Brad Howard: The US Navy is falling behind on what they say
is an important goal building up the force of 355 ships. But at
the same time the Navy wants to get rid of some relatively new
warships when
Unknown: the Navy goes to Congress and and says we want to
retire ships, all Congress wants to think about is we already are
short on ships. Why are you getting rid of more ships?
Brad Howard: One key to growing the fleet is the Littoral Combat
ship or LCS. The LCS is designed for littoral areas, which is
what are closer to shore. larger ships have trouble operating in
these areas because of how shallow the water is, are im
Brad Howard with CNBC and today I'll be going aboard the US
Navy's Littoral Combat ship, it's one of the Navy's newest
and most controversial vessels.
Unknown: So the LCS program, much like every other major
defense program has had its own series of setbacks,
Brad Howard: engine issues and mission module problems in the
evolving state of the world and put the ship in choppy waters.
Unknown: The question of the of the LCS, his ability to defend
itself has become sharper and sharper.
It's a zero sum game. Okay, every dollar you spend to keep
those LCS is going as $1 you can spend on these other I think
higher priorities.
Brad Howard: The next ship the Navy hopes to procure that will
take on some of the missions of the LCS is the constellation
class frigate. This frigate is based on a design already used
by several navies, which means it should have fewer teething
issues than the LCS.
Unknown: But ultimately, at the end of the day, the Navy has
more than 30 of the ships, they have to do something with them.
They've spent tons and tons of money on this, and they are at
the moment now where they have to figure it out because this is
going to be a significant part of the fleet going forward.
Brad Howard: But with a significant investment already
in the LCS can the Navy find a way to make them viable in the
post 911 era of great power competition.
The LCS program began in 2002. After the 911 terror attacks,
the Navy's priorities shifted to fighting terrorism and policing
waters closer to shore. The Navy ended up producing two variants
of the LCS, the freedom class and independence class, the
freedom classes and more traditional steel and aluminum
ship and the independence classes and all aluminum
trimaran style design. Both ships are built for speed and
can hit around 40 knots which is about 46 miles per hour. The USS
Milwaukee a freedom class LCS is training off the coast of
Florida, which means getting there requires a one hour
helicopter ride. The LCS is capable of handling a variety of
helicopters on its flight deck including uncrewed helicopters
'away starboard side'. Behind me is a fire scout the MQ-8C fire
scout is an uncrewed helicopter that is as big as a normal
helicopter, it can help the crew by providing surveillance over
the horizon among other uses. The LCS isn't a giant warship it
seems like every inch is dedicated to a purpose. The
galley where the crew eats is utilitarian, but it provides an
area for the crew to unwind during the weeks or even months
at sea. And the rear of the ship has a hold capable of being
loaded with conex boxes among other types of equipment which
can be particularly useful during humanitarian operations.
The last LCS was ordered in fiscal year 2019. And the
average cost of the last five LCS is ordered was about
$983,000,000, 23 ships have bee commissioned in nine ships ar
currently under construction o in pre construction
Unknown: The freedom class is built by Marionette marine and
Wisconsin and the independence class is built by Austal USA in
Alabama.
Brad Howard: But the LCS hasn't panned out exactly as planned,
which could be the reason the Navy has started to decommission
four vessels.
Unknown: My sense on the LCS is that it probably makes sense.
Both because the ships are expensive to maintain. So you
got high sustainment costs that you want to try to get down,
that they're not meeting the breadth of capabilities that
we're looking for. And that's not to say that there aren't
some missions that the LCS can capably perform. I'm sure there
are. But when you look at the cost of maintaining a ship, that
the sustainment costs aren't working, working out as well as
you would like. You don't have the same mission set that you
need versus beginning to invest in future systems that are going
to give you greater capability.
You have to look at those ships they were test designs there was
a lot of changes that went from those ships into the into the
block by so you know, the program office took a hard look
and I stand by the decision the Navy made,
Brad Howard: both ships have had their share of problems and
criticisms. Some observers are concerned that the independence
class is not up for surface to surface warfare due to its
aluminum hull and light armament. The freedom class has
also had engine problems since its inception,
Unknown: late last year, when it was discovered that the freedom
class the one designed by Lockheed Martin has an issue
with it the combining gear which is basically a part of its its
propulsion, and this has created a conflict between the Navy and
Lockheed Martin everyone In agreement that this is an issue,
and it's potentially an issue for all of Lockheed Martin's
ships.
