Quote:The youngest littoral combat ship (LCS), the USS St. Louis, launched in August 2020.

It will serve just three of its 25-year planned service life before it is taken for scrap.

The touted LCS vessels, which were thought to be the 'future' of the US Navy, are among 24 warships to be decommissioned in 2023.

Cracks were also found on the Navy's Independence-class warships, prompting new inspection procedures.

'The issue was identified following routine quality assurance checks and does not pose a risk to the safety of Sailors on board the ships.

Crews at the Naval Station will now have to wait for new ships to arrive.



The news comes as fears of China's growing navy persist.

Beijing will have 460 ships by 2030, the Pentagon has estimated.

That will make China's the world's largest navy, overtaking the United States.

Under current Navy plans, the US will have just 280 ships five years from now.

Admiral Gilday told the Senate last week that America would be unable to fight a war on two fronts with its current equipment.

Answered speculation from Sen. Josh Hawley that the US could have to fight in eastern Europe and the South China Sea at the same time, the admiral said: 'I think we'd be challenged.

'Right now, the force is not sized to handle two simultaneous conflicts. It's sized to fight one and to keep a second adversary in check, but in terms of two all-out conflicts, we are not sized for that.'

Sen. Jim Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tweeted: 'With the Chinese Navy steadily climbing to 460 ships by 2030, the unforced errors in Navy shipbuilding, like the Littoral Combat Ship, must stop.

'Programs that can scale up and grow our fleet must be the priority.'

Daily Mail

(05-14-2022, 04:45 AM)ChiefD Wrote: Unfortunately, I’m not the least bit surprised at this. The Navy has had all kinds of problems with the LCS class types of ships. There has been a lot of bad publicity over the years on those. In fact, the joke is that LCS actually stands for “Little Crappy Ships”. I knew some people who were stationed on those, and they all said that the ships were poorly designed and really shitty. They were supposed to require less of a crew, but with all the problems, they just didn’t work that way. The Navy should have scrapped that program a lot longer ago than now.

And I was in the Navy when it was a 600 ship Navy. It has gone downhill so much, absolutely pathetic.

(05-14-2022, 04:45 AM)ChiefD Wrote: The Navy has had all kinds of problems with the LCS class types of ships. There has been a lot of bad publicity over the years on those. In fact, the joke is that LCS actually stands for “Little Crappy Ships”.

And I was in the Navy when it was a 600 ship Navy. It has gone downhill so much, absolutely pathetic.

(05-14-2022, 01:53 PM)Snarl Wrote:

(05-14-2022, 04:45 AM)ChiefD Wrote: The Navy has had all kinds of problems with the LCS class types of ships. There has been a lot of bad publicity over the years on those. In fact, the joke is that LCS actually stands for “Little Crappy Ships”.

And I was in the Navy when it was a 600 ship Navy. It has gone downhill so much, absolutely pathetic.

Retired out of Hawaii. Lots of opportunities to dive recreationally with Air Force and Navy. Mostly dove from shore, but would sometimes float out with a boat from Hickam ... which was where we got our free air. My son ETSd from Fort Campbell and stayed in the Nashville area for several years. While he was out interviewing for a job, a lady asked him if his dad used to dive a lot in Hawaii.  Checked my dive logs and sure enough ...

Got to be pretty good friends with quite a few bubbleheads. They liked 'their navy'  back then ... and especially liked their boats ... lots of pride there.  One of 'em got me a three-day check ride.  Stories for another thread.

(05-15-2022, 02:18 AM)727Sky Wrote: With the cost of everything defense related our forces are being starved.. I am always reminded that "Quantity has its own quality". If their is a war of attrition all I can say is good luck America.