The Navy is Spending $37 Billion on a Ship that is 'Marginally Useful'

Let’s set the stage. You and your significant other decide to devote a weekend to repainting the family room. It’s not an easy task because the room is large with high ceilings, expensive flooring and a lot of heavy furniture. You’re not only going to paint it, it’s going to have one of those “faux” effects that takes twice as long and more money in supplies.

You spend all the money, you invest all of the time and in the end, it looks nothing more than okay.

On a much larger scale, that’s exactly what the Navy did with its Littoral Combat Ships, if a recent report from Bloomberg is correct. It seems like a great idea. Make a ship that’s able to take on missions near the shore while also being able to operate in open waters.

Equipment could be swapped out and thanks to technology, it’s manned by a relatively small crew—40, in fact. Even better, the Navy doesn’t have to wait years for a new ship. They’re designed to be built rapidly.

The problem, according to the report, is that the ships are too thinly manned, there isn’t enough firepower, and are likely too wide to fit into their intended ports. And to paraphrase, the fact that there are two versions of the vessel makes for one big logistical and maintenance nightmare.

Adding to the problems, the Pentagon acknowledges that the vessels are being built with the lowest level of survivability to cut costs. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, said that the vessel, “is not expected to be survivable in that it is not expected to maintain mission capability after taking a significant hit in a hostile combat environment.”

All this led to Representative James Moran, a Virginia Democrat, to refer to the ships as “marginally useful.” The report, written in 2012, highlights what the Navy has heard for quite a while but it isn’t admitting defeat.

Bloomberg reports that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said that the ship started out as a “mess” but has become “one of our best-performing programs.”

The Navy has contracts for 20 of the vessels at a cost of $440 million each. Lockheed Martin LMT will produce one of the variants while Australian company, Austal will produce the other design. General Electric’s GE marine unit will supply the engines.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Tim Parker had no position in any of the securities mentioned and would probably prefer to go to battle on a tuna boat rather than these ships.

Posted In: NewsEventsGlobalMediaGeneralGeneral ElectricLockheed Martin
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