Congress is getting ready to decide the fate of the Littoral Combat Ship program. The speedy, high-tech warship designed to operate near shorelines has been plagued with delays, mechanical problems and cost overruns throughout its life.
San Diego will eventually be home port to at least 12 LCSs. The USS Gabrielle Giffords is the newest Littoral Combat Ship in the Navy’s fleet. It came into port in July, after being built in Mobile, Alabama, and commissioned in Texas.
The LCS has a number of advantages. It is fast, traveling at more than 40 knots. It uses a propulsion system similar to a jet ski rather than a traditional rudder and propeller, which makes the ship highly maneuverable. It also uses technology in place of a larger crew.
RELATED: USS Gabrielle Giffords Arrives In San Diego
The Giffords’ bridge was relatively empty as the ship arrived in San Diego. Cmdr. Shawn Cowan, the ship's executive officer, said normally a ship this size would have a crew of roughly 300. The Giffords has a crew of 70 people.
“The destroyer I was on, we had like 19 people up in the pilot house,” Cowan said.
The Giffords needs only a handful of people to drive the ship.
“You don’t have 19 different opinions. You have two opinions and the captain,” Cowan said.
Despite high marks from the Giffords’ crew, the LCS program has had a stormy rollout. In 2016, the ships recorded five breakdowns during deployments. A San Diego crew was left stranded in Singapore while the Navy reworked the program to dump some its loftier ambitions.
The Navy dropped the idea of having the LCS swap modules in the field to allow one ship to perform three types of missions: surface warfare, mine detection and anti-submarine warfare. Some of the components are still years behind schedule. Swapping modules in the field also was not as easy as the Navy originally predicted, said Steve Ellis, who is with the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.
“They tried to make the LCS all things to all people,” Ellis said.
The Navy also dumped a special crew configuration developed for the LCS that allowed multiple crews to share a single ship so the ship could remain deployed longer. To further cut down on the confusion, the Navy also ended the practice of keeping separate crews for the different mission modules.
RELATED: San Diego Contractors Encouraged To Focus On Littoral Combat Ship
“As ships go, it was supposed to be relatively inexpensive,” Ellis said. “But as they found — one, the price went up quite a bit, and then also, we’re getting an inferior product.”
In December, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, grilled Pentagon officials about the problems, including a price tag that has doubled. The LCS was expected to cost $220 million when the Navy first testified about the contract in the mid-2000s.
“We are going to start holding people accountable,” said McCain during the hearing. “We’re talking about millions of dollars here.”
The General Accounting Office has recommended Congress stop buying new LCS ships until the Navy solves the problems. Even so, Congress is considering buying as many as three more ships in the upcoming defense budget.
In late August, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer met with the crew of the Giffords during his first trip to San Diego. He said the Navy is figuring out how to use the new ship.
“We’re solving the issues as they come along,” Spencer said.
And the problems are large. During the Dec. 6 Senate committee hearing, a GAO official questioned whether the LCS can survive an attack. As part of the reboot, the Navy is adding firepower to all the LCSs set to be deployed overseas.
In July, USS Coronado tested a harpoon missile for the LCS near Guam. The Navy has said the Giffords will not deploy in 2019 without an upgraded missile system.
Defense Analyst Brian Clark says the LCS was designed in the early 2000s to patrol areas near shore, at a time when coastal waters were often friendlier to U.S. forces. Now the world is more dangerous, and the smaller, lightly armed ship may be more of a target than a deterrent.
“The environment has changed such that you need a ship that can defend itself to a much greater degree than LCS is able to do,” he said.
Congress will have to decide whether to buy more LCSs, though the program is winding down. This summer, the Navy turned its attention to a different kind of vessel. It began asking for proposals to start building a new frigate, a type of ship better suited to the more dangerous environment the Navy faces today.
While in San Diego, the secretary of the Navy said all options are on the table for the LCS’s replacement. The Navy could go with a more heavily armored and armed version of the current LCS for its new frigate design, or it could pick something entirely new.
