Littoral Combat Ship/frigate Program Woes now Spread to Congress

The future of the Littoral Combat Ship/frigate program is still far from decided with the split between factions spilling into a Tuesday Senate hearing.

It has been clear for months that the Navy and Defense Department do not see eye-to-eye on the issue of how many small surface combatants to buy and from how many shipyards. What began as a whispered-about schism turned public earlier this month, with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus telling a congressional subcommittee that decisions about the program’s future “will be made by the next administration and by Congress,” not by Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

On Tuesday, it became clear that difference of opinion exists in Congress, too.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 15, chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) – a vocal critic of the LCS program – praised the decision to curtail production of what he called an expensive and unproven platform. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), in whose home state half of the LCSs are built, warned the discussion wasn’t over.

During his opening statement, McCain railed against the program.

“Initial cost-overruns more than doubled the cost of each Littoral Combat Ship, and development costs now exceed $3 billion and counting,” he said.

“Meanwhile, key warfighting capabilities of the LCS, including mine countermeasures and anti-submarine warfare, have fallen years behind schedule and remain unproven. Because of the long running cost, schedule, and performance issues with this program, I support the (Defense) Department’s proposal to down-select to one variant no later than 2019 and reduce the inventory objective to 40 ships. I am encouraged to see the Navy has begun the process of identifying the LCS replacement, and I hope we can transition to a more capable small surface combatant expeditiously.”

link.

The Freedom Class Litoral Combat Ship may be Fundamentally Flawed

After only a month after the USS Milwaukee suffered from a mechanical failure, the USS Fort Worth, deployed in Singapore, has suffered an engine problem as well.  

There has been some speculation the Freedom class is fundamentally flawed; though, the US Navy is saying the problems between the USS Milwaukee and the USS Fort Worth suffered are not related.  I think a lot of people are wondering about that.

I would not want to be Lockheed right now, given that the Navy has been directed to down select to a single LCS class and build the frigate from a single of the two classes.  Additionally, the Independence class received IOC today and Austal received a contract (paywall) to do the work to produce a design for a frigate based on the Independence class.

USS Milwaukee, newest Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship, had Engine Damage, Will Require Weeks to Repair

The Navy’s newest Littoral Combat Ship – USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) – could be sidelined for weeks to repair an engine casualty that occurred last week during an Atlantic Ocean transit.

Lockheed Martin and the service are currently working through the total scope of the repair package for the gearings that connect the ship’s main engines to its water jets and timelines are far from adamantine.

But according to an initial assessment of the damage obtained by USNI News, and two sources familiar with the extent of the repair requirements, that timeline could push the work well into the new year.

“All concerned agree this will be a lengthy process,” read the early assessment seen by USNI News.

link.

US Navy's Small Combat Ship/Frigate Will Retain Some Modularity from LCS

The US Navy's (USN's) future multimission frigate will retain some of the modular features found in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) but will do so in a manner "more innate and inherent" than the resident capability on board the original class, the officer responsible for acquiring the navy's small surface combatants said on 1 December.

link.

Littoral Combat Ships to Deploy With Harpoon and Kongsberg Strike Missiles

The US Navy’s push to increase the lethality of the littoral combat ship (LCS) is getting a major and somewhat unexpected boost with word that an over-the-horizon (OTH) surface-to-surface missile will be installed on-board the next LCSs to deploy.

Rear Adm. Pete Fanta, director of surface warfare at the Pentagon, issued a directive on Sept. 17 calling for the installation of an unspecified OTH missile aboard the Freedom and the Coronado, the next two LCSs scheduled for deployment. The Freedom is to deploy to the Western Pacific during the first quarter of calendar year 2016, while the Coronado is to follow in the second or third quarter.

“The objective is to install the OTH missile system aboard all in-service LCS deploying to forward operating stations starting in fiscal year 2016,” Fanta wrote in the directive, “as well as on all under-construction LCS prior to their commissioning ceremonies.”

