Current Events in the Americas

Latest Hueys, Cobras make huge strides Find Marine Corps Times article here. Helos offer more power, technology upgrades By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer Posted : Sunday Jan 4, 2009 8:37:58 EST CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — At a distance, the new UH-1Y helicopters look similar to those born during the Vietnam era, but the four-blade Huey, which Marines call the “Yankee” model, is a different bird entirely. It has greater range, speed and lift than the old UN-1N — with less vibration. It carries 2,700 pounds of fuel, nearly double the capacity of the “November” model, and its integrated avionics, navigation and communications system give the aircrew access to …

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_speedy_warship Buddha

This thread idea is initially to compare the both controversial LCS designs with other alternative designs, in service, future or projected. Basically the parameters of comparation are those of cost, size, weapons (also in relation to size), crew size (and consequent fatigue levels), speeds and ranges, but extensive to all the other parameters, as sensors. The thread is also extensive to other conceptual alternatives, as replacement for another type of conventional warships, as FFG or FFL, or ever the replacement by another tactical or strategical concept, as UAV, manned air power, swarms of low technollogy boats or hired pirates.

Pentagon Caps LCS at 32 Hulls, Hagel Directs Navy to Evaluate Capable and Lethal Frigate Designs (USNI News)

LCS delays could send UAVs to other ships By John T. Bennett - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Feb 12, 2008 21:29:41 EST If the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships are delayed, the service may debut the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned rotorcraft “on another air-capable ship,” said William Balderson, the service’s program executive officer for air programs. That “would allow us to not delay the Fire Scout even if LCS slips” and would also allow the service to begin integrating the vertical-takeoff UAV onto a working ship, driving down “integration risk” when it moves to the littoral ships, he said. That plan, however, is still “pre-decisional,” as PEO av…

From DefenseNews [That little ship some people love to hate is attracting attention again ... ] Posted 10/26/06 13:57 Lockheed’s LCS Draws International Interest By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS, LE BOURGET, France A steady stream of uniformed and civilian visitors from many countries stopped by the Lockheed Martin desk during Euronaval, the biannual European naval show here that showcases the latest in naval concepts and hardware. And while the American company touted its Aegis combat system and approaches to open architecture, the majority of visitors wanted to know about the flashiest thing on the Lockheed stand — the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). “There have bee…

At last some of punch, USS Coronado fires NSM: http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140724/DEFREG02/307240028/LCS-Conduct-Test-Norwegian-Missile

From DefenseNews Posted 01/11/07 21:45 LCS hits ‘considerable cost overruns’ By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), advertised by the U.S. Navy as a $220 million bargain, is going to come in at considerably more than that, according to a senior Navy official. “It appears that we’re having considerable cost overruns on it,” Delores Etter, the Navy’s top acquisition official, told reporters Jan. 11. “We’ve been doing our cost-performance review on the Lockheed Martin ship,” Etter said, noting that as the first of a class, “you’ve got some surprises you didn’t expect. But we’re trying to understand the exact cost increases and we’re working with …

A couple of interesting articles about CBO reported lifecycle/fuel costs for the LCS ... First, from DefenseNews Report: Fuel Factors Less Than Price For LCS By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS Published: 28 Apr 2010 18:45 Fuel costs for the U.S. Navy's new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) are calculated by a new Congressional report to be about 11 percent of total life-cycle costs - far less than the 64 percent figure represented by the price to buy the ship. The relative insignificance of the fuel figure to the purchase price is at odds with claims by Alabama's Senate delegation that the Navy should give more weight to fuel efficiency in its pending choice of which LCS …

From Navy Times LCS manager fired By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jan 29, 2007 22:30:00 EST The manager of the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship program has been relieved of his duties in the aftermath of higher-than-expected cost increases on the ships. Capt. Donald Babcock, the Navy’s LCS program manager, was relieved of his duties Jan. 29 by his boss, Rear Adm. Charles Hamilton – who also is being reassigned. Hamilton relieved Babcock due to “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” according to a Navy source, who added that Babcock would be reassigned to “administrative duties.” Hamilton himself will be reassigned …

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

The fundamental controversy remains, of course, but some details in this article of design changes being made ... From DefenseNews [excerpt]

LCS surface warfare mission package debuts By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jul 14, 2008 9:21:58 EDT NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER DAHLGREN, VA. — To the annoyance of waterfowl bobbing on the Potomac River, Navy gunners test-fired the 30mm modular gun Friday that will be carried as part of the surface warfare package aboard the Navy’s new multipurpose littoral combat ships. As dignitaries watched nearby — and contractors and reporters looked at video displayed in a distant building — the gun, set up on shore, loosed 30 rounds, at three rounds per second, toward the river. Navy officials are confident that if the technicians had been shooting …

I see LCS will employ probably Sonar 2087, as reflected here: - http://news.usni.org/2013/08/21/lcs-mission-packages-the-basics - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littoral_combat_ship#Anti-submarine_module Also worring comments in the Wikipedia entry about the use of LCS to escort carrier groups! Link: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2014/04/02/lcs-wargame-reveals-new-tactics-amid-controversy/

From Aviation Week LCS-1 On Course, Lockheed And Navy Say Jan 15, 2009 By Michael Fabey The U.S. Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1), USS Freedom, has been performing up to specifications in sea trails, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin, and the Navy says the program is back on course following its restructuring. “We were out on Lake Michigan for 10 days in all kinds of water,” said Joe North, Lockheed vice president and LCS program manager. “The more she rises [off the surface at speed], the more stable she is. But there was nothing that surprised us. We had been doing this on paper for so many years.” Commissioned in November, the shi…

From Defense Aerospace Nation's First Littoral Combat Ship Under Way (Source: Lockheed Martin; issued July 28, 2008) MARINETTE, Wis. --- History was made today when the nation's first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS 1), put to sea for the first time, marking the beginning of Builder's Sea Trials for the first-in-class coastal surface combatant. The agile 378-foot Freedom, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT - News)-led industry team, is conducting Builder's Sea Trials in Lake Michigan. The trials -- which are a coordinated effort between the U.S. Navy and the Lockheed Martin team -- will include operational testing of the vessel's propulsion…

LCS-4 Trials Halted After Engine Fires (Aviation Week) Newest LCS Suffers Fire at Sea, Damage ‘Minor’ (DefenseNews)

From Time Magazine's Battleland blog [excerpt]

From DefenseNews Posted 03/15/07 23:12 Navy to LCS Shipbuilders: Control Costs or Else By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter announced March 15 he was lifting a stop-work order on a new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), but he made it clear that once new cost figures are set to finish the ships, he expects shipbuilders to end the excessive cost growth that has threatened the LCS program. “We’ve determined we need to take a number of steps,” Winter told reporters during a Pentagon news conference. The chief elements are: • Renegotiating the construction contract for LCS 3, the second ship under construction by a Lockheed Martin team. The stop-work…

From New York Times April 25, 2008 Lesson on How Not to Build a Navy Ship By PHILIP TAUBMAN With the crack of a Champagne bottle against its bow, the newly minted Navy warship, bedecked with bunting, slid sideways into the Menominee River in Wisconsin with a titanic splash. Moments before the launching on Sept. 23, 2006, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chief of naval operations, told the festive crowd of shipbuilders, politicians and Navy brass assembled at the Marinette Marine shipyard, “Just a little more than three years ago, she was just an idea; now Freedom stands before us.” Not quite. The ship — the first of a new class of versatile, high-speed combat vesse…