The memo obtained by Defense News outlines plans to decommission the littoral combat ships Freedom, Independence, Fort Worth and Coronado, part of an overall plan to shrink the size of the force to deal with a flat budget. The ships all have between a 12 and 17 years of planned hull life left.
On the face of it I am reminded of Reagan’s planned 600 ship navy. It is one thing to build them. It is another to man, supply and support them.
Closer to home (locally) I remember a bond issue to install air conditioners some of the local schools that didn’t have them. Once installed it was revealed they never budgeted the money for maintenance or the increased utility bills.
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That whole program was a colossal waste of money, nothing but a pork project to enrich some congressional districts.
Hopefully we can sell these ships via FMS to other countries with smaller navies and get some of that money back.
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The LCS program did exactly what it was conceived to do … transfer money from the taxpayer to favored defense contractors.
Don;t forget, Lockheed Martin is the parasite that brought us the TWIC.
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The faster they deep six those fake POS ships and forget about the whole idea, the better. While they’re at it please run Austal right out of this country or they will find a way to build another useless tin can for the Navy after they finish building enough catamaran vomit comets.
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One down …
Maybe the Navy needs the money to pay for the cost over runs and finding some way to make the catapults and elevators work on its latest boondoggle.
It only gets more disgusting:
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Just more bad news for this troubled class of ships. When will they just admit they f*cked up and never should have been built.
NEVER!
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They were pork barrel spending.
The navy would have been much better off upgrading the Perry class FFGs or making modifications to the CG’s Legend class design instead of the boondoggle LCS and Zumwalts.
They were pork barrel spending.
They were a gift from taxpayers to Lockheed Martin pure and simple.
Why people aren’t up in arms about this theft which was supported by both parties is to me a sign of the lack of knowledge of the average voter as well as the complicity of all the media in benefiting from these scams.
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Is for the same reasons the average Russian is not up in arms over the invasion of Ukraine. They believe the propaganda, they don’t really care about things they don’t know about. The government thrives on apathy and ignorance, anyone who questions is unpatriotic.
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I am convinced the average voter is ignorant. The best and worst thing that happened in my lifetime in many respects was the internet. I was a big champion of the internet when it was born, it was like being allowed into all the libraries of the world. But then the “social media” ruined everything. The deranged could find all manner of bat shit crazy things to enforce their beliefs. The more sane folk, though delusional, could find echo chambers in which to dwell to enforce their beliefs. At least at gCaptain someone eventually says, “Enough, move on” Then we go to the next brilliant discussion, like what hour it is 
It appears even the Navy Brass are finally coming to the conclusion these ships were a waste of money.
Another Admiral shocked at waste. Amazing they never perceive waste and voice their objection while progressing to Admiral.
Or when sitting behind an executive desk at some defense contractor’s headquarters.
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The ineptitude of NAVSEA is beyond comprehension. “Back in the day”, 1970’s, they were coming out with the Knox class DE’s. They were a turd! 1200psi steam plant that ALWAYS had issues, only 1 gun mount that USUALLY worked at 1/2 the loading speed, single propeller & single rudder. They couldn’t run the gun-strikes against NVN. The Oliver Perry’s were much better, but they lost favor towards the Arleigh Burkes’-which is pretty fk’g awesome. Some ring-kissing USNA graduate had their head up where the sun don’t shine when they came up with the LCS. Navy vets know aluminum is a lousy metal for ships - it burns to easily. I recall when the Belknap took a stupid pill, and turned toward the Kennedy during a formation change. Belknap passed right under the angle deck, pretty much sheering the superstructure off down to the 02 level. The fire was massive, with molten aluminum funning over the side in the deck scuppers. . .
And the FORD has something like 11 new technologies? ? ? The ordinance elevators for starts. I just got done with a tour of the USS YORKTOWN in SC. The ordinance elevators passed through the mess decks AND WERE OPERATED BY HAND with a large 3 or 4 foot diameter wheel. Total PFM!!! [pure fu@king magic]. . .
Yeah, the Navy needs to get their heads screwed on straight. . .
The US Navy shipbuilding program has been dismal for the past six decades. Numerous ship classes had poor initial designs, contract cost overruns, and super-expensive lifetime maintenance costs. Unfortunately, US citizens haven’t gotten their moneys worth from their hard-earned tax dollars and the LCS program is only the latest example. While serving in the USN, I stood on Pier 2 at Rota, Spain and looked at what remained of USS Belknap, shrouded beneath canvas tarps, during a port call on its journey from the Med to Philadelphia. During the summer of 1977 I served with the pre-commissioning crew on the second of a new class of amphibious assault ship constructed by Ingalls Shipbuilding. We were commissioned that October and I sailed on her until my discharge in December 1978. Saipan was fraught with problems and didn’t become operational until July 1979. The saga of bad Navy shipbuilding goes on to this very day with the LCS, Ford-class carriers and Zumwalt-class destroyers not living up to expectations. The problems are simply explained - too much “fancy stuff” being incorporated into surface-vessel ships by persons not educated and experienced with real-life sailing and that can’t be affordably constructed and maintained during their life expectancy. Consequently, I saw similar problems during a 22-year career with an offshore industry leader… ships conceived, designed and constructed by persons who didn’t take into consideration what it takes to operate and maintain vessels. I digress. It’s a sad story - if ships aren’t designed with critical input from those that will sail and maintain them, then bad things are bound to happen. Cheers!
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In keeping with the finest in naval tradition, just wait until you see the next generation anchor windlass!
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