Great statement, Nick. I believe the LCS ships were a design and build which didn't work out well. I drive by Bremerton a lot and see a couple of them retired which is infuriating. It's a crime that all these millions were spent and the return was so minimal. I wonder if there will be an IG investigation or some other action to prevent this debacle from happening again.
I believe it was Russian Admiral Gorchkov who once stated “better is the enemy of good enough”, speaking to the American submarine force compared to theirs. We need to be the best but I sometimes think the Pentagon folks make decisions with a dart board. And certainly politics come into play. Bigger, better, faster is not always the answer. It’s expensive and often comes with complications.
Decisions in high government circles may be the result of the "reserve principle". King Richard employed it when he directed his general to unleash his arrow men on the enemy even though hundreds of his own troops were among the mix. Hesitant to issue the order, the general asked, "Want we injure our own men?" The king responded, "Oh, we have reserves! And Napoleon, after retreating from Russia with losses in the hundreds of thousands was asked about the huge loss of his soldiers. His reply was reported to be, "They were unimportant". So, the K.I.S.S. principle simply points out that we common crows may not understand or even need to know the reasons behind top government decisions; after all, we have "reserves". A thought to ponder.
Ben, it makes one wonder if those 13 young people unnecessarily killed in Afghanistan were considered part of the “reserves”? POTUS was checking his watch as they were being off loaded.
I was pretty surprised to read that the Navy decommissioned the USS Sioux City after less than 5 years of service. Clearly, this just continues the disastrous record of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program.
The Navy has also decided to halt the Zumwalt destroyer at three units. This ship was supposed to replace the aging Arleigh Burke units. Now the Navy wants more Burke ships.
About 10 years ago, the Navy obligated $600,000,000 to begin design drawings for the Ohio replacement.....a sub that doesn\'t seem to break down and is undetectable by everyone....including us.
I hate the system that allows people to make gigantic decisions with other people\'s money, and just walk away, with a large retainer, when they\'re wrong.