U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship Can’t Meet Mission Requirements

WBAY

Navy Ship Can’t Meet Mission, Internal U.S. Report Finds -- Bloomberg

U.S. Navy leaders were warned last year that a $37 billion program to build Littoral Combat Ships can’t meet its promised mission because the vessels are too lightly manned and armed, according to a confidential report.

“This review highlights the gap between ship capabilities and the missions the Navy will need LCS to execute,” said the report prepared last year for the Navy by Rear Admiral Samuel Perez. “Failure to adequately address LCS requirements and capabilities will result in a large number of ships that are ill-suited to execute” regional commanders’ warfighting needs.

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My Comment: Congress is now (finally) demanding answers.

USS Freedom Breaks Down On First Deployment

USS Freedom. Wikipedia

USS Freedom Breaks Down, But Not Going Down -- The E-Ring/Foreign Policy

Stand down, Twitterverse, the littoral combat ship USS Freedom isn't going down, flooding, or even leaking, really. But she's not going anywhere, either.

Ten days after arriving in Singapore for her maiden deployment, the Freedom is dead in the water, awaiting repairs to her propulsion system, according to Navy officials at Pacific Fleet in Hawaii.

A tweet on Monday caused a bit of alarm when it suggested the Freedom was taking on water.

"Over the weekend USS Freedom started taking in seawater, port side," wrote Raymond Pritchett, author of the maritime-focused blog Information Dissemination, known widely online as "Galrahn."

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My Comment:  To say that this is embarrassing is an understatement.

U.S. Navy's Newest Warship Can Be Hacked

The littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) is underway conducting sea trials off the coast of Southern California. Freedom, the lead ship of the Freedom variant of LCS, is expected to deploy to Southeast Asia this spring. Wikipedia

Littoral Combat Ship Network Can Be Hacked, Navy Finds -- Bloomberg

The computer network on the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship is vulnerable to hacking, according to findings by Navy cybersecurity specialists.

A “red team” assigned to test weaknesses in computer systems found major deficiencies last year on Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s USS Freedom, said a government official familiar with the findings who asked not to be identified because the Navy report hasn’t been made public. The Freedom, the first of the new ships to be deployed, sailed to Singapore last month for eight months of testing of its manning and logistics operations.

The concern about cybersecurity adds to previous questions about the $37 billion program to build ships intended to perform missions in littoral waters, those close to shore. The estimated price to build each vessel has doubled to $440 million, and its ability to survive to fight after an attack has been questioned.

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Update #1: Cyber vulnerabilities found in Navy's newest warship: official -- Reuters
Update #2: Cyber sunk: Hackers find flaws in IT security on new Navy vessel -- Washington Times
Update #3: US Navy warship cybersecurity 'vulnerable' -- The Telegraph

My Comment: This is one of those "ooops" moments. My prediction .... expect the costs to build these ships to now go up .... again.

U.S. Navy's Newest Littoral Combat Ship Suffers Fire At Sea

The Coronado, seen at its christening in January 2012, is the fourth LCS for the U.S. Navy. (Austal USA)

Newest LCS Suffers Fire at Sea, Damage ‘Minor’ -- Defense News

WASHINGTON — Fire broke out aboard the littoral combat ship Coronado late Friday morning while the vessel was on its second day of sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico, a U.S. Navy official confirmed Saturday.

No one was injured in the accident, and early indications are that the damage was minor, the official said.

The incident happened as the ship was conducting a full-power demonstration and running at high speed. Insulation on the starboard diesel exhaust first smoldered, then ignited but, according to the official, the flames were “extinguished immediately.”

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Update #1: LCS-4 Trials Halted After Engine Fires -- Aviation Week
Update #2: Small fire breaks out on new warship -- UT San Diego

My Comment: This happened on its second day of sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico .... and even though the fire was minor, it highlights the many problems that the LCS program has been experiencing.