The LCS has been without a surface-to-surface missile since the cancellation in 2010 of the Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) missile, a program managed by the US Army that would have provided LCS with a significant weapon. Ever since, the service has been searching for a suitable replacement. A shipboard launch system for the Hellfire missile is being developed for smaller targets, but that weapon is unable to inflict significant damage on larger ships -- a role the OTH is meant to fill.

An OTH weapon is to be included in the LCS frigate variant now under development. The Navy has issued a request for information to industry for the frigate missile, and a request for proposals is expected later this year, but no missile has yet been chosen.

Fanta’s directive does not mention a specific missile, but it’s understood from sources that the missiles for the initial installations will be the Boeing Harpoon and Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM).

The idea, sources confirmed, is to try out both kinds of missile on both LCS variants, each ship deploying with only one model of missile installed.

The Harpoon is a tried-and-true weapon that has armed most US warships since the late 1970s. It is a normally mounted in launch canisters, usually grouped in a quad pack. Most ships carry two quad packs, for a total of eight weapons – the maximum number of weapons per ship specified in Fanta’s directive. Boeing has been at work to improve the weapon, in particular to give it longer range.

The Norwegian-built NSM, by contrast, is not a US program of record and is not in service with any US platforms, although it is in service with the Norwegian Navy. It is the only naval strike missile to be fired from an LCS, however. In a simple demonstration test, a single missile box launcher was loaded aboard the Coronado and fired on Sept. 23, 2014. The launcher sat on a rudimentary platform exhausting over the ship’s flight deck, and the missile was not integrated into the Coronado’s combat system.

Fanta’s directive, in fact, notes that “full integration with the LCS combat system is not required. A stand-alone console or computer terminal capable of consummating an engagement is sufficient for initial fielding.”

link.

US Navy Solidifying Path Forward to Procuring Large Drone Submarines

The US Navy (USN) is solidifying a path towards acquisition of a large displacement unmanned underwater vehicle (LDUUV), an official said on 21 October.

The first increment of LDUUV will need to have the ability to not only launch and recover from both variants of the USN's Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), but also to deploy from the Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine via the Virginia Payload Module, or a modernised drydeck shelter, said Rear Admiral Robert Girrier, director of the USN's new unmanned warfare systems (N99) division that was established in September.

link.

Saudis buy Four Freedom Class LCS Properly Upgraded to Frigates (inclusive of VLS)

Four Lockheed Martin Freedom-class ship variants are set to form the backbone of the Royal Saudi Navy’s Eastern Fleet as part of a $11.25 billion foreign military sales case presented to Congress on Monday.

[...]

Lockheed as presented several sizes of the Freedom for foreign sales and is yet unclear what the final tonnage of the Saudi variant will be.

The quartet — as described in the DSCA notification — will emphasize traditional anti-air warfare and will be built around two eight-cell Lockheed Martin Mk 41 vertical launch system (VLS) and an Airbus TRS-4D active electronically scanned array (AESA) air search radar.

The list also included 532 Raytheon RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) which can be loaded four to a Mk 41 cell. With 16 cells per hull, the Saudi Freedoms will be able to potentially field 64 anti-air missiles per-ship.

A December Naval Sea Systems Command contract award to Lockheed Martin included about $93 million for Mk 41 systems for Saudi Arabia, giving early hints to the direction of their SNEP II ship buys.

The ships will also field the 1980s era Boeing RGM-84 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles (ASM), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sonar suites and torpedoes as well as an OTO Melara 76 mm main deck gun.

link.

Ok, US Navy, the Saudis just paid for the engineering work to get the LCS' to have VLS.  Put it in the SSC frigate, damnit.

Littoral Combat Ship Derived Frigates Will NOT Retain LCS Speeds

Whereas a high sprint speed was a driving factor in designing the Littoral Combat Ship, the follow-on frigate will instead be optimized for lethality and survivability, the Navy’s frigate program manager said Thursday.

As the LCS program transitions to a multimission frigate, the 40-knot sprint speed requirement will go away to allow for more armor, more weapons, an over-the-horizon missile and full-time anti-torpedo protection, Capt. Dan Brintzinghoffer said at an American Society for Naval Engineers event.

This change, he said, is a recognition of simple physics.

