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| Science & Technology |
| LCS Troubles May Stem From Double Engine |
| 2016-09-08 |
| "After two years of embarrassing breakdowns in both variants of the embattled Navy Littoral Combat Ship, there are worrying signs that a reliability problem is built into the design. At issue: the unhappy combination of an unusually small crew struggling with a uniquely complex propulsion system, one that yokes gas turbines and diesel engines together. That implies Vice Adm. Thomas Rowden's current stand-down to retrain LCS engineers -- and it's unprecedented to stand down an entire warship class -- will only solve part of the problem. A complete cure could require redesigning the engines. That's the kind of fundamental fix that would have to wait for the upgraded "frigate" model of the LCS and which couldn't be retrofitted to existing ships. "The Navy may want to...in the frigate design, for example...come up with ways to simplify the propulsion architecture," said Bryan Clark of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments, a former top aide to the Chief of Naval Operations. "It's not really fundamentally flawed so much as the architecture is hard to support," Clark said, which is particularly problematic for LCS's chronically overworked crew. Using a smaller gas turbine would reduce the ships' top speed, he said, but it would also make maintaining and operating it easier. |
| Posted by:Blossom Unains5562 |
| #9 I wonder if the island hopping sailors picked up by the Iranioids might have appreciated a LIT instead of their brown-water Bettys. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-09-08 21:57 |
| #8 Show me a working Mission Package for the LCS. Just one. |
| Posted by: magpie 2016-09-08 19:54 |
| #7 Another issue is the surface warfare union's tendency to "make every ship a dreadnought." The LCS concept is fine, if one is looking for a vessel for low intensity, low profile missions. The ship-driver mafia isn't too keen on that. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-09-08 14:18 |
| #6 Thanks for that info Pappy. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-09-08 11:32 |
| #5 CODAG (combined diesel and gas turbine) and CODOG (combined diesel or gas turbine) have been around for a relatively long time. The issue is the treating the LCS like it's an aircraft. Hence the high reliance on automation, on-shore maintenance, and small crews that rotate on and off the vessels (and thus don't learn the idiosyncrasies of their assigned ship). The issue is, to be basic, is that a seagoing vessel is not an aircraft. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-09-08 11:29 |
| #4 It's easier to blame the sailors. |
| Posted by: Pancho Glolusing7837 2016-09-08 11:00 |
| #3 A complete cure The Engineering divisions are not the problem. Everything else is. |
| Posted by: GORT 2016-09-08 09:21 |
| #2 A ship designed NOT to survive or continue to operate once hit? I am ignorant of a great many things, greatest of which, all things seagoing. Someone must explain this to me. Wiki link |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2016-09-08 09:08 |
| #1 an unusually small crew Ummm...let's see, add Billion$ or bodies? What to do, what to do. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-09-08 09:03 |