The Navy does not intend to
add the planned improved elec-
tronics, weapons and armor to the
two LCS variants for several more
years. Its budget request for next
year includes $1.7 billion to buy
three of the LCSs currently in pro-
duction, and a more modest
$118.4 million in research and
development.
But McCain, whose committee
will mark up the annual defenseauthorization bill this spring,
could take a pre-emptive swipe at
the program by demanding reports
and other justification for the dol-
lars that will come later.
The Navy has classified the
upgraded, more muscular ships as
frigates. But Navy Secretary Ray
Mabus stressed to the committee
that they are not large warships,
and not to expect them to be as
survivable.“They’re not destroyers. They’re
not cruisers. And they have a very
different role to play,” he said. “But
the survivability for a small surface
combatant, particularly with the
upgrades, meets our fleet require-
ments.”
Late last year, then-Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel approved
the plan to upgrade the ships,
beginning no later than fiscal 2019.
The goal is to buy a total of 52 of6 S E A P O W E R / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 W W W. S E A P O W E R M A G A Z I N E. O R GMcCain Wants Clarification on Navy’s
Requirements, Role for Upgraded LCS
N
avy leaders trying to sell to lawmakers their plan
to upgrade the littoral combat ship (LCS) could
face some resistance from the Senate Armed Services
Committee, where the panel’s chairman is raising ques-
tions about whether the service has thought through
the effort to beef up the coastal vessels.
Arizona Republican John McCain, who has dogged-
ly followed the LCS through years of cost overruns,
schedule delays and lingering questions about its mis-
sion and capabilities, demanded during a March 10
hearing on the Navy’s fiscal 2016 budget request that
the service explain the decision to upgrade the ships.
The Navy, McCain argued, must clarify what opera-
tional requirements the upgraded ships are designed to
meet, and what role they will play in the fleet.
The issue for McCain comes down to costs. Why
buy the beefier and undoubtedly more expensive vari-
ants of the LCS, which already is twice its original
price tag, if Navy officials are not presenting a clear
idea for what they are trying to accomplish?
“Without a clear capabilities-based assessment, it is
unclear what operational requirements the upgraded
LCS is designed to meet, and that’s how much more
lethal and survivable the ship needs to be,” the senator
said. “In short, the Navy must demonstrate what prob-
lem the upgraded LCS is trying to solve. We cannot
afford to make this mistake again.”M A R I T I M E
M A TT E R S
Chief of Naval Operations ADM Jonathan W. Greenert
testifies during a posture hearing March 10 before the
Senate Armed Services Committee on the proposed
budget for the Department of the Navy for fiscal 2016
and the Future Years Defense Program. At his left are
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Commandant of
the Marine Corps Gen Joseph F. Dunford Jr.U.
S.
NAVY