Brad Howard: In a statement to CNBC Lockheed Martin noted our
solution will soon be rigorously tested at sea to validate the
improved design modification. Following successful sea trials
and navy approval, we will deliver the first modified ship
and implement the design modifications for other freedom
Class ships.
Unknown: In a nutshell, we are right on track to get to put
that problem behind us and move on with the future of the
freedom class.
Brad Howard: So I'm here on the bridge of the USS Milwaukee.
what's notable about it is the combination of training and new
technology allows for the crew on this bridge to be much
smaller than previous frigate designs. The autopilot and
advanced helm controls which are used to steer the ship and
control the speed are a huge part of what makes the ship so
advanced we come
Unknown: to these ships prepared to you know, face anything that
is thrown at us with a three people that we have on the
bridge vice other ships that could have anywhere 12 1415
people,
Brad Howard: the LCS was designed to operate with a small
crew size an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer which displaces about
three times as many tons as an LCS fully loaded needs a crew of
around 300 sailors by comparison in LCS has a crew of around 90
depending on mission needs and additionally each LCS has two
crews that rotate to enable a higher operational tempo.
Unknown: My entire engineering department on LCS is about 12
people that is designed that is about the size of one
engineering division on conventional ships,
Brad Howard: new technologies and sailors working multiple
jobs helped keep the crew numbers so low compared to
larger ships.
Unknown: We by far have the premier surface navy ship
training in the LCS program, and it goes back to the blue and
gold crew. It goes back to the employment concept.
Brad Howard: One downside is that there are fewer sailors in
the event of an incident that requires damage control. Another
is that if a crew member is taken out of action, it could be
difficult to replace their expertise on the fly. What
Unknown: the Navy originally envisioned for the LCS ships was
that they would be equipped with a series of different mission
modules. And what I mean by that was that they would have sort of
a plug and play aspect to that
Brad Howard: the Navy is now pivoting towards dedicated rules
for the LCS is in service.
Unknown: We are still tied to the modular systems. The change
that we made in 2016 was instead of the Envision where we might
swap those modules out over a two or three day period, we
found it was more effective to kind of tie that module to that
ship.
Brad Howard: The LCS is equipped with a rigid hull inflatable
boat or rhib. These boats are also useful for search and
rescue, counter piracy and also for certain sorts of maritime
inspection. The crew of than the Milwaukee took me on an exercise
where the rip would be launched from the LCS in order to send
sailors to board another vessel but a critical hose malfunction
which prevented the doors from opening. The crew quickly and
safely fixed the hose communicating loudly through
each step of the process. After the rhib was launched, the
sailors performed a boarding exercise supported by a
helicopter from the LCS one of the main advantages a ship like
the LCS brings to the fleet is capabilities such as this sort
of interdiction. The small boat and aerial support the LCS can
bring to bear is also useful in humanitarian situations such as
when Haiti experienced an earthquake in August of this
year.
Unknown: USS Billings is one of the first ones on scene so you
have LCS on scene with their helicopter providing
humanitarian relief
culturally, I think the service has never really liked the ship
because it's it's not a Bluewater ship, like lobbing
missiles 1000s of miles away and, and getting into these
really big epic fights in the middle of the ocean. And you
know, the US Navy's never really been enamored since the end of
the World War Two. With small ships, it's never been something
that they've been particularly into.
Brad Howard: The Navy is hoping to retire some Littoral Combat
ships to free up money for the next generation frigate that is
slated to take on a number of important missions. This frigate
will displace about twice as many tons as the LCS
Unknown: when the Navy's mine, they're saving money. They call
it divest invest, they're saving money to put money back into
something that they do want. A frigate
Brad Howard: is a type of ship that is generally known to be
made for speed and capable of handling many different
missions. The constellation class will be based on a
Fincantieri, Marinette marine design known as the European
multipurpose frigate, which is already in service with several
other countries including Italy and France.
Unknown: So the constellation class frigates were born from
intense congressional pressure in order to find another follow
on class for the LCS. And so a lot of that was the late john
mccain beating the Navy and on the head and shoulders, saying
that you need to get something else.
Brad Howard: The Navy is hoping to buy 20 ships and they're
aiming at a cost of around a billion dollars per ship. It is
hoped that by picking a proven design, this will keep costs
down. But the Congressional Budget Office is projecting that
the Navy's cost estimate is 40% lower than what it could
actually be. cost,
Unknown: Congress would like to see her value for its
investment.
