The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee urged the Navy Feb. 28 to open its Future Frigate program to more competition to ensure it gets the most capable ship possible.
The Navy plans to base the frigate on one of two existing Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) variants: the Lockheed Martin [LMT] Freedom or Austal USA Independence. But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants the service to consider more designs, both American and foreign. While Navy officials have praised LCS’s performance, McCain called LCS a “failure” for producing major cost overruns and being less capable than promised.
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In a recent white paper on defense, McCain said the frigate should have capabilities that LCS falls short in, including the ability to: attack enemy surface ships at over-the-horizon ranges with multiple salvos; defend nearby noncombatant ships from air and missile threats; conduct long-duration escort or patrol missions, including anti-submarine warfare, without frequent refueling; and survive in contested environments.
“When you look at some of the renewed capabilities, naval capabilities, that both the Russians and the Chinese have, it requires more capable weapon systems,” McCain told reporters after speaking on Capitol Hill at a Navy fleet architecture event hosted by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).
McCain said his committee’s seapower panel plans to hold hearings to further examine the capabilities the frigate should have.
Turning to other topics, McCain repeated his criticism of the Ford-class aircraft carrier program, citing cost overruns and technical delays. He wants the Navy to look at smaller carriers and more capable unmanned aircraft. “Unmanned aircraft is probably the future of naval aviation,” he said.
McCain also reiterated his displeasure with the Trump administration’s plan to seek $603 billion for defense in fiscal year 2018. The senator considers that amount insufficient to return the Navy’s many grounded F/A-18 Hornets to the air and meet other readiness needs. McCain advocates $640 billion for FY 2018.
“If we don’t get the number higher, then we’re not going to be able to defend the nation,” McCain said. “We’re going to have to spend a lot more money just on increasing the necessary operations.”
McCain said the $100 billion Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program will consume much of the Navy’s shipbuilding budget, underscoring the need for a major increase in the Navy’s budget. He suggested that using fixed-price contracts might help keep the submarine’s cost down, as they would force contractors, not taxpayers, to pay for overruns.