via Defense Intercepts.
WASHINGTON The littoral combat ship (LCS) Freedom suffered a temporary loss of propulsive power Saturday while operating near Singapore, the U.S. Navy reported, but the ship never lost all power.The Navy should show a little courage, or the SecDef should...this puppy needs to be put down. This ship should be shot in the face and the rest to the chest....it should be drug to the river and held underwater until it stops kicking. It should be fed into a woodchipper and then the entire contraption set on fire.
The Freedom’s crew was able to diagnose the problems, restart the engines and continue operating, but was forced to return to Singapore for repairs and further examinations — but not before completing the replenishment operation.
The ship is operating from Singapore throughout this year on a highly-anticipated — and closely watched — demonstration deployment, the first-ever extended overseas deployment for an LCS. The Freedom left its homeport of San Diego, Calif., on March 1 and arrived at the island nation’s Changi naval base on April 18. It was preparing to take part in a series of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises with the Singaporean Navy when the incident took place on the morning of July 20.
This ship program should be cancelled.
Actually it makes more sense to transfer the LCS to the Coast Guard. They have an aging fleet problem too, and the capabilities of the LCS seem more tailored to that mission.
ReplyDeleteshhh...you're spoiling my next post...comparing the LCS to the new Coast Guard Cutter coming online.
Deletethe program can NOT be cancelled but may well be truncated.
DeleteWHY would the USCG in their right minds want an LCS? Does not meet their rqmts, does not fit their modus operandi.
SOl we have been around the dumb idea to give the LCS to the Coast Guard before, it has never gotten any support.
uh. not exactly a dumb idea when you consider the fact that i've seen coast guard ships operating far from US shores doing supposedly coast guard work in foreign lands. if i'm not mistaken they fall back on their "dept of the navy" mission set to tell the public why they're so far from US coastal waters.
DeleteYou will notice from the photos that they have a Senior Chief and two First Class working on the problem. With the low manning they probably don’t have any E-3’s or E-4’s available. So while they have cut the number of personnel on board they have had to keep the most expensive part, the senior personnel.
ReplyDeleteIt does not mean that reducing personnel doesn’t save money but it does not save as much as might be thought. Especially since even the senior personnel will need more training before they even get to the ship and will also require a special rotation system to keep those personnel available to the LCS’s with special shore duty billets and even pay bonuses. With such a small crew you can’t afford to have anyone under instructions, they need to be fully qualified when they walk on the ship.
http://blogs.defensenews.com/intercepts/2013/07/lcs-freedom-suffers-power-loss-at-sea/
The LCS should have been canceled when sequestration hit the DoD. All the Money from the LCS should be transferred into the NSC program or buying a REAL Multi Role Frigate. The LCS as it is, is nothing more than a glorified US Coast Guard Medium Endurance cutter painted Haze grey. If were stuck with them, the only thing the LCS should replace is the Cyclone class PC.
ReplyDeleteNo it is an upgunned minsweeper and LCS-1 is really just a R&D prototype that the Navy likes to pretend is a real warship when it suits them and a R&D prototype when it suits them.
ReplyDeleteThey never should have mentioned Surface warface as a capability. Should have stuck with the "it is a tiny carrier that will clear mines and hunt submarines using a combination of unmanned air, surface and underwater vehicles while the actual ship will stay out of harms way."
The LCS is a serious JOKE and is nowhere near a Frigate or a Corvette. It's nothing more and a glorified US Coast Guard Medium Endurance cutter painted Haze Grey. It's a joke, and it will never survive one hit from an ASCM to a swarm attack. The LCS is liken to the F-35 of the seas and is a disaster in the making.
DeleteUpGun the LCS.. NOW
ReplyDeleteThat may be a case of throwing good money after bad. I think the best you can hope for is that the production run is cut short (saving face without admitting what a balls-up it was). A redesigned ship with a lower max speed would be cheaper and provide more utility.
DeleteLCS aint going anywhere, except into production. The smartest thing is to make sure that some group of twits in gofast boats don't take one out.
DeleteThe nice thing about the UpGun plan is that it's all OTS and only the integration needs to happen.
Up gunning the LCS is liken to throwing good money into bad stuff. It would be like the Canadian throwing good money into those dumpster fires of the Victora class SSK. If were stuck with the LCS, I would hire current Corvette ship captains as consultant on how to up gun an LCS into a true corvette. The only thing the LCS should replace is the Cyclone class PC and Avenger MCM. What we really need is a True Multi Role Frigate such as France's FREMM frigate, Germany's F-125 frigate or build a Burke frigate based on the Spanish Navy's Álvaro de Bazán-class frigate and the Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate
Deleteleesea, I know that the Coast Guard has been transferred to DHS. However it is still one of the larger "Navies" in the world, and has a wartime role that is different from its law enforcement role. In terms of "peacetime" role, the LCS is a fine platform for drug interdiction and search & rescue operations. So I don't think it is a "dumb idea" I think it will happen eventually, the only question is how much use the Navy gets out of the LCS before the handover.
ReplyDeletethe USCG has ALREADY defined their ocean going cutter needs which resulted in the NCS and OPC programs. Those needs are NOT met by the LCS.
ReplyDeleteLCS is far to expensive to buy (more than the NCS). Too much (speed, size, crewing, life cycle costs) for just SAR and MIO ops/
LCS to USCG is a dumb idea and that is NOT only my opinion, go over to Chuck Hill's CG Blog to see the many many reasons against our CG using LCS.
The LCS as it is would break the US Coast Guard's Bank account many times over. It would be a huge mistake and a huge disaster for the USCG to get the LCS. Although, the design with heavy design modifications would make it a good OPC. That would mean stripping the LCS of it's speed and bringing more economical CODOG and CODAG engines. More space for fuel tanks and putting the design to Naval shipbuilding standards. Replacing aluminum design with all steel. The LCS would be armed in the same way as the Gowind Corvette and SAAR 5 corvette.
DeleteAs I have said it many times over, the LCS is a disaster from the day it was drawn on a napkin. The LCS should have been canned and cut the moment the price tag started going up. It's why Congress needs to grow a pair and tell the US Navy the LCS is getting canceled. The LCS is No frigate or a corvette. Even Corvette ship captains around the world are laughing at us and making jokes out of the LCS in the bar room & Wardrooms & staterooms. Which is why we need to cancel the LCS and move all the remaining LCS money into a high end Multi Role Frigate. Should make a deal with Spain, France or Germany for Multi Role Frigate designs and hire BIW to build them. If were stuck with the LCS, the only thing they should only be replacing is the Cyclone class PC & avenger class MCM. That's why we need a High end Multi Role Frigate to Replace the Perry's. If Admiral Greenert is so sure about the LCS is he willing to risk his kids in sailing the LCS into Harms way. Is he willing to allow his kids to work on the LCS.
ReplyDelete