This reeks of a poorly thought out PR stunt.

Navy officials in the Pentagon and Fleet Forces Command are studying the possibility that the Navy’s first littoral combat ship, Freedom, could make a short deployment earlier than planned, on the orders of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, the Navy confirmed Friday.

 

Roughead ordered the studies after Freedom finished the second half of its acceptance trials May 22, Navy spokesman Lt. Clay Doss said.

 

“The CNO is interested in employing the unique capabilities of this new class of warship as soon as practical, taking into consideration the milestones associated with a first-of-class warship,†Doss told Navy Times.

Under its initial schedule, the ship was not to deploy until 2012. First it must complete batteries of tests at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., then experiment with its multi-use mission modules at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City, Fla., and then sail to its homeport at Naval Base San Diego.

 

But the Navy needs LCS now, Doss said.

 

“As we have said before, LCS is needed now to close urgent war-fighting gaps that our Navy faces today.â€[/font]

Experience says that if you go to soon you are taking a huge risk for minimal reward. Good luck to the crew. They deserve a ship ready to go, not one that is half-baked.

 

There is nothing in the pirate world that cannot be done without LCS. If so, then the Fleet is in worse shape than we are telling the public. If not, then, well, I'll let you figure it out.

 

View the full article

I only hope the engineering quality control of LCS will be better than in LPD-17 San Antonio