U.S. Navy Told That New $37 Billion Ship Not 'Survivable' In Combat

The Littoral Combat Ship -- derided by critics inside the Navy as the “Little Crappy Ship”-- has been beset by troubles since 2005 as the price doubled to $440 million per vessel. Nicholas Kontodiakos/U.S. Navy

Ships Costing U.S. $37 Billion Lack Firepower, Navy Told -- Bloomberg

The U.S. Navy’s troubled Littoral Combat Ship, a vessel intended to be small and speedy for use in shallow waters close to shore, lacks the firepower it needs, a top U.S. navy commander said in a classified memo.

Vice Admiral Tom Copeman, the commander of naval surface forces, called on the Navy to consider a ship with more offensive capability after the first 24 vessels are built, according to a Navy official who asked not to be identified discussing the confidential document.

Copeman’s memo, prepared late last year at the request of Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, indicates the Navy may be starting to re-examine the $37 billion program. The ship has been beset by troubles, including cracks and corrosion, its price has doubled since 2005 to $440 million per vessel and a decision to build two versions will add to longterm operating costs.

A review could lead to an eventual redesign of the ship or the development of an entirely new vessel.

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My Comment: Can anyone spell "fiasco".

U.S. Navy Considering Cutting It's LCS Order

The U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships USS Freedom, rear, and USS Independence maneuver during an exercise off the coast of Southern California. Whatever the future holds for the LCS program, it's becoming less likely the service will continue to buy both variants after 2015. (U.S. Navy)

U.S. Navy Weighs Halving LCS Order -- Defense News

WASHINGTON — Whatever the future holds for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, it’s becoming less likely the service will continue to buy both variants after 2015.

The successor may either be the Freedom-class or Independence-class designs now being built, an up-gunned, multimission variant of the current ships, or a completely different type of ship, according to senior Navy officials familiar with high-level thinking.

The up-gunned, multimission variant would perhaps be similar to the “international” versions that both builders have developed to entice foreign customers.

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Update: Report: Navy considers cutting LCS fleet in half -- DoD Buzz

My Comment: Another casualty of the U.S. defense budget cuts.

A New Paint Job For USS Freedom

Navy Littoral Combat Ship Sails For Singapore With New Camo Paint -- Aol Defense

Amidst all the budgetary gridlock, it's nice to know something still works in the federal government. The first of the Navy's controversial Littoral Combat Ships, LCS-1 Freedom, will sail for Singapore, our not-quite-ally, this Friday, March 1st -- the same day the sequestration cuts will start taking effect -- sporting a new camouflage paint job that sets its apart from traditional naval vessels.(Paint schemes and the cost of applying them to something as massive as a warship are a big deal in the Navy).

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My Comment: That's a lot of paint.

The U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship Is Not Expected To Survive In Combat

Credit: U.S. Navy

Navy’s $670 Million Fighting Ship Is ‘Not Expected to Be Survivable,’ Pentagon Says -- Danger Room

In less than two months, the Navy will send the first of its newest class of fighting ships on its first major deployment overseas. Problem is, according to the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, the Navy will be deploying the USS Freedom before knowing if the so-called Littoral Combat Ship can survive, um, combat. And what the Navy does know about the ship isn’t encouraging: Among other problems, its guns don’t work right.

That’s the judgment of J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, in an annual study sent to Congress on Friday and formally released Tuesday. Gilmore’s bottom line is that the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is still “not expected to be survivable” in combat.

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More News On The US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship Program

U.S. Navy Likely To Deploy First Littoral Combat Ship In March -- Aviation Week
LCS-1 Faces Logistics Challenges In Upcoming Deployment -- Aviation Week
Special Report: Littoral Warfare -- Defense News
The LCS News -- Information Dissemination
LCS Tuesday -- Bring the heat. Bring the Stupid.
LCS and the Audacity of Hope -- CDR Salamander

Is Criticism Of The U.S. Navy's LCS Program Justified?

