McCain Pauses to Notice LCS?

Well ... what do we have here? Tony over at Bloomberg is still on the LCS beat - and he found the Senior Senator from Arizona feeling quite Salamanderesque;

“We need to fix it, or find something else quickly,” McCain, an Arizona Republican, said today at a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing.
...
The fourth of 52 planned ships is scheduled for delivery in July, 13 months behind original plans, according to information provided by the Naval Sea Systems Command. The fifth through eighth vessels are five to eight months late.

The delays may add to increased scrutiny of the $37 billion program aimed at building a small, speedy and adaptable ship to patrol waters close to shore. A confidential Navy study reported yesterday by Bloomberg News found the ships are too lightly manned and armed to meet their promised missions.

“The Navy plans for the Littoral Combat Ship to comprise over one-third of the nation’s total surface combatant fleet by 2028, and yet the LCS has not demonstrated to date any adequate performance of assigned missions,” McCain said.

There is nothing really new here for the regulars on the front porch, but read it all.

I have been critical of Senator McCain in the past as I thought we didn't see enough of "Captain McCain" that our Navy has needed over the last decade - but he's been busy.

I think his comments are a few years late to "find something else quickly" - but with his attention, perhaps he can help us to "fix it" as best we can so that when we send it in harm's way; our Sailors have the best we can give them - and not a sub-optimal Fleet Experiment pushed forward too early, with too little.

Hat tip MS.