Navy Littoral Combat Ship/Frigate (Lcs/Ffgx) Program

Download or read book Navy Littoral Combat Ship/Frigate (Lcs/Ffgx) Program written by Congressional Research Service and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-09-18 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Navy's Littoral Combat Ship/Frigate (LCS/FFG(X)) program is a program to procure a total of 40, and possibly as many as 52, small surface combatants (SSCs), meaning LCSs and frigates. A total of 29 LCSs have been procured through FY2017. For FY2018, the Navy is requesting the procurement of two more LCSs, which would be the 30th and 31st. The Navy's proposed FY2018 budget, which was submitted on May 23, 2017, originally showed a request for one LCS at an estimated cost of $636.1 million. On May 24, 2017, the Navy announced that it was amending its proposed FY2018 budget to request the procurement of two LCSs rather than one. As amended, the Navy's proposed FY2018 budget requests two LCSs at a total cost of $1,136.1 million, or an average of about $568.1 million each. Two very different LCS designs are currently being built. One was developed by an industry team led by Lockheed; the other was developed by an industry team that was led by General Dynamics. The design developed by the Lockheed-led team is built at the Marinette Marine shipyard at Marinette, WI, with Lockheed as the prime contractor; the design developed by the team that was led by General Dynamics is built at the Austal USA shipyard at Mobile, AL, with Austal USA as the prime contractor. The LCS/FFG(X) program has been controversial over the years due to past cost growth, design and construction issues with the first LCSs, concerns over the survivability of LCSs (i.e., their ability to withstand battle damage), concerns over whether LCSs are sufficiently armed and would be able to perform their stated missions effectively, and concerns over the development and testing of the modular mission packages for LCSs. The Navy's execution of the program has been a matter of congressional oversight attention for several years. The LCS/FFG(X) program now appears to be in flux in certain key respects, including the following: Total program quantity. Although the program was limited by a December 2015 restructuring to a total of 40 ships, the Navy has a requirement for 52 SSCs, raising a possibility that the current reassessment of the program might lead to a decision by the Department of Defense to expand the total size of the program to something more than 40 ships, and possibly to as many as 52. It is also possible that the program might be reduced to something less than 40 ships. Annual procurement rate. It is possible the program's annual procurement rate could be increased from the one or two ships per year shown in the FY2017 budget submission to a rate of about three ships per year-a rate similar to those in budget submissions for years prior to FY2017-particularly if the program's total procurement quantity is increased to something more than 40. The down select. If the program's annual procurement rate is increased to something like three ships per year, it might prompt a reconsideration of whether to conduct a currently planned down select to a single LCS design. Design and builder or builders of the FFG(X)s. The design of the new frigates, and the shipyard or shipyards that will build them, are uncertain. Navy officials have stated that the Navy is reassessing what capabilities its wants to have in the new frigates, and is examining potential frigate designs based on both LCS hull forms and other frigate-seized hull forms.