(Lt. Jan Shultis / U.S. Navy)
The original idea for the littoral combat ship (LCS) envisioned
modular mission packages that could be rapidly swapped, so one ship
could change missions easily from mine warfare, for example, to
anti-submarine warfare over the course of a single deployment.
But
instead of taking just days to make the switch, it’s now apparent it
could take weeks. An LCS assigned to a particular operation will likely
operate in a single “come-as-you-are” configuration, requiring
additional ships equipped with other mission modules to provide the
flexibility the concept once promised.
That’s one conclusion among
many following a series of Navy exercises and reports intended to take
stock of LCS. Other conclusions criticize the ship as failing to match
capabilities inherent to the ships it would replace. The assessment aims
to figure out what the ship can and can’t do, how it should be
employed, what kind of support it will need, and what changes must be
made to man and fight the ships without wearing out their small crews.
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