Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Little Crappy Ships fail another mission.
In addition to previous problems with corrosion and structural integrity, the imagined interchangeable mission modules don't seem quite up to the mission. In fact the minesweeeping module has been declared a failure.
Mine-detection equipment for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship, including an underwater drone, remains unreliable, the Pentagon’s test office has found.So we have 32 of the Model A Little Crappy Ships in the Navy and 20 of the Model B on order and the Defense Department’s director of operational testing has said that neither model can expect to survive any high intensity combat. Little Crappy (Suicide) Ships.
“Mission modules” to find and clear mines for the initial 32 vessels have “not yet demonstrated sufficient performance to achieve the Navy’s minimal” requirements, Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational testing, said in his annual report to Congress on major weapons systems. It was obtained in advance of its scheduled public release this week.
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), based in Bethesda, Maryland, and Henderson, Australia-based Austal Ltd. (ASB) make different versions of the Littoral Combat Ship. Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC), based in Falls Church, Virginia, is responsible for its mine-clearing capabilities.
Gilmore’s report may add to the congressional scrutiny of a vessel that some lawmakers are already criticizing. Amid questions about whether the ship could survive in combat, departing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last month approved a Navy proposal to buy 20 modified ships after 2019 with improved armor, sensors and weapons following the first 32, which will cost an estimated $23 billion.
The Littoral Combat Ship, designed for shallow coastal waters, is supposed to be outfitted with modules that can be swapped out for missions from mine-clearing to submarine-hunting and surface warfare.
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