The is the true story of a recent project sponsored by the U.S. Navy that was finally cancelled after over $13 billion in sunk R&D costs was already spent on it. The Zumwalt-class Destroyer was intended to operate in shallow water (littoral) environments and provide fire support, primarily through cruise missiles and 155 mm artillery fire. The ship was also intended to be a stealth vessel and was heavily automated, supporting a very small crew through advanced systems embedded throughout. Closer examination of the ship and its capabilities suggests there were a number of questionable decisions made as the project was developed. For example, the ship was not fitted with anti-missile capabilities. When this was pointed out to the Navy, their initial solution was to station another ship nearby to provide anti-ship missile protection. It was then pointed out that this solution meant the platform was no longer stealthy, as the protection from an escort would become visible. Through a series of cost overruns and questionable development decisions, the ships were finally deemed unnecessary and the program was canceled, following the completion of three ships – overall, an expensive failure of initial strategy and subsequent development.

1.The U.S. Department of Defense has a long history of sponsoring projects that have questionable usefulness. If you were assigned as a member of a project review team for a defense project, what criteria would you insist such a project has in order to be supported? In other words, what are the bare essentials needed to support such a project ?

2.Why, in your opinion, is there such a long history of defense projects overshooting their budgets or failing some critical performance metrics? 

3.“The mystery is not that the Zumwalt was canceled. The mystery is why it took so long for it to be canceled.” Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?

4.Google “criticisms of the Littoral Combat Ship” and identify some of the problems that critics have listed. In light of these problems, why do you think the Navy has pressed ahead with the development of the LCS?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 The defense project review team needs to check if the proposed project meets certain criteria before supporting it The most critical aspect that the ... View the full answer