“If we don’t change anything [in the hull design] and add a lot of weight, they’re not going to go as fast as they do today,” he said, noting that a total redesign to maintain the high speed is out of the question.

“It’s acknowledging the reality of physics: it’s heavier, it’s not going to go as fast, and it’s no longer a requirement they have to design to.”

Instead, he said the frigate will be more lethal, more survivable, and will be able to conduct surface warfare and ant-submarine warfare simultaneously, whereas the LCS had to choose only one mission package to work with at any given time.

link.

Railgun, guys.  Just do it on the Independence derived frigate.

US Navy Purchases 2 Independence Class, 1 Freedom Class LCS in 2015

The Navy on Tuesday awarded Austal USA $691 million for two Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and Lockheed Martin $441 million for one LCS and advance procurement funding for a second ship next year.

With its shipbuilding budget under pressure, the Navy last February broke from its four-a-year procurement strategy. Whereas both contractors had been producing two LCSs a year under a 20-ship, dual-yard block buy meant to stretch from Fiscal Years 2010 to 2015, the last LCS in the block buy would be deferred to FY 2016. Two more LCSs outside the block buy would be contracted in FY 2016, bringing the total to six over two years and leaving the Navy to decide how to allot those ships most efficiently.

Navy spokesman Chris Johnson told USNI News that as the Navy worked through how to allocate the three FY 2015 ships, “the Navy and industry have consulted on schedules, performance to date and related matters. Through the negotiations with both industry teams, the Navy determined that the most cost-effective option was to fund Austal USA two FY 2015 ships, and Lockheed Martin one FY 2015 ship plus advance procurement for one FY 2016 ship.”

USNI News understands that the Navy reviewed both Austal’s and Lockheed Martin’s shipyard schedules since 2010 to project how a change in production rate would affect future delivery schedules. The Navy found no appreciable difference between the two yards, meaning the decision came down to cost and not schedule.

Under the contract, Austal’s Mobile, Ala., yard will build the yet-to-be-named LCS-22 and 24, and Lockheed Martin subcontractor Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisc., will build LCS-21. LCS-23 will be the FY 2016 Lockheed Martin ship, Johnson said.

link.

Saudis Want LCS With Aegis, VLS

The long-sought-after deal to upgrade and replace Saudi Arabia's Eastern Fleet has taken a major step forward, sources said, with the January delivery of a letter of request (LoR) to the US detailing Saudi wishes.

Rear Adm. Jim Shannon, head of the US Navy International Program Office, reportedly obtained the LoR during a visit to Saudi Arabia. The letter marks a major step forward after years of talks and negotiations with the Saudis, who have also strongly considered French proposals to replace their fleet.

The French hold the preponderance of contracts in support of the Saudi's western, or Red Sea, fleet. France and the US are considered the primary contenders for the Eastern Fleet contract, said to be worth as much as $16 billion or higher.

Several sources said the Saudi LoR did not list specific ship designs, but rather gave general guidelines. Among the highlights are:

• Four 3,500-ton frigate-like warships, armed with vertical launch systems (VLS), capable of anti-air warfare and speeds of 35 knots

• 12 1,150-ton corvette-like warships

• 24 or so smaller patrol craft

The deal would include MH-60R helicopters to operate from the frigates, along with support and training.

One condition is the shipbuilder would be the prime contractor.

The US Navy is reportedly working to define details of the LoR, including what air radar the Saudis want to fulfill the anti-air requirement. Sources said that while no specific radar is listed in the LoR, the only system that fits the requirement is the SPY-1F lightweight Aegis system from Lockheed Martin.

SPY-1F is fitted only to Norway's Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates. All other Aegis warships — US cruisers and destroyers, foreign ships including those from Spain, Korea, Japan and Australia — carry the heavier SPY-1D antenna. While there is a high degree of commonality between the two versions, the 1F features smaller antennas and less power, resulting in shorter range.

Lockheed Martin and Austal USA have offered versions of their littoral combat ships fitted with VLS and phased-array radars, including the SPY-1F, both for export and most recently for the US Navy's Small Surface Combatant (SSC) competition conducted in 2014. In the end, the US Navy chose to forego Aegis and VLS on its SSCs, now designated as frigates.

