Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
SMSgt Mac,
Neither ship even meets the Level 1 survivability criteria commonly required of MPS ships, let alone Level 2 (frigates and amphibs) or Level 3 (warships).
They don't have anything close to the same level of internal compartmentalization or DC capabilities of even the FFG7.
I don't see how building ships before we know how we want to use them is any way to run a program. At least not in the numbers planned for the LCS. Build a few, maybe. But commit to, what, 27 before we even know if they are good at anything other than going fast? Seems just plain dumb to me.
The LCS concept puts 20% of the capability on the seaframe and expects 80% from the modules. IMHO, that's backwards (at least until we can prove modules work). We need a ship where 60-70% of the capability comes from the base seaframe and 30-40% from modules. At least then it actually has value BEFORE modules are ready.
Oh and dump the speed requirement. It places too much emphasis on exotic hullforms and over-engineered propulsion plants at the expense of range, endurance, payload and survivability.
May 25, 2012, 8:10:56 AM
Posted to Why Suddenly I Find Myself Writing So Much About the LCS