While the Navy works through its options, LCS supporters in Congress want to include up to three more LCSs in the next budget. The plan is intended to preserve competition at the two shipyards that build the ship while the Navy gets ready to build the new frigate, said Defense Analyst Brian Clark.
“In this case they would build the LCS for another two years for the purpose of allowing those two shipyards to compete for the new frigate,” Clark said.
The Navy hopes competition will drive down the cost of the new frigate, but that did not happen in the LCS program. A traditional monohull design was built at a shipyard in Wisconsin. And a sophisticated trimaran design, featured on the Gabrielle Giffords, is built in Alabama. The Navy was supposed to pick a winner once the first ships were delivered in the late 2000s, but that never happened.
The Navy moved too quickly from design to building, Clark said, and bet that technology would catch up, but it did not. Small crews also leave no one to do the kind of maintenance needed when ships are deployed for months at sea, he said.
“The lesson would be, don’t try to accelerate something like ship building, where it’s going to last for a long time,” he said.
It is a problem that the LCS’s critics hope will not be repeated.
This is KPBS in the day I Alison St. John in for more income in it. Congress about to decide the fate of the Navy's littoral combat ship.Speedy, high-tech warships have been plagued with delays, mechanical problems and cost overruns. San Diego is home port for many of the ships. KPBS military porter Steve Walsh, following the story and has this report.USS Gabrielle Giffords the newest littoral combat ship in the Navy's fleet. I was on board as the ship first arrived in San Diego, one sunny morning in July. We are coming into the dock in San Diego. One of the things that makes the LCS different from other ships is the propulsion. Instead of a rider, they have water jets which make the ship much more maneuverable. The LCS are fast. Traveling at more than 40 knots, basically slow highway speed. Uses technology in place of a larger crew. The Giffords' bridge relatively empty, coming into San Diego. Executive officer shall Prince says a ship the size but have a crew of 300. The Gabby Giffords has 70.A destroyer on we had 19 people in the pilothouse. It increases situational awareness because you don't have 19 different opinions. You have two opinions, captains it Navigator Steph .And 2016 the ship recorded five breakdowns during deployment. The San Diego crew left stranded in Singapore while the knee be reworked program, dumping some loftier ambitions. Gone, an idea that sounds like Legos where the LCS would swap parts in the field to allow one ship to perform three different missions. Gone, a novel way of mixing and matching crews that added confusion.They tried to make the LCS all things to all people and then became very wedded to it. Taxpayers for common sense.Supposed to be relatively inexpensive it as they found the price went up quite a bit and also getting an inferior product.In December, a longtime critic of the program, John McCain, grilled the Pentagon about the problems including the price tag the double the cost originally a 220 million one first budgeted in the mid to thousand's.We are going to start holding people accountable. Talking millions of dollars or.The General accounting office recommended Congress stop buying new LCS' until they solve the problems. Even so Congress is considering is buying as many as three more in the upcoming defense budget.Great to be here in San Diego.In late August the secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, met with the crew during his first trip to San Diego. He says the Navy is trying to figure out how to use the new ship. Calling issues is the, lock.Problems are large for the Department of Defense questions whether they can survive and attacks are adding firepower to all LCS'. Newark on the USS Coronado recently tested a harp and missile. The Navy said the Giffords want to play without an upgraded missile system. Defense analyst Brian Clark says the LCS was designed to patrol areas near shore at a time when coastal waters are often friendly to U.S. forces. Now, critics say the world more dangerous and the smaller, lightly armed ship is more of a target in a deterrent to the right has changed you ship able to defend itself to a greater degree that LCS is able to do the that Congress will have to decide whether to buy more before the program ends. This summer the Navy turned its attention to a different vessel and began asking for proposals for a new forget, better suited for the more dangerous environment the Navy faces today.The lessons would be don't try to accelerate a shipbuilding program that will last for a long time stick back something that will last several decades you want to take the time to make sure you get it right from the start. The Navy move too quickly from design to building and bet on technology to catch up but it didn't. It is a lesson the LCS' critics hope will be repeated as the Trump administration moves to expand the Navy in the coming years.The story was produced by the American