I have seen LCS-2 Independence twice. Once at Mayport (Jacksonville) and also a second time getting some updates at the small shipyard just up river (St. Johns). LCS-1 Freedom has also been here as well but is not so noticeable.
It was impressive to look at considering it is a prototype. The one thing the author fails to recognize is as both are prototypes, they will require tweaking and while testing a prototype things are driven to fail just to find out what caused the failure. Its all a part of design and development.
This article reminds me of how the press was talking down the capabilities of the Apache and Abrams before the start of Desert Storm. The reality is that none of the naysayers knew anything about what they were talking about, other than trying to keep us from kicking Hussein’s ass or unwittingly spreading disinformation to the enemy.
Here’s what I see:
A project which was sold to the Congress with a cost of “X.”
A new revision puts the per-unit cost of these ships at double what was quoted to Congress.
In the private sector, we call that “bait and switch” and there are laws against it.
Here’s the new reality which everyone who clamors for new military toys needs to get their head around: We’re broke.
Here’s what I see:
A project which was sold to the Congress with a cost of “X.”
A new revision puts the per-unit cost of these ships at double what was quoted to Congress.
In the private sector, we call that “bait and switch” and there are laws against it.
Here’s the new reality which everyone who clamors for new military toys needs to get their head around: We’re broke.