Posted on 09/14/2013 9:16:12 AM PDT by yoe
Over the next several weeks, there will be a raft of news stories disclosing cuts to Pentagon weapons programs. The stories will begin with briefings by the military services to the defense secretary’s management team next week about their planned budget requests for fiscal 2015, and then continue into the fitful beginning of the 2014 fiscal year two weeks later. In both cases, the focus of stories will be on how the Pentagon proposes to cope with deficit-reduction provisions in the Budget Control Act.
Those provisions are likely to significantly reduce the military capabilities of the U.S. because they mandate a trillion dollars in savings from the defense department between 2012 and 2021. Half of the cuts are already reflected in Obama Administration budget requests, but the other half — known a sequestration — are not. The sequestration cuts are expected to cut $52 billion, or roughly 10%, from the Pentagon request in the fiscal year beginning October 1, with the biggest percentage reductions coming from weapons programs.
[snip] The impact on military capabilities will become much more noticeable in the new fiscal year, potentially affecting programs vital to the nation’s future security. What follows is a brief description of four Navy programs that all have been subject to rumors about budget cuts. If any of them actually are cut, warfighters are more likely to die in the future, and wars are less likely to be won.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Everything I’ve read about the littoral combat ship has been bad. It is too lightly armored and vulnerable in its close-in mission profile to shore launched missiles and shallow water mines. The do-everything concept doesn’t work yet. It failed in the Army’s FCS and it isn’t looking good for mission modules either.
So, one ship can do every mission, have no armor and not use any support...okay.
The LCS is a complete disaster going back many many years.
In an attempt to be everything to everybody, it became nothing to anybody. Everybody involved in the planning of this ship should be fired.
read the article. what frigates? haven’t had FFGs in years.
Aren’t we to the point where we could build a really fast and agile drone that would blow the doors off an F-35?
“In an attempt to be everything to everybody, it became nothing to anybody.”
You put your finger on the problem. In order to get funded a project promises that it can do every mission and therefore it can get the funding of those other projects that are more specialized. (The more funding you get the more powerful you are.) FCS did this. One vehicle was supposed to be modifiable to do every vehicle’s function. Main battle tank, mobile hospital, ambulance, scout vehicle...It was ridiculous. The Army spent more money than if it had designed all new special purpose vehicles and they ended up with NOTHING.
“read the article. what frigates? haven’t had FFGs in years.”
You must have posted this to the wrong guy. Don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no frigates.
At Leyte, the CVEs were doing the job they were designed for, but the enemy always has a say. Considering the odds and the outcome when the enemy came, they kicked ass.
The LCS is made in my area. We want to keep the money here but I won’t disagree with anything you’ve said.
The four cuts are a new ballistic-missile submarine, a new payload module for attack subs, a littoral combat ship, and a stealthy carrier-based fighter. Thanks yoe.
Next LCS to be named USS Edsel?
Show me any other naval action where a CVE sunk a heavy cruiser with gunfire!
Dead silence.
It’s hard to know what to think of this kind of news. Is this a press release by a lobbying firm working for defense contractors sucking at the government teat? Is this the top brass who after careful analysis feel the need to warn Americans about a severe reduction in our capability or are these the top brass who after a long career signing off on invoices are now looking forward to lucrative ‘consulting’ careers in retirement?
Actually if the Gubment would end the welfare programs, the military budget could be increased significantly. Ah dreams are nice to have.
“would stop a long-rod penetrator from destroying a 25-ton FCS combat vehicle. “
When I asked how the vehicle would survive I was told that they planned on keeping them behind the battle lines and that the Army would have “total control of the air.” Nothing would get close enough to kill them. (Fire and forget munitions have now been around for 20 years.) But shortly after we went into Iraq and, lo-and-behold, there were no “battle lines.”
They had decreed that the vehicles would all be transportable by air, so they were all narrow and fairly short and LIGHT weight. Because they wanted them to have insanely impossible capabilities, they were all upright square boxes with slab sides. One thing they learned from WWII is that the sides need to be inclined at 30 degrees to bounce off shells. Oh, and they have to be massive enough that the shells do bounce off.
The whole concept was crazy. But it did make lots of people rich. (Don’t get me started on TWO integrators of integrators. It ended up that way because neither SAIC or Boeing had sufficient pocket senators by themselves. They had to combine their pocket senators to get it funded. So, 50 cents of every dollar went to the integrators of integrators who had not a clue what was going on.)
Absolutely. Of the 3 programs listed if one had to go, please make it the LCS. The missile package thing next. The Ohio replacement and F35 are absolutely mandatory.
Dead silence.
I do believe they got the Saudi's to buy into a bunch of these.... That could be a small plus.
I don’t think the CVEs were credited with sinking any if the enemy ships, but your statement would be true if it was ‘show me any naval action where a CVE fought a heavy crusier using its gun.’ The performance of the DDs and DEs of Taffy-3 were legendary and tough to read without choking up a bit. Mega-balls and such bravery demonstrated.
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