Small Steps

An interesting comment about LCS from SNA reported by DoD Buzz.

Starting with LCS 5, the Milwaukee, the design for the class is “done, locked and stable,” said Lockheed’s VP for ships, Joe North. So the design changes that plagued the Freedom as it was being built should theoretically be a thing of the past. “From 5 on … these ships are cookie cutter,” North said. Lockheed hopes the shipyard in Marinette, Wisc., should be able to get into a rhythm and just start cranking them out, increasing the company’s margin with each saved dollar and each day less than the ship before.

If this turns out to be true, the blue and gold crews and officers of USS Freedom (LCS 1) deserve a lot of credit. It would also explain, for example, why all the COs from LCS 1 to date are getting promoted and assigned a major command. Indeed, one of the fastest ways to move up as a SWO right now appears to be via LCS. Less competition? Absolutely, but still worth noting as as LCS continues to be the Navy's least popular surface ship program.

If you read the DoD Buzz article, you'll also note how many moving parts there are to the entire LCS program. In many ways, LCS is an example how not to run a major shipbuilding program, because the prime contractor is - apparently - not really a prime contractor at all, or at least doesn't appear to carry any of the risk one would expect a prime contractor to assume in a major program. That tells me that even as the risk is reduced in one aspect of the LCS program, the LCS program itself still carries very high risk until all the parts of stable.