary?

I think that is the key difference.
In 2009 we haven't so much adopted the evolutionary concept, but have instead become reactionary.

We need to be honest with ourselves - it is the only way to learn from our mistakes.

Anyway, people owe me beer.

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