Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel faced a defense committee again Thursday — this time the House Armed Services Committee — and, once again, an Alabama lawmaker drilled him over the decision to truncate the Littoral Combat Ship program. This time it was Rep. Bradley Byrne, who asked whether the LCS had a good shot at becoming the next Navy frigate. Hagel, however, remained vague about the subject, saying only that the Navy would provide its recommendations at a later date.
So what are the other options? One congressional source said the Navy actually has a number of possible solutions for a smaller frigate-like vessel other than one based on the LCS platform. One obvious choice is a modified version of the Coast Guard National Security Cutter, and NSC builder Huntington Ingalls Industries may pose the biggest threat to future orders of LCSs beyond the 32 ships planned. Indeed, the Navy may look at a mid-sized ship to serve in that function, the source said, and the NSC comes in at 4,500 tons versus 3,000 for the LCS.
There’s also the possibility of designing a new ship from the ground up. It’s not out of the question that the Navy would seek to develop a new platform, the source said, and it may in fact be the most cost-effective option. Then again, it may not: new-design platforms can carry a hefty price tag up front, and the Navy may decide after examining the costs of such an undertaking that maybe a modified LCS isn’t such a bad idea after all, he said.
Other possibilities have been ruled out. The Navy has stated that it doesn’t want to buy foreign vessels as they don’t meet requirements — despite the fact that Independence-class LCSs are built by Austal, a foreign company. Building Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates is unlikely as that production line closed long ago. And the Joint High Speed Vessel probably doesn’t have the combat chops to meet the requirements the new frigate would have, the source indicated.
There’s also the question of, even if the Navy select a modified LCS, will the service keep both LCS designs? The Navy had considered downselecting to one design back in 2010, but ultimately decided to keep both platforms. It’s anyone’s guess at this point what the Navy will decide that far down the road, but it’s certainly possible the Navy will find that it makes more sense to choose one version — although a downselect runs the risk of miring the program in bid protests and legal battles.
Whatever the Navy decides, it will have to settle on something soon — probably within a year, the source said, noting that the service wants to start buying the ship likely around fiscal 2019, and design of a new ship would take three or four years.