Other than the LCS/SSC/frigate designs, there are no other US projects that would fit the 3,500-ton parameters of the Saudi frigate.

link.

If I were the SecDef, I'd have the Saudis pay for development costs of the LCS with the real firepower of a frigate and then just add the minor improvements, relatively speaking, the US Navy needs.  Use those to replace the LCS with the minor upgrades that currently planned after the first 20 LCS.  Then they actually will be FF or really FFGs and worthy successors to the Oliver Hazard Perry frigates.

US Navy to Operate 4 LCS Singapore by 2018

Four US warships designed to fight in coastal areas similar to Southeast Asian waters will be operating out of Singapore by 2018, up from one currently, a senior US Navy official said Tuesday.

The "rotational deployment" of the vessels, called littoral combat ships (LCS), comes as China continues to flex its muscles in the South China Sea and tensions remain on the Korean Peninsula.

"We will soon see up to four LCS here in Singapore as we rotationally deploy Seventh Fleet ships," said Rear Adm. Charles Williams.

"We envision four ships here by May 2017 to sometime in 2018 ... but I think what you have is that by 2018, four LCS ships will be rotationally deployed here to Singapore."

link.

Littoral Combat Ships' Survivability Questioned Again

Less than a month after U.S. Navy leaders announced modified versions of both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship would be the Navy’s pick for its for a more lethal and survivable small surface combatant, one of the chief LCS critics said the upgrades would do little to improve the survivability of the class.

Chief Pentagon weapon tester Michael Gilmore still remains fundamentally dissatisfied with the survivability of the Navy’s littoral combatant ship (LCS) and its upgraded follow-on, the small surface combatant (SSC).

“Notwithstanding reductions to its susceptibility” compared with the design of the first 32 ships, he told Bloomberg on Jan. 8.
“The minor modifications to the LCS will not yield a ship that is significantly more survivable.”

It remains to be seen, however, how the Navy can improve the other legs of the “survivability triangle” of a hull displacing 3,000 tons and is less than 425 feet in length.

Small ships have been historically unsurvivable. Modern small warships are not in any way the equivalent of the World War II predecessors. Every warship is a compromise in armament, endurance, speed and survivability. This is especially true of the LCS, as its modular operational profile demands absolute adherence to weight limitations.

Small warships are historically unsurvivable in combat. They have a shorter floodable length, reduced reserve buoyancy and more likely to be affected by fire and smoke damage than larger combatants. In both World Wars, losses in ships below 3000 tons in displacement far exceeded those of larger vessels.

In World War II, for example, the U.S. lost a total of 71 destroyers and 11 destroyer escorts — all under 3400 tons displacement and less than 400 feet in length.

By comparison, only 23 larger ships were lost. Part of that figure is undoubtedly due to their operational employment, but in simple terms of engineering and physics, larger ships are inherently more survivable than their smaller counterparts.

link. and again.

US Navy Redesignating Upgraded LCS Corvette Ships as Frigates (FF)

The US Navy (USN) has decided to classify its upgraded fast, shallow-water Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as a frigate (FF), Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced on 15 January at the Surface Navy Association national symposium near Washington, DC.

The FF designation comes only weeks after the USN announced that it would modify current LCS designs to accommodate increased lethality and survivability requirements in its small surface combatant fleet.

link.

US Shipyards Gearing up for Small Combat Ship LCS Variants

With a decision taken by the US Navy (USN) to continue acquiring both Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) variants for the foreseeable future, the two LCS prime contractors are preparing for government discussions on modifying their respective seaframes to fulfill a requirement for more lethal and survivable versions of the fast shallow-water ships, company officials told IHS Jane's on 15-16 December.

Executives at Lockheed Martin Corp and Austal USA - the companies leading the two industry teams building the Freedom and Independence variants of LCSs, respectively - expressed excitement about the navy's decision to continue its 52-ship small surface combatant programme by acquiring modified versions of their Flight 0+ LCS.

link.

