Littoral combat ship
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Search complete. 14 mentions across 10 episodes found for "Littoral combat ship".
Sep 14, 2026
Zack CooperGUEST
So the Naval Shipbuilding picture is a mess.
Zack CooperGUEST
And this comes after some basically failed programs like the Littoral Combat Ship that were discontinued and some of those ships were pulled out of service very early.
Zack CooperGUEST
So I think the real question is, from the American perspective, this had both a strategic logic and a political logic in showing how important the U.S.-Australia relationship was.
Zack CooperGUEST
What it was sort of missing in the optimal pathway, in my view, was a real defense industrial plan that... made, frankly, a lot of sense from the American side about how to execute this political vision.
Bryan ClarkPANELIST
So it means you get things like these acquisition disasters, like future combat systems in the Army.
Bryan ClarkPANELIST
And you got the Navy with the Ford class carrier, the Littoral Combat Ship, the DDG-1000 Zumwalt.
Bryan ClarkPANELIST
And the CGX, which we didn't even bother to build.
Bryan ClarkPANELIST
So a bunch of failed acquisition programs because we jumped too far on the technology, didn't put nearly enough money into them to solve it.
James FanellGUEST
And we also need to get after the problems that we talked about previously, which is the ship designs that we've had over the last 20 years with Naval Sea Systems Command have not been very successful.
James FanellGUEST
The Littoral Combat Ship, the Zumwalt-class cruiser, problems with the Ford-class with the electromagnetic aircraft launch systems and advanced weapons elevators, magnetic elevators, and then the Constellation-class frigate.
James FanellGUEST
So we've had essentially 20 plus years, maybe 30 years of failed designs.
James FanellGUEST
While on the other side, China has gone in the space of 15 years, built four aircraft carriers, built 10, they're working on up to 14 Renhai class cruisers of the 13,000 tons, 112 vertical launch cells for their BLS system, They've built four Type 075 amphibious assault ships that are 40,000 tons.
James FanellGUEST
And we also need to get after the problems that we talked about previously, which is the ship designs that we've had over the last 20 years with Naval Sea Systems Command have not been very successful.
James FanellGUEST
The Littoral Combat Ship, the Zumwalt-class cruiser, problems with the Ford-class with the electromagnetic aircraft launch systems and advanced weapons elevators, magnetic elevators, and then the Constellation-class frigate.
James FanellGUEST
So we've had essentially 20 plus years, maybe 30 years of failed designs.
James FanellGUEST
While on the other side, China has gone in and the space of 15 years built four aircraft carriers, built 10, they're working on up to 14 Renhai class cruisers of the 13,000 tons, 112 vertical launch cells for their BLS system, They've built four Type 075 amphibious assault ships that are 40,000 tons.
ColinHOST
because they're a proxy we own them that's what people don't understand we conquered them
CodyHOST
like but they bought a design from us from what i understand and it's probably wrong of course they did so we we have these we have these uh what we call them uh lcs's yeah yeah littoral combat ships
ColinHOST
yeah
CodyHOST
no um There, I'm sorry.
Bill BuppertGUEST
These are these small littoral vessels.
Bill BuppertGUEST
We call them the LCS, the littoral combat ship.
Bill BuppertGUEST
Little crappy ship is more appropriate.
Bill BuppertGUEST
But five years into probably half the hull's 30-year lifespans, they're decommissioning them.
Paul DarlingGUEST
Um, uh, they just con- canceled the Constellation class, uh, which was a, a converted FREM.
Paul DarlingGUEST
Everyone knew the LCS was garbage in 2010, but doesn't matter 'cause the Navy buys whatever they wanted to.
Paul DarlingGUEST
And, and here's the thing is, when I was in DC, I was the branch chief for, for plans.
Paul DarlingGUEST
So I reviewed O plans and CONOPs only from a National Guard perspective, but I, I read them.
Paul DarlingGUEST
So they're either like, "Give me full-on tanks so I can sling lead," or, "Just put them in Humvees 'cause I don't care."
Scott DeLuzioHOST
Mm-hmm.
Paul DarlingGUEST
Uh, uh, no one wants an LCS.
Paul DarlingGUEST
They wanted BMD-capable Burkes and Ticos.
Tom SauerGUEST
And then on top of that as well is they had ROVs and unmanned underwater vehicles, UUVs that they would deploy at a standoff.
Tom SauerGUEST
Problem is the LCS has had a ton of problems getting that system to work properly.
Tom SauerGUEST
So what does that leave you with, right? The real assets you had is comprised primarily of Navy EOD guys like me and my brother and a lot of my friends using a combination of what we call, it's called Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures, XMCM for short.
Tom SauerGUEST
And these deploy unmanned underwater vehicles, particularly a it's one called the Mark 18 family of system.
Mike SmithHOST
When I first graduated, they were talking about optimal landing and how do they do that.
Mike SmithHOST
Then they brought in the LCS, you know, the littoral combat ship.
Mike SmithHOST
And like, why build one of those when we can build two for twice the price? You know, like there was a whole bunch of stuff there.
Mike SmithHOST
The Navy's budget for shipbuilding has doubled in the two decades, but the fleet has shrunk.
MarkHOST
And it is to ignore that, to ignore that the... opportunities available for people to go discuss where their heads are with somebody who can help them, uh, work through those issues, uh, that that's provided, especially on an aircraft carrier.
MarkHOST
This is not your, uh, your, uh, 65 crew member LCS.
MarkHOST
This is a ship that has all kinds of quality features on it.
MarkHOST
And, you know, yeah, it's going through some tough time.