US Navy Procurement Disasters - The Littoral Combat Ship and Zumwalt Class Destroyer

For decades, the US Navy has been the world’s most powerful ocean going force. It operates some of the most successful warship designs in recent history. It also operates some with . In this episode we look at US efforts to develop a new generation of surface warships, including the LCS and Zumwalt Destroyers, and ask both what went wrong with these incredibly expensive projects and what we might be able to learn from them. Patreon: Caveats, Comments and Corrections: All normal caveats and disclaimers apply In particular – I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes and is not intended to be a complete or comprehensive examination of the topic in question and should not be relied upon to inform financial or other similar decisions, judgements or evaluations. In keeping with the above, nothing in this presentation should be taken to be an allegation of wrongdoing or any particular act or inaction by any individual or entity. Sources have not been validated. Readings and Sources: US DOD - Selected Acquisition Report on LCS Mission Modules Room/Selected_Acquisition_Reports/FY_2021_SARS/ US DOD - Selected Acquisition Report - Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Room/Selected_Acquisition_Reports/FY_2021_SARS/ LCS Mission Modules Program - CAPT Gus Weekes Program CAPT Robert Powers (USN Retired) - Birth of the Littoral Combat Ship Quadrennial Defence Review - 2001 CRS - Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program Navy DD(X) Destroyer Program: Background and Issues for Congress (2004 ) CRS - Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs CBO - The Cost of the Navy’s New Frigate (features LCS lead ship cost graph) House Armed Services Committee - Projection forces subcommittee - 19 July 2005 LCS breaking down on deployment AGS being placed in storage AGS Rounds Reporting on Zumwalt LCS Decommissioning US navy requests to decommission ships early USN Considers non LCS options for MCM ships Lieutenant Commander Steven Wills (USN Retired) - Why the LCS has been slow to deploy SC-21 program page (archived) */ Featured report on LCS and the Red Sea LCS Middle East Deployments DDG(X) Design Contract Reporting LCS MCM package reporting Emma Salisbury - Lessons from the Littoral Combat Ship Timestamps: 00:00:00 — Opening 00:00:53 — What Am I Talking About? 00:01:58 — Evolution of The US Navy 00:07:15 — LCS - The Beginning 00:15:29 — LCS - The Issues 00:23:10 — LCS - Lessons 00:34:59 — LCS - The Redemption 00:39:28 — DD(X) - The Beginning 00:46:02 — DD(X) - Lessons 00:50:55 — DD(X) - Redemption 00:56:15 — Reflection 01:05:47 — Update