The Coming Knife Fight Over US Navy Procurements & Budget

Smooth sailing is not in the Navy’s forecast for the next year.The service faces big decisions on major programs, and we can expect clashes between Navy plans, congressional politics and budgetary realities on three of the biggest: the upgunned Littoral Combat Ship, the UCLASS armed drone, and the jewel in the Navy’s crown, the nuclear aircraft carrier.

The fate of all three programs — and countless others — is tied up with the looming budget cuts known as sequestration. But this isn’t just another sequestration story. Each program carries its own unique controversies that may doom it regardless of whether the sequester is solved.

For the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) drone in particular, the debate is less about funding than about warfighting, and ultimately about the odds of war with China. Congress, especially House Republicans, want weapons built first and foremost to survive and win a high-end fight in the West Pacific — or better yet to deter one altogether. The Navy, backed by the Obama administration, has proposed more modest capabilities and lower costs for a wider range of missions.

link.

Littoral Combat Ship Survives Upgraded, but Still a Corvette, not a Frigate

The controversial Littoral Combat Ship dodged a big torpedo today, when outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel approved the Navy’s plan for a larger, better armed and better protected version of the ship. Critics had called for a radical redesign or an entirely new ship. The “modified LCS” simply adds new weapons, electronics, and armor to the two existing LCS variants for an additional $60-$75 million per ship.

“After rigorous review and analysis, today I accepted the Navy’s recommendation to build a new small surface combatant (SSC) ship based on upgraded variants of the LCS,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement early this evening. “The new SSC will offer improvements in ship lethality and survivability, delivering enhanced naval combat performance at an affordable price.”

Arguably the biggest change: the new version will not be able to serve as a minesweeper, focusing instead on fighting enemy surface vessels and submarines.

link.

another link.

And another.

Has Congress Frozen the US Navy's LCS Program?

Congress has frozen the construction of several new Littoral Combat Ships until the Navy provides the House and Senate defense committees with specific analytical reports on the program, according to a newly released Congressional budget agreement.

The agreement on the National Defense Act for Fiscal Year 2015, which Congress will vote on before Christmas, emerged from conference session between House and Senate committees responsible for passing the defense budget.

Regarding the LCS, the agreement prevents the Navy from spending money toward the construction of LCS-25 or LCS-26 until certain reports are submitted by the Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.

The Congressional road block is the most recent in a string of controversies and disagreements on the LCS’s future. Many have criticized the platform on the ground that it is not lethal or survivable enough to address the current global threat environment and is poorly suited to perform its intended missions.

link.

US Navy Close to Decision on Small Surface Combatant (LCS Follow-on)

The final decision on the 20-hull follow up to the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will be made soon, the Chief of Naval Operations said during a defense conference in California over the weekend.

“The Secretary is very close to a decision,” Adm. Jonathan Greenert said in an interview with news service Reuters during Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan presidential library.

“It was our endeavor to provide an option which would provide a more lethal ship, one that is more survivable, with capabilities that can be back fit, and as much as feasible, not interrupt production.”

Greenert told Reuters following the decision expected an announcement after the decision and an outline of the way ahead.

link.

UISS: US Navy Plans Unmanned Surface Ship for Hunting Mines by 2016

The Navy is building a 40-foot-long unmanned surface vehicle designed to launch from a Littoral Combat Ship and detonate and destroy underwater mines while keeping ships and sailors at a safe distance, service officials said.

The first prototype, scheduled to be finished by 2016, will pave the way for initial production of the Unmanned Influence Sweep System, or UISS, Capt. David Honabach, program manager, unmanned maritime systems, told Military​.com.

The Navy hopes to have the UISS in the fleet by 2017.

link.

USS Detroit (LCS 7) Christened, Launched

A seventh Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) for the US Navy (USN) was launched on 18 October.

Christened Detroit (LCS 7), the ship entered the water for the first time at Marinette Marine Corp's construction facilities in Marinette, Wisconsin.

The 118.6 m steel monohull is the fourth Freedom variant LCS being built by a team led by Lockheed Martin. Detroit is the second ship in a batch of 10 LCS currently in serial production at the Marinette Marine shipyard. It is expected to be ready for handover in November 2015, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.

link.