I'm not going to stand here and say, oh, great job on the
frigate. We got to keep busting their balls to make sure that
they are, you know, hitting the goals and meeting things we
have. But I think we have a better path forward now to
building systems that will work and that will help us and doing
so in a more cost effective way. We haven't really keep pushing
that though
Brad Howard: these frigates also have what is known as a vertical
launch system. This allows a ship to carry more missiles in
an efficient way lay down what are known as cells
Unknown: that's able to fire anti air and anti ship missiles.
It has a beefier radar than the LCS
Brad Howard: does. One major criticism of the LCS is that it
would be outgunned in any modern fight with other surface ships
or against aircraft.
Unknown: The LCS is deficiency in the face of defense against
air and missile threats, especially with China and Iran
moving closer together with military cooperation is a
problem.
Brad Howard: At the end of the day. The LCS is a Navy warship
and it's designed to engage with the enemy. The LCS has a 57
millimeter main gun
Unknown: primary purposes the anti Surface Warfare can be used
against anti air warfare as well. You don't expect a gun
this big to shoot that fast. But when it starts pulling out
rounds, it's it's definitely impressive to watch.
You know the 30 millimeter guns that that ship has. Every single
crew that comes back from deployment has gotten us out of
the out of that system. There is also a missile element of that
SSM mm or service ship mission missile module, which is a
longbow hellfire missile that we have, and it's coming in and
more numbers to put on the ship.
Brad Howard: The freedom class also has smaller machine guns
and some defensive weapons. In the case of the Milwaukee a
rolling airframe missile launcher is installed on the
ship to help take down enemy air threats. The freedom Class ships
in operation are also awaiting an upgrade that will place the
Naval Strike missile onboard which will be a huge upgrade in
the ship's ability to fight other warships something that
the Pentagon wants in an era of strategic competition.
Unknown: With that missile there's many other lethality
upgrades that the LCS are getting, which I cannot talk
about right now. But again, you're taking a lethal, stealthy
ship, who's able to go fast in other tutorials and making it
much more deadlier and lcss
Brad Howard: have also launched Harpoon missiles and modified
Hellfire missiles, but it's to be seen if these solutions will
be enough to compete with heavily armed Chinese and
Russian ships. The fight between Congress in the Navy over
divesting away from existing LCS isn't going away.
Unknown: This has lawmakers disturbed by the fact that the
Navy is trying to reach 355 vessels and the next 10 years
but they are also looking to retire at least for these LCS
ships.
The LCS has become a congressional punching bag
because it's there's an issue after issue. And it's become an
item that if lawmakers don't know that much else about the
Navy, if they want to make an argument the Navy is going down
the wrong path, they will reference the LCS.
Brad Howard: Meanwhile, the Navy is trying to salvage the LCS
reputation and make it a lethal part of the Navy's small surface
combatant fleet.
Unknown: I mean, the Chinese are particularly interested in LCS,
now that they have a Naval Strike missile aboard because
you have a ship that has actually a lot more lethality to
it, and can be a threat to some of their larger warships out
there at a relatively inexpensive cost.
When we went back and now that we've kind of gotten past that
initial point, the ships have been built, they've been we've
been deploying them independence has been very successful
deploying overseas to Singapore in you know, in China's
backyard, we're starting in late 2019, the freedom class followed
in in the south Kami or
I think that funds should come from the army. And to a certain
extent, the Air Force. And this is not a it may be seen as a
radical idea. But it is not something that it's something
that's been done before the Eisenhower administration, for
example, prioritize the Air Force in the 50s at the expense
of the other services. So it's not like, Oh, my God, we're
doing something completely new here.
Now, some of those some of those future systems are future I
mean, a destroyer, the new you know, you just class destroyer,
very capable ship meets a clear need, we know how to build it,
we know how to build it in a cost effective way. So every
dollar that you can save over there, you can do that same for
submarines, you know, when we got them cooking up there with
the whole two and now even some cases three submarines a year.
To the step we're cranking out a very capable platform that we
know has a clear mission that hits our cost goal, and the more
money that can go into that the more capable systems that we can
build.
Brad Howard: As I left the USS Milwaukee, it seemed to me that
after a rocky 20 year development, the name You may
not have the ship it set out to build back in 2002 but it does
have a very capable small warship. And the lessons learned
from it will likely be part of future navy ship designs for
years to come.