Littoral Combat Ship Dual Purchase Passes

Both the House and Senate Continuing Resolution approving the dual purchase of the Littoral Combat Ship passed tonight, and the President will sign the bill. There are several things worth watching here.

How long will it take the Navy to issue contracts? The Navy should act with haste to issue contracts to both shipyards. It would be good if this happened before Christmas. If these are indeed fixed cost contracts and if the deadline was on December 15th, then any time wasted reflects negatively on the Navy.

Will there be economic impact? Color me seriously unimpressed with President Obama's economic stimulus ideas to date. This is a $5 billion contract that impacts two specific geographic areas. It is important to track economic data from both areas, not to mention other regions where venders are, to see what kind return on government investment we see impact economics locally in these regions. This is not trivial, there is a lot of data supporting evidence that shipbuilding has huge second and third effects as government stimulus, but there are very few case studies in the modern era. LCS offers an opportunity to examine a case study. Another major point - shipbuilding directly influences jobs at all levels of education, from the high school drop out to the PHd.

Cleaning the poop off the yard. If Seapower 21 was LCS, DDG-1000, CG(X), and Sea Basing then under ADM Roughead's watch he has built four LCS while locking another 20 into fixed price contracts, truncated DDG-1000 from a purchase of 7 to a purchase of at least two or maybe three, sent the CG(X) to the drawing board graveyard, and Seabasing has been scaled back dramatically with investments mostly going to JHSVs and a handful of other ships like MLPs. These Seapower 21 era ideas and initiatives were inherited by ADM Roughead from ADM Mullen, Roughead's current linear superior (sortof). ADM Roughead really deserves a lot more credit than anyone will be willing to give, at least for awhile, regarding the way he cleaned the crap off the Navy's front lawn.

The Little Crappy Ship. As the last remaining member of the Littoral Combat Ship fanclub, I'll celebrate for all of us. Is either design perfect? Not even close. Will these ships make or break the Navy? Probably neither. The Littoral Combat Ship is also not a frigate replacement, a 21st century frigate, nor does it have the weaponry to be rated a ship of any line in any era. The best analogy one can use is to call the LCS a 21st century sloop of war, but even that might be a stretch. One thing the ship does do, despite all the cries from critics, is move the innovation capacity of the US Navy down the road. The US Navy needs both the hulls and the modules because without both, the US Navy is stuck in the cycle of building 20th century warships in preparation for 21st century warfare. Ultimately, if there are major battles on the ocean fought in the next 20 years, the LCS program could be a failure. If there is irregular warfare at sea at a constantly increasing higher rate, as there has been so far in the 21st century, these ships prove to be the right choice at the right time.

EMALS - Successful

Very good news - EMALS works. On July 13 General Atomics agreed to a $676.2 million fixed-price contract to produce the EMALS system and a new advanced arresting gear installation for the first Ford class carrier. All indications are they are on cost and schedule to begin installing equipment into the new carrier next year.

The article describes why this is important for the Navy.

The current aircraft launch system for Navy aircraft carriers is the steam catapult. Newer, heavier and faster aircraft will result in launch energy requirements approaching the limits of the steam catapult system.

The mission and function of EMALS remains the same as the steam catapult; however, EMALS employs entirely different technologies. EMALS will deliver the necessary higher launch energy capacity as well as substantial improvements in system weight, maintenance, increased efficiency and more accurate end-speed control.

In other words, we can now start talking about a C-2 and S-3 replacement. The additional capability of EMALS over steam launches allows the Navy to think about larger, more capable manned aircraft from aircraft carriers to support the unmanned aviation attack squadrons of the future.

These new technologies, like EMALS, the Navy has coming online with the Ford and Zumwalt classes are absolutely worth getting excited about.

Busy Busy

Very busy today as holiday season comes quickly, so I'll leave you with only a few items randomly throughout the day.

But. This is the best article written today, and I encourage everyone to read it, and think about it.

Dual Purchase of LCS Approval Looking Good

The Senate has until midnight tonight to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government operating. The Senate bill most likely to pass can be viewed here. See HR 3082 and the 5 Senate amendments. Note, the Senate amendment 4885 includes language in Sec. 150. "Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of the Navy may award a contract or contracts for up to 20 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS)."

If this bill passes, the Navy can buy both versions of the Littoral Combat Ship - 10 of each per the current plan.

This is very important to anyone who believes the shipbuilding industry needs to be stabilized. Right now the only surface combatants under contract are the very last few DDG-51s, DDG-1000, and the second Littoral Combat Ship from each contractor.

The Navy still has not issued new contracts for new DDG-51s. Feel free to speculate but I'll tell you, there are some noteworthy rumors that the cost for restarting DDG-51 has skyrocketed. In my opinion, that means getting fixed cost steady construction for LCS locked in sooner rather than later would be a good thing, because it will shift the focus back towards large surface combatants where it needs to be right now.

South Korean Military Drill Ends Without Confrontation

It was nice to see so many talented National Security experts and top notch reporters in South Korea on Twitter last night during the South Korean military drill on Yeonpyeong island. One of the first questions that popped up after the drill concluded was "Did Seoul just win a terrifying game of chicken?"

No. Throughout the military exercise there were reports of an enormous show of military force in the air and at sea around the islands. North Korea is not stupid, they will not fight South Korea on the terms of South Korea, they will wait and strike when the time is right for them.

The real question we should be asking on December 20, 2010, is whether North Korea will respond before the new year, or after? A response from North Korea is coming, of that have no doubt. It will be on their time and in the place of their choosing.