Bring Out the Gimp

Looks like more news will be coming our way soon on LCS.

LCS just cannot catch a break outside the military-industrial complex.

Congress will take a close look at the Pentagon’s $34 billion Littoral Combat Ship program and may consider restrictions on the Navy’s $2 billion request to buy four vessels in fiscal 2014, Representative Randy Forbes said.

Forbes, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s seapower panel, said today that any decisions would await the final report from an LCS review by the Government Accountability Office. A draft of the GAO study said Congress should consider slowing the program’s funding because the Navy is buying ships faster than it can test their design and performance.

That last bit hints on one of the many primary flaws with LCS - it simply is all based on hope, the perfection of foresight, and a negation by will of technology risk.

That isn't a proven record of success, and it is an important lesson for future programs. OHP, SPRU, and TICO were imperfect programs, but the balance of their systems were proven when they got underway underway. Aegis was buggy at the start - but at least TICO had two 5" guns that worked, LWT that functioned, etc ... etc ... etc.

LCS? A void where NLOS used to be, and 57mm and 30mm guns that are still not ready for war at sea. The mission modules? Child please. More promises.

SPRU was designed to grow in to her open spaces - not degrade with each bolt on. As for OHP in her time - her record stands on its own.

Forbes said he’s not prepared to act based on the draft, which the Navy is reviewing. When the final report is published, he said, “we are going to take some action.” Any definitive congressional action is probably months away, he said.

Forbes’s seapower panel approved the Navy’s fiscal 2014 request for four ships on May 21, before the GAO draft said the Navy is buying vessels before it’s completed “technical studies that raise fundamental questions” about the ship.

Actions? Hmmmm ... something tells me we are going to move south again.

For a maritime blogger - LCS: the gift that keeps on giving.