US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter tphuang
- Start date
Great post Jeff. I to am concerned about the USN LCS ships but some how or another everything aboard will work out.
Personally I feel the crew size is too small for engineering and damage control.
Jura The idiot
General
OK Jeff I'll leave it right after this:
"During operational testing,
LCS 3 did not demonstrate that it could achieve the
Navy requirement for fuel endurance (operating range)
at the prescribed transit speed or at sprint speed. Based
on fuel consumption data collected during the test, the
ship’s operating range at 14.4 knots (the ship’s average
speed during the trial) is estimated to be approximately
1,960 nautical miles ..."
and at p. 124 of Conway's 1906-1921 I see
Range 2500 nm at 20 knots for Wickes-class
(San Diego - Hawai is about 2300 nm)
so much for
... and time will tell the rest
Exactly...I agree with that.
...and feel the same about the Zumwalt.
The Zumwalt is an AMAZING vessel. Very modern, very exciting and cutting edge technology and capabilities.
...but with 130 enlisted and something like 17 officers for a 15,000 ton destroyer which is highly automated...well, that's great in fair seas and peace time. But if called to war, they have to expect battle damage, and when that happens you need enough well trained and hard thinking personnel/sailors who can innovate and take material at hand and keep the ship afloat.
IMHO, 147 is not enough for that sized and complexity of a vessel.
Saving costs with a small crew is great until you lose one in war because you do not have enough crew to do proper battle damage control.
Well, this particular issue with the USS Ft. Worth, LCS-3, is different than the breakdowns of the Freedom and Coronado, and the earlier breakdown of the Ft. Worth. .
The Freedom broke down after seawater decontamination and then returned to her exercises under power of its gas turbine engines, rather than the main diesel propulsion systems, with the net result being that the vessel got rust inside the diesel engine, which apparently occurred due to human error and wasn't discovered until a later inspection.
The Ft. Woth's break down when she tried to operate her propulsion system without enough oil its combining gears, the hardware that transfers power from the ship's diesel and gas turbine engines to its water-jet propulsion system. Again, that casualty occurred due to an apparent failure to follow procedures during an operational test of the port and starboard main propulsion diesel engines.
The Coronado (LCS-4) broke down four days after leaving Hawaii (after it had already traveled from San Diego to Hawaii), and then had to make it back to Hawaii under its own power, which it did.
So, there are problems...a lot of them seem to be crew issues, which (As I said) may be linked to too small a crew having to handle too complex and engineering system and making prodedural mistakes.
The Oliver Hazard Perry, the Spruance, and the Ticonderoga class vessels all, early in their careers were subject to issues and a lot of people saying they would not amount to a good vessel. All of them went on to prove that wrong.
As you said...time will tell. But I am confidant that the issues with the Freedom and Independence will be addressed and that the NAvy and the manufacturers will come up with solutions.
Pacific Sentinel said:
This will be an excellent design. it will keep Huntington Ingalls building large Amphibs, and it will help reduce costs because of economies of scale using the same hull.
There are 8 Whidbey Island and 4 Harper's Ferry LSDs to replace, so Huntington will build another 12 of these vessels.
Good looking ship. Will not be quite as air centric as the San Antonio, and probably will allow for at least two LCACs, although all the Whidbey Islands allow for four, which in turn reduces the vehicle space internal.
I expect they will stick with the Harper's Ferry capability where they reduced it to two.
I did not see it discussed here, but Donald Trump gave National Security Speech on building the US Military, and, among other things, for the US Navy he called for a 350 ship force as opposed to the current plan to get to 308.
This is why I say we might see more Zumwalts and other vessels and aircraft if Trump wins in November.World Politicus said:
Jura The idiot
General
Aug 12, 2016
but Officer in Charge of Sailors Captured By Iran Loses Appeal, Could Face Discharge
source: