LCS delays could send UAVs to other ships

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 aviation officials and Fleet Forces Command mull other ways they might deal with LCS delays, Balderson said Tuesday at an Aviation Week-sponsored conference in Washington.

The Navy recently canceled the third and fourth ships of the program – one each of separate designs being built by prime contractors Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. And the 2009 defense spending plan sent to Capitol Hill last week showed major changes, including buying four fewer ships than the six initially planned in 2009, alterations spurred by soaring costs.

But other senior Navy officials at the conference made clear the sea service remains dedicated to the planned buy of 55 ships.

“We need the full 55 LCSs to do the mission that’s out there right now,” said Vice Adm. David Architzel, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.

Later the same day, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway told the conference that he and Navy leaders have agreed that 33 amphibious and massive transport ships will be needed for forcible-entry missions that require moving two Marine brigades and their tools of war ashore under fire. Their agreement stipulates 11 big decks, 11 amphibious transport docks and 11 dock landing ships.

Conway said this is not exactly what the Marines view as optimal, because some of those ships will be older vessels with less transport capacity than newer amphibious haulers.

Meanwhile, another Navy UAV effort could clear a major hurdle next month, Balderson said. Early in March, the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program is slated to go before the Defense Acquisition Board for its milestone B review.

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