A littoral fighting ship (LCS), which is fast, agile, stealthy and designed to operate in near-shore areas, is called a littoral Combat Ship. It's designed to defeat asymmetric threats like mines, submarines, and fast surface craft in order to maintain maritime supremacy within the littoral.
The LCS was created to replace the Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigates which were retired in 2008 from US Navy service. The LCS is primarily focused on Anti-Surface Warfare but can be outfitted with modular Mission Packages in order to fulfill other missions, such as Sea Control and Power Projection.
There are two types of LCS at the moment: the Freedom class or the Independence class. The Freedom class is made up of a monohull steel and the Independence class a trimaran.
Although the LCS is a relatively new platform it has faced serious reliability and cost issues since its inception. These problems were widely reported in media.
GAO recently reported that the LCS program was plagued by low quality workmanship, overruns and structural defects, which has led to the premature retirement of many ships.
The LCS is now at risk of becoming an unsustainable weapons system. Over $60 billion is required to maintain the program for the entire life of the ships.
Although the Navy attempted to address some of these issues, it was unable to resolve them all in one go. The costs continue to rise. This is a big problem for Navy since it will not have enough money to maintain and update the ships.
GAO stated that the USN should spend more money to maintain and repair the ships in order to keep them in operation. This would be necessary to allow them to continue performing their missions as they are currently designed.
However, the cost of these repairs is likely to be a substantial burden for taxpayers. This is due to the fact that the Navy has to pay the contractors for the services they provide.
There are also concerns regarding the Navy's ability manage the vessels and keep them in good condition for long periods of time. This is due to the difficulty and complexity of managing electronic systems on the ships, as well as a lack of experience in maintaining the vessels.
Finally, corrosion and sacrificial sacrifice anodes have been shown to be vulnerable to the LCS. The LCS has been affected by many cracking and breaking of their hulls, which has reduced their ability to operate in harsh water and higher speeds.
The LCS has been a major failure and the Navy has been forced to take steps to rectify the situation. These include updating and rectifying the ship's design as well as addressing cost overruns and other issues with the LCS program. The Navy has also vowed to continue to pursue the ship's development in an effort to improve its performance.