homefront project, a public media collaboration the reports on American military life and veterans. And it comes from the Corporation for public podcasting. Joining us is Steve Ellis, vice president of the Washington DC nonprofit budget watchdog group taxpayers for common sense. Thanks for joining us.Thanks for having me.A reporter Steve Walsh's future, we hear these littoral combat ship swear budgeted the cost $220 million per ship in the actual cost has been more than $475 million. Cost overruns are standard with defense contracting is in.Is that reason enough for the Navy to cut through its losses with this program?It certainly is one of the reasons. Certainly cost overruns are endemic to defense acquisition although doubling the cost is staggering by even though standards. It's not just that, if we were getting a great product it might be worth it we are getting an inferior product. That is the reason the Navy cut the buy from 52 ships to 40 ship.When you read about the technical glitches they are numerous. Sea water seeped into the hydraulics, the engines flooded when seawater pump mechanisms failed, a shaft misalignment. It seems like this could be the tip of the iceberg in terms of defense contracting. Was this contract particularly difficult to fulfill?The Navy try to rewrite the rules of acquisition and be creative. They split the buy between two different shipyards but also built basically two completely different ships. One is three holes, another one has a mono hole, different design elements so not only is the cost overruns happening there but think about it two different ships you have to train sailors differently for, different parts for, different issues. Normally you have these problems at the beginning of an acquisition. Like anything else you have to iron the kinks out. They have two different sets of ships with kinks at a seems clear we are buying a lemon.Also the fact that the geopolitical situation has changed since littoral combat ship swear first commission. Is there an argument the original vision is no longer what we need?Certainly. That is what defends Secretary Hagel recognized when he said the ship can only operate in permissive environments, meaning areas where they are not under fire which is not exactly what you want a Navy ship to be only able to operate in. They tried to slap on armament and protection. This is a hemp my ride version and you need to start from scratch with those ideas it's costly and not as effective.We heard a feature Senator McCain was calling for, people to be held accountable you think he is referring to? Saxon people making decisions and procurement and some senior neighbor officers behind us. I know exactly who in particular Senator McCain is targeting a clearly there has been recognition amongst the department of defense in the Navy that this has problems. This is why they cut the buy, the last 12 are being redubbed frigates, rebrand the littoral combat ship but in reality we are still getting a bad product at a bad price.You mentioned frigates and the Navy is wanting to change the ships and call them fast forget guided. Is it possible this new design could fix the problems with the vessel?If possible but in reality if you are starting from a bad place just trying to modify what you have already done, you won't get as good of a product as you would if you started from from scratch. Speed is what the Navy is trying to do it quickly finish this acquisition and put the problems with the littoral combat ship behind it by re- dubbing it a forget.The ships are built in Alabama and Wisconsin at the contracts are counseled that could potentially mean job losses how much pressure do you think Congress and by extension taxpayers are under to keep the littoral combat ship to avoid putting people out of work? .Say that argument to the thing to remember is we cannot treat defense acquisition as a jobs program. That's not fair to the men and women in uniform serving on the ship. We need to buy the best product at the best price and that is what our men and women need. The idea we should be buying weapons systems simply to create jobs is a backwards approach to the industrial base.Where does the future of lateral ships program spend right now?Interesting you have to change in administration so initially the trip administration was going to ask to buy one this year they quickly turned around and said two and Congress is giving up three. Really, there is appetite among some people in Congress to continue funding these. The real question is going to be the last dozen and what is the design the Navy goes with. I think they are going to hopefully, for the Navy, they want to put this behind them and continue operating in. It's a real challenge going forward.This has been controversial for years already. A long do you think it will take until a decision is made.There promising to make a decision this year into next year but we will have to see him part of it the Navy is asking Congress to approve the idea of getting the next dozen without knowing the cost of the new ship, without knowing the new design. That is a risky proposition.Thank you so much for joining us.Thank you for having me.
