please answer questions 1 & 2

The Navy Struggles to Avoid Cancellation of its Littoral Combat Ship Program It was supposed to be the newest and most effective original conception, the LCS program has changed its class of ships in the U.S. Navy's arsenal. The Littoral acquisition plan four times and canceled contracts with Combat Ship (LCS) was originally proposed as early as both competing firms, leading to renegotiations and 2004 and designed to handle a new set of challenges mounting program delays. In fact, the original plan that the 2115 century Navy expected to face. Operating in to force competition between the two contractors has hostile shallow water close offshore (in what is referred evolved into a program that is ordering multiple copies to as the littoral environment), the LCS was intended to of each variant-simplicity of design is giving way to serve as a new class of small support ships that are heav- keeping defense contractors (and their Congressional ily armed, fast, and flexible enough to handle a wide supporters) happy. variety of combat assignments. The goal was to empha- Since the first ship was ordered by the Navy in size simplicity of design, advances in electronics and 2004, a total of 13 Littoral Combat Ships have been robotics, and reconfigurable and upgradable weapons launched, evenly divided between General Dynamics systems to create a ship that would become the back- and Lockheed-Martin variants. As of 2016, an additional bone of the modern Navy. The original program was 13 contracts had been awarded to bring the total up to expected to cost upward of $35 billion and develop 5226 scheduled for construction and commissioning. In ships in the coming decades. ships in the coming decades. When the Navy placed their first orders, they design, political pressure - coupled with engineering When the Navy placed their first orders, they design, political pressure-coupled with engineering deliberately created a competition between two designs offered by competing firms: the 380 -foot, 3,500 -ton Free- to takes a harder look at the program. Consider some of offered by competing firms: the 380 -foot, 3,500-ton Free- to take a harder look at the program. Consider some of dom class built by Lockheed-Martin and the 420 -foot, the more recent problems with just the engine/propul3,100-ton Independence class ship, designed by General sion systems in the current fleet of 13 ships: Dynamics and built at Australian shipyards by its partner, Austal. The assumption was that after both designs - In September 2015, the USS Montgomery (LCS 8), were built and tested against each other, the Navy would suffered two engineering failures in the course of select one clear winner that would become the standard _ just 24 hours of operations. First, says the Navy, fundtheLCSdevelopmentprogramtosupportcon-experiencedacasualtytooneofitsgasturbineliccoolingsystem.Laterthatday,Montgomery struction of the ships, which would replace aging frig- ates and coastal mine hunters. Unfortunately, since its engines." - The USS Milwaukee (LCS5) experienced an engine have contended that even the Navy's own assessment clutch failure in December 2015. - The USS Forth Worth (LCS 3) suffered \$23 million severe problems, with one report concluding, "LCS is in damage to both diesel engines in January 2016. not expected to be survivable in a hostile combat envi- - The USS Freedom (LCS 1) had a seawater leak in ronment ...." Finally, the decision to continue makJuly 2016 that led to the replacement of one of its ing hull and weapon modifications to the ship, even diesel engines. - The USS Coronado (LCS 4) suffered an "engineer- cern about the stability of the program. Will the mising casualty" that resulted in an early return to sions the latter ships are capable of performing even base from its first deployment in the summer of resemble the role designed for them today? In spite of 2016. original building targets, current plans are still being This litany of engineering failures on the ships in debated on where to limit production. Some argue that service led to an "engineering stand down," ordered at most, 32 ships should be built, while senior Conby Admiral Rowden, the Navy's surface warfare com- gressmen have been loudly demanding that no more mander. The stand down was intended to give the tech- than 24 be produced. Over budget, with a too-comnicians and ships' crews a chance to review, test, and plicated design and uncertain mission capabilities, it evaluateequipment.appearsthattheLCSisindangerofbecomingashipSadly,itisdebatablewhethertheNavytrulydesignedwithtoomanyrolesinmind,leadingtoits learned the hard lessons from earlier cost overruns and not being particularly good at adequately performing design errors with other canceled ship programs in developing the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). For exam- ple, even with initial cost overruns corrected, the LCS Questions class is estimated to cost $400 million per ship. However, 1. The U.S. Department of Defense has a long hiscriticschargethattheNavycontinuestocramtoomuchcutting-edgeandunproventechnologyintotheships,toryofsponsoringprojectsthathavequestionable without a clear sense of the mission they were designed _ usefulness. If you were assigned as a member of withoutaclearsenseofthemissiontheyweredesignedtoundertake.Thesevariantsofthebasicdesignandcon-criteriawouldyouinsistsuchaprojecthaveinaprojectreviewteamforadefenseproject,what figuration can lead other ships in the class to have price criteria would you insist such a project have in tags of nearly $600 million per ship. Other problems are the bare essentials needed to support such a include a design that relies on aluminum for much of the construction.Aluminum,whilelight-weighttoallowtheshipstoreachfasterspeeds,conductsheat,meltseasily,2.Why,inyouropinion,istheresuchalonghistoryofdefenseprojectsovershootingtheirbudgetsor ships to reach faster speeds, conducts heat, melts easily, and makes the LCS vulnerable to major damage in the failing some critical performance metrics? (In your event it is struck by enemy fire. Further, the smaller size assessment, make sure to consider a wide variety and higher automation of the ship allows for a small of criteria, from Congressional support to changcrew of 50 to operate it, which can lead to burnout and ing political realities.) personnel exhaustion in combat situations. In short, 3. Google "criticisms of the Littoral Combat Ship" and identify some of the problems that critics have board the ship to support sustained action. listed. In light of these problems, why do you think The arguments against the ship continue to the Navy has pressed ahead with the development mount. Because the LCS is small and fragile, critics of the LCS