Surface Forces: Automation Fatigue On LCS Class Ships
Normally, an LCS would have another 35 crew manning its "mission package". The LCS is designed for a variety of interchangeable modules, which will allow the ships to be quickly reconfigured for various specialized missions. Crews will also be modularized, so that specialized teams can be swapped in to operate specific modules. Thus about 40 percent of the ship is empty, with a large cargo hold into which the mission package gear is inserted (and then removed, along with the package crew, when it is no longer assigned to that ship.) Thus the LCS has two crews when underway, the "ship" crew and the mission package crew. The captain of the ship crew is in charge, and the officer commanding the mission package is simply the officer in charge of the largest equipment system on board. In addition, the core crew of 40 is actually two crews ("blue" and "gold") who take turns running the ship. This makes it possible to keep an LCS at a distant posting for years, by simply flying in a relief crew every six months.
So far, the heavy workload
has not hurt morale. The small crew means that everyone knows everyone,
and its standard for people to handle a number of different jobs. Even
officers pitch in for any task that needs to be done. This kind of
overworked enthusiasm is actually typical of smaller naval craft. These
included World War II era PT boats, with crews of up to 17, and current
minesweepers (with crews similar to an LCS) and larger patrol boats.
There's also the "new" factor. In addition to being new ships, there is a
new design and lots of new tech. This gets people pumped. But the
experience of using the LCS has to be used to develop changes that will
make these ships viable for the long haul.Top Weapons Tester Finds More Navy LCS Problems | Military.com
The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation report released Wednesday specifies a host of concerns about the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship program, claiming problems with the platform's seaframes, mission packages, and weapons.
In particular, the report says that the LCS Freedom variant's 57mm and 30mm guns revealed performance, reliability and operator training deficiencies.
The $37 billion LCS program, in development since 2002, is a next-generation surface-ship aimed at delivering a fast, agile, littoral vessel equipped with technologically advanced mission packages.
The Jan. 27 report by the Pentagon's top testing agency also cited problems with the LCS' mine-countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare systems and surface warfare capabilities. The findings about the weapons were attributed to the Navy's own Quick Reaction Assessment report, which also examined the ship's Surface Warfare Package, or SUW.
Problems the LCS program, such as the ship's survivability in combat, have been highlighted multiple times in the past and Navy officials have said the LCS teams are working to correct them.
Sleepless In Singapore: LCS Is Undermanned & Overworked, Says GAO « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary
WASHINGTON: Some spectacular glitches marred the first overseas deployment of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship, including an electrical failure that left the USS Freedom “briefly” dead in the water. Now Breaking Defense has obtained an unpublished Government Accountability Office study of Freedom‘s Singapore deployment that raises more serious questions about a long-standing worry: whether the small and highly automated LCS has enough sailors aboard to do up all the work needed, from routine maintenance to remedial training.
Navy Engineers LCS Changes | DoD Buzz
The Navy is implementing specific design and engineering improvements to its Littoral Combat Ship following the construction of the first two vessels, the Freedom and the Independence.
The changes to LCS span a range of areas from adjustments to water jets to efforts to fight corrosion and improve the ships elevators, deck extensions and inflatable rafts.
40 Years In The Desert: The Navy's Mania for Reducing Crewing Bears Bitter Fruit
The US Navy has discovered that the limits of human endurance have been reached, and surpassed, in the Littoral Combat Ship:
LCS Wargame Reveals New Tactics Amid Controversy | DoD Buzz
Navy leaders are refining their concepts of operations for the Littoral Combat Ship on the heels of wide ranging criticism that led to the decision to cut the ship’s fleet size from 52 to 32, Navy leaders said. At the same time, Navy leaders are exploring new mission possibilities for the controversial vessel in light of insights gained during a recent war game at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I.
FUTURESHIP | Armed with Science
The LCS, or littoral combat ship, is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. Check out the FUTURESHIP of the Navy.
DepSecDef Visits, Criticizes Littoral Combat Ship; Fox Replacement Is LCS Backer « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary
Her natural conclusion, therefore, was, “we need more ships with the protection and firepower to survive against a more advanced military adversary.” Her prepared remarks didn’t mention LCS specifically, but they didn’t have to. LCS has long taken intense criticism for its limited firepower and, even more so, its fragility compared to larger and more expensive warships. The Pentagon’s head of Operational Test and Evaluation has said repeatedly the ship is not survivable.
Littoral Combat Ship’s Survival in an Attack Questioned | Navy & Maritime Security News at DefenceTalk
▶ MQ-8 Firescout takeoff & landing on USS Freedom (LCS-1) - YouTube
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