The first two Littoral Combat Ships: the USS Freedom, rear, and the USS Independence, off the California coast. The ships primarily are designed to engage in combat close to shore. Navy photo / Lt. Jan Shultis

Navy Pushes Back Against LCS Critique -- DoD Buzz

John Sayen wrote a stinging critique of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship program for Time’s Battleland Blog. He’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last defense commentator to square his crosshairs on a program that has seen deadlines fly by and and costs spiral.

What’s different is the manner the Navy is so publicly pushing back against the arguments he made against the LCS. Navy’s Chief of Information Rear Adm. John Kirby wrote a stinging rebuke to Sayen’s article on the Navy’s blog, Navy Live, picking it apart in a piece entitled “LCS: Lets Talk Facts.”

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Update: LCS: Let’s Talk Facts -- Defpro

My Comment: The Time’s Battleland Blog article that started this debate can be found here.

A Critical Look At The U.S. Navy's LCS Program

The first two Littoral Combat Ships: the USS Freedom, rear, and the USS Independence, off the California coast. The ships primarily are designed to engage in combat close to shore. Navy photo / Lt. Jan Shultis

The Navy’s New Class of Warships: Big Bucks, Little Bang -- Time

The Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is not only staggeringly overpriced and chronically unreliable but — even if it were to work perfectly — cannot match the combat power of similar sized foreign warships costing only a fraction as much. Let’s take a deep dive and try to figure out why.

The story so far:

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My Comment: I would like to compare this to the Air force's F-35 program .... but it is not a fair comparison for the simple reason that the F-35 program is the ultimate in being staggeringly overpriced with questionable and still need to be proven capabilities.

Is The US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship System A Lemon?

The Navy’s Super Expensive New Boat Gets a Big Fat F- -- Gizmodo

The Littoral combat ship system is the F-22 of the skies. It can't detect mines, it's literally (litorally?) dissolving into the ocean, and now, upon inspection, has completely failed every test of seaworthiness. Cost to you? Well over $600 million.

Lanterloon acquired an internal Navy report that says the shiny new weaponized luxury liner, the USS Freedom, is a "no-go." Those were actual words written by the Navy.Our shores, they are safe:

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My Comment: Not a flattering assessment.

Admirals Praise The LCS Program, Congress And Others Have Doubts

Admirals Rally Round LCS As HASC Attacks; Lockheed Takes Fire, General Dynamics Escapes -- Aol Defense

WASHINGTON: Even as two Navy admirals praised the Littoral Combat Ship to reporters in a hastily convened conference call, the House Armed Services Committee ordered the Government Accountability Office to investigate the program.

"It's disturbing that the Navy would accept a ship that fails to meet the basic requirements for a tugboat," sneered San Francisco Democrat Jackie Speier, who introduced the legislative language directing the GAO inquiry as an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill, being marked up today. Speier specifically cited reports of hull cracking, leaks, and corrosion on the first Littoral Combat Ship, LCS-1 Freedom, from both a recent Project on Government Oversight study -- which already inspired an amendment last week from Rep. Duncan Hunter demanding details from the Navy -- and a story this morning from Aviation Week. (AOL Defense has also covered LCS extensively of late). Her amendment includes an ominous charge to GAO to investigate program managers and their industry partners to find out, in effect, "what did they know and when did they know it" about the potential for problems.

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More News On The LCS Program

What Price Freedom? LCS-1 Leaves Dry Dock Amid Questions About Worthiness -- Aviation Week
Corroding Littoral Combat Ship Faces Scrutiny -- Bloomberg
EXCLUSIVE: Navy Still Thrashing Out LCS Tactics, Design, Top Admiral Acknowledges -- Aol Defense
Navy praises LCS 3, but more storm clouds gather -- DoD Buzz
LCS Program Lauded, But Freedom Not Yet Ready -- Defense News
Navy admirals praise latest LCS ship -- al.com
Navy: Trials successful for newest LCS -- Navy Times
Austal confident of US Navy probe -- Perth Now

