Quote:
Originally Posted by Sea Toby
Does anybody have any idea why the GD version is taking so long to get built?
Is this directly related to a desire to keep costs low? Does a slower building pace lead to lower cost?
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The Lockheed Martin LCS was purchased a year earlier. The Northrup Grumman ship had more infrastructure expenses at the start. Actually a slower building pace increases the cost, manual labor is priced by the hour.
While the US Navy wants the LCS, they no longer wish to build only an ocean escort, many in Congress would rather buying an ocean escort similar to the Coast Guard's new Bertholf, more like a frigate. She is over budget too, but her price is expected to come down further than either Freedom or Independence littoral combat ships.[/quote]
prototypes frequently cost more than units later on in a class-- you have a lot of things you have to go back and re-do or work out, or redesign entirely (eg. the fire-suppression system, for which a whole ship's worth of pipe had to be reordered). The first Burkes, Perrys, and Spruances all had glitches to them that were ironed out by the later units, and you wind up (theoretically at least) with economies of scale.
In this case, the all-up cost for the Lockheed Martin ship is expected to be pretty much double what the contract was originally let for, and I think that's given many people on the hill and in uniform a case of sticker shock. Part of the problem, haven spoken to people who have worked on the project, is that the Navy kept coming back with design changes on things that had already been assembled.
I like the LCS as an idea.... I would hate to see the fleet stuck with a lousy ship though, or to have to make do with nothing at all.