When it comes to what our Navy needs for a corvette to frigate sized small surface combatant, does anyone really think we need to another reset on thinking about thinking?
There were years of thinking about the need prior to the NOV 2001 start of the LCS program. We’ve been thinking as we’ve tried to make LCS work, we’ll think about it more as we reconfigure the last bit of the run, and we’ve been thinking about the yet to be announced FFG(X).
That’s is a solid two decades of thinking about a topic that still has not produced anything of solid use to the fleet, which is why we have a FFG(X) program to begin with.
Generally speaking, I am a big fan of Ron O’Rourke and his band of merry men over at the Congressional Research Service, but alas, no one is perfect. I have to disagree with this comment as reported by Dave Larter;
The Navy may not have done an adequate job of analyzing gaps and capabilities shortfalls before it set itself on a fast-track to buying the so-called FFG(X) …
“Subjective judgments, though helpful, can overlook counter-intuitive results regarding the best or most promising general approach,” the report reads. “Potential alternative general approaches for addressing identified capability gaps and mission needs in this instance include (to cite a few possibilities) modified LCSs, FFs, destroyers, aircraft, unmanned vehicles, or some combination of these platforms.”
In the name of all that is holy, enough. With all the thinking we have done already, the lessons we’ve learned from sub-optimal programs of the last couple of decades, and close observation of what other nations are doing – if we have not fully thought it out by now, then from stem to stern we need new people.
In the time we have been trying to gather enough fairy dust, spot welding, bailing wire and duct tape to make some use of LCS, other nations have thought about the problem and commissioned NANSEN, FREMM, and similar sized warships.
Meanwhile, China has new-design frigates, destroyers and cruisers in serial production while we have a sub-optimal LCS, solid but 1980s era DDG-51, and even older design stretch-SPRUANCES we call cruisers. Australia already has a superb plan to build a modern fleet.
We have thought through the issue – we need to cut steel.
