CNO confident in LCS program

Despite five Littoral Combat Ships having had breakdowns in the last 12 months, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson has confidence in the dual-variant program and gave a reminder that other ship classes have experienced early struggles. CNO praised the LCS, and said the program remained on track, as ideal platforms for international engagement. His remarks Sept. 21 came one week after the Independence-class USS Montgomery (LCS-8) suffered two engineering casualties three days after its commissioning at Mobile, Ala., forcing the crew to set course for Mayport, Fla., repairs. Since December, three Freedom-class LCS - Milwaukee, Fort Worth and Freedom – have sustained engineering issues requiring repairs. The Independence-class Coronado was sidelined in August with a seawater leak. Only two active LCS - Independence and Jackson, both built at Austal USA in Mobile – have not sustained engineering problems since commissioning. CNO compared the problems in the early days of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and Perry-class frigate programs. On Sept. 5, the Navy announced it had completed an engineering stand-down of all LCS, and would undergo an extensive engineering review and retraining for crews. The Navy continues to rollout of 26 planned LCS. An eighth, Detroit, is to be commissioned Oct. 22. (Source: Military.com 09/21/16)