Bloomberg Goes Salamander on LCS

Not even a wee link for 'ols Sal - dude who has been calling LCS "Little Crappy Ship" at since FEB 2006 - but that's OK.

A couple of friends of the blog get some good swats at the ship in a Bloomberg article you can catch over at gCaptain- I'll take that.

The 2010 decision guaranteed jobs in shipyards building the two designs and ensured political support from the communities and defense contractors that benefit. It also has added at least $400 million in taxpayer costs to support and maintain dual sets of ships over their lifespan, according to the Navy’s estimate.

As the Pentagon faces $500 billion in spending cuts over a decade that are set to begin March 1, the $37 billion program to design and build Littoral Combat Ships may become a target for reductions that would take business from Lockheed and Austal.

“The ships are costing too much,” Norman Polmar, a naval analyst and author, said in an interview. “The support costs are ridiculous with two different designs.”

The Littoral Combat Ship — derided by critics inside the Navy as the “Little Crappy Ship” — reflects the enduring influence of the “military-industrial complex” that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against in his 1961 farewell address. It is an example of a troubled project that has sailed on with the support of a military seeking the most advanced war- fighting equipment possible, companies eager to build it and politicians hungry for the jobs created.

Now for our friend Bryan McGrath;

Critics such as Bryan McGrath, a retired naval officer who advised Romney’s campaign, have already made their judgment on the ships.

“My problem is they’re strategically unwise,” said McGrath, director of consulting at Delex Systems Inc. in Herndon, Virginia. “They’re too expensive to be built in numbers, and they don’t pack enough combat punch.”

To the authors David Lerman and Nick Taborek I would just like to say - welcome to the party. Nice summary of issues Norman, Bryan, and others like John Patch, and the folks at CDRSalamander have been making for a long time, even during the fat years.

You've only scratched the surface though. Only scratched the surface.

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UPDATE: Hey - the new paint job is done at least. Fun.