Congress Voices Concerns On The US Navy's LCS Program

The USS Freedom, first of a planned 55 Littoral Combat Ships, has undergone several repair periods over the last year at San Diego. Critics contend the ships are fatally flawed, but the U.S. Navy is defending the ships. (Josiah Popplar /U.S. Navy)

HASC Demands Navy 'Fess Up On LCS Problems -- Aol Defense

WASHINGTON: In an otherwise pro-forma meeting to approve legislative language for the 2013 national defense authorization, the Seapower panel of the House Armed Services Committee paused to add just one amendment to the otherwise unmodified bill: a provision by California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter demanding that the Navy 'fess up to Congress on problems with its Littoral Combat Ship.

"This simply makes the navy come to us and explain all the problems [and] all the good things about the LCS we need to know to conduct proper oversight," Rep. Hunter told the committee. "The Navy needs to be more forthcoming with us."

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More News On Congressional Concerns On Problems in The U.S. Navy's LCS Program

House slams Navy on 'lack of transparency' on Littoral Combat Ship -- The Hill
House Panel Backs Littoral Ship Funding, Criticizing Navy -- Bloomberg Businessweek
LCS Vigorously Defended by U.S. Navy -- Defense News
Navy’s Shiny New Ship Not So Shiny -- The Cutting Edge
Failed Equipment, Flawed Designs Plague Lockheed Littoral Combat Ship - -POGO

More Problems For The U.S. Navy`s LCS Ship Program

USS Freedom in the September 2009. (Wikipedia)

Navy Defends LCS Amid New Reports of Failures -- Military.com

The Navy defended a controversial new warship on Monday amid reports of leaks and equipment failures, saying the problems had been corrected and did not represent long-term issues. A government watchdog group, however, warned that the ship could be unsafe.

The Project On Government Oversight said in a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees that it had obtained internal Navy reports documenting problems aboard the littoral combat ship USS Freedom. The San Diego-based Freedom is the first in a new class of small, fast, modular warships that carry the hopes of a Navy brass eager to grow a shrinking, aging fleet.

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Update #1: Cracks Could Jeopardize Navy Plans to deploy LCS to Singapore -- Defense Update
Update #2: Failed Equipment, Flawed Designs Plague Lockheed Littoral Combat Ship -- POGO Project on Government Oversight

My Comment: Lockheed does not need these problems now .... especially since their F-35 program is also being scrutinized and criticized for problems and failures.

Why Is The US Navy Telling The Chinese That It's New $700 Million Ship Cannot Survive An Attack?

LCS Couldn't Survive War With China, But It Could Help Prevent It: CNO -- Aol Defense

WASHINGTON: As Chinese and Filipino ships continue to face off in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the Chief of Naval Operations acknowledged that the Navy's prized new Littoral Combat Ship might not survive a shooting war against a well-armed adversary like China. But, Adm. Jonathan Greenert said this morning at a National Press Club breakfast organized by Government Executive magazine, the small, versatile vessel could free up larger warships from the day-to-day policing, presence, and partnership-building missions that are the best way to prevent a crisis from erupting in the first place.

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Update: The Navy Says Its New $700 Million Combat Ship Will Never Survive A Shootout With China -- Business Insider

My Comment: I guess we can use the above rational .... LCS Couldn't Survive War With China, But It Could Help Prevent It .... on why we are also building this monstrosity.

LCS News Updates -- October 22, 2011

U.S. Navy 'Very Confident' In LCS Program -- Al.com

WASHINGTON — The first two littoral combat ships built for the U.S. Navy are working well, a top Navy official said Thursday, and despite some problems and criticism, he is "very confident" in the designs.

Rear Adm. James Murdoch said that the vessels, commonly referred to as LCS, are being slightly reconfigured to avoid corrosion problems that have arisen in recent months, but the cost of making these changes will be insignificant.

