I can’t figure out why the Navy would order so many ships with unproven technology without building a prototype or two first and seeing how they fared over time. Call me cynical, but the only explanation I can think of is there was massive graft involved.
Too many congress critters didn't want to cut off the pork in their local districts. As I recall, a couple of years ago the Navy tried to cancel all unconstructed LCS(Littoral Combat ShipsLittle Crappy Ships) and congress added funding for even more.