The LCS has still not seen combat, and the navy wants the first violent encounter to be successful or at least not disastrous.

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One would hope that the above statement isn't meant to be reassuring.

 

The LCS lacks: the range for supporting a littoral patrol strategy in the Pacific (i.e. showing the flag and demonstrating US interests), armor and the ability to protect itself (not much better than some USCG ships that are designed for a much lighter mission), or the ability to reach out and touch someone at a decent range with sufficient firepower to make an armed adversary think hard before coming within range (i.e. not even one 4 missile canister of tomahawks).   Simply put:  the short legs, lack of protection, and lack of armament limits the ability of LCS to attack and prevail against anything other than a lightly armed/armored adversary.

 

Against drug smugglers and perhaps terrorists is one thing.  Against a real nation with real weapons this ships ability to protect itself - or at least take out (or cause severe damage to) something much larger than itself is questionable.  The PT boats might've been unarmored - but it was armed to the teeth and could cause severe damage to much larger targets that weren't careful.

 

The USCG National Security hulls have much longer endurance than the LCS, and could be upgraded for more protection and armaments while costing a lot less. The shared hulls (between Navy and USCG) could provide economies of scale, and while the USCG versions would be lighter armed and armored - they could be engineered to be easily upgradable in the event the USCG needs to support the navy.   

Holy @#$%^&*(*&^%$#$%^!  Just what in tarnation is driving US military procurement?  Talk about 'design by committee' - the friggin Navy couldn't even decide on a single hull for it's LCS!

 

Chris summed it up beautifully:  short legs, weak protection and poor offensive capability.  Completely unable to operate autonomously.  If it's gonna need Big Brother's (an Arleigh Burke) protection then what's the point?

 

Historically 3000 tons has been more than enough to have a real gun (127mm OtoBreda or at least a 76mm), torpedoes or harpoons, ASW gear AND a steel hull/superstructure.  WTF is wrong with these dimwits? 

 

This obsession with vessels that can operate in littoral waters and deliver SEAL teams close to shore perplexes me.  These vessels are specifically armed to deal with nothing bigger than an armed patrol boat, equipped as they are with 57mm and 25mm guns, the pocket sized Griffin missile, and the SeaRam CIWS.  I think the obsession comes largely from the Iranian threat and their cute little speedboats, combined with the "brown water" environment they operate in - these are not the only threat we will have to deal with, and fielding a frigate sized warship with such light weaponry at such great expense leaves me scratching my head wondering "what will it be useful for?".

 

Yes, I'm a fan of larger blue water vessels that carry a comprehensive inventory of multi-mission weaponry, and while I am not a fan of the Zumwalt, I am a huge proponent of a significantly more capable Flight III Arleigh Burke, a design that is currently being finalized (we do get some things right).

 

In short these LCS ships are hugely expensive and lightly armed frigates and obvious victims of "SEAL Mania", the notion that any future conflict will hinge around the use of 6 commandos who can swim really well.

 

It would make much more sense to re-design the excellent Oliver Hazard Perry frigate and build a new batch of those vessels equipped with a compact VLS system in place of the old Mk13 launcher (something already achieved by the Australians), SeaRam, and the new 57mm DP gun in place of the older 76mm OTO Melara cannon.  Add new sensors with a revised FCS built and a stealthy superstructure and I guarantee it would be a huge export seller - something the LCS will never be.

 

So when will they put me in charge of Naval development and procurement??