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More News On The US Navy's LCS Program

U.S. Navy Seeks To Improve On LCS Designs -- Aviation Week
Navy To Arm LCS With New Missile System -- Aol Defense
Littoral Combat Ship Form Notes Deficiencies, Non-Compliances with USS Freedom -- Defpro
Austal USA to build USS Montgomery -- FOX News
New ship named for city of Jackson -- Picayune Item

Rumblings In The U.S. Navy Over It`s New Destroyers

The USS Milwaukee will be 388 feet long and travel at speeds of more than 40 knots. It's expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2014. Courtesy of United States Navy

The Vibrations From The Gray Elephant -- DoD Buzz

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, there was an explosion of discussion online about the Navy’s new Zumwalt– class destroyers. The meteor seems to have made its impact on the blog of shipbuilding expert Tim Colton, who turned in one of his classic paragraphs that deserves to be excerpted in full:

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE GRAY ELEPHANT?

Bud Zumwalt, a great man, must be spinning in his grave. Senator Collins (R-GD) thinks the second and third ships are OK, but are they? Will SECNAV ever explain to the U.S. taxpayers just exactly why it has cost so much — DD-21, DD(X) and now DDG 1000 — to achieve so little? Doesn’t anyone in the Navy ever give a moment’s thought to cost justification?

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My Comment: Rumble and voice your concerns all that you want .... these ships are still going to be built.

U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships To Be Deployed To The South China Seas

USS Independence

'Stealth' Warships To Test China's Nerve -- The Australian/The Times

THE US is deploying a new generation of high-speed stealth warships to the disputed waters of the South China Sea, in a move that is bound to raise tensions with Beijing.



The vessels, which cost $US440 million ($422m) each, will be deployed in the shipping lanes between Hong Kong and Singapore, where four nations are at odds with China over who owns vast areas of ocean rich in oil and gas.



The ships are designed to fight in shallow waters. They carry three helicopters and special forces units with armoured vehicles that can roll off a ramp into action, while fast gunboats can be launched from the stern.



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My Comment: These ships have their critics.

U.S. Navy Continues To Develop New Combat Ships

Photo: The U.S. Navy littoral combat ships USS Freedom (LCS 1), top, and USS Independence (LCS 2). U.S. Navy photo illustration

Navy Develops New Combat Ships Amid Ongoing Criticism -- Stars and Stripes

While the future of the Littoral Combat Ship program remains unclear, the Navy and its industrial partners have been testing the first two such ships, Defense News reported.



Over the past year, USS Freedom and USS Independence have been developed as prototypes for future littoral ships despite ongoing debate in Washington, the newspaper reported.



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My Comment: the Defense news article is here.

US Navy LCS Program -- News Updates August 4, 2011

How The Navy’s Warship Of The Future Ran Aground -- Danger Room

With an enormous splash and cheers from spectators, the 378-foot-long vessel Freedom slid sideways into the Menominee River in Wisconsin. It was Sept. 23, 2006, and the U.S. Navy had just launched its first brand-new warship class in nearly 20 years.

Freedom also represented a new strategy. Where previous warships had been tailored for open-ocean warfare using guns, missiles and torpedoes, Freedom — the first so-called Littoral Combat Ship, or LCS — was designed for a new kind of coastal combat. It was smaller, more maneuverable. And instead of relying on sheer firepower, it carried few of its own weapons. Instead, it would function as a mothership for super-sophisticated robots that would do most of the ship’s fighting.

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More News On The LCS Program

How the Navy Screwed Up Its Warship of the Future -- Gizmodo
Despite troubled waters, Navy will stay the course with LCS -- DoD Buzz
Navy's LCS warship beset by cost, quality problems -- Sign On San Diego
LCS 1 Continues Maintenance in Post-Shakedown Availability -- Marine Link
Troubled LCS warship to transfer to San Diego by Christmas -- Sign on San Diego
LCS readied for sea trials -- UPI