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WASHINGTON — As the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ship program battles reliability problems, it is also wrestling another and potentially just as fearsome bear: operating costs.
The service’s top officer said the original concept for a minimal crewing model — where as few as 32 sailors and eight officers manned the ship, and much of the maintenance burden fell to contractors — has driven up costs.
The answer? Put sailors back in charge of more maintenance, which means the Navy might need to add even more sailors to the crew.
Indeed, the additional manning might serve as yet another driver of higher operating costs, but the current numbers indicate that expenses can’t get much worse.
Today, a littoral combat ship costs about $70 million annually to operate, according to a calculation of budget data obtained by Defense News. In comparison, the cost of operating an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer — a much more mature and established design program — runs around $81 million.
www.defensenews.com
The service’s top officer said the original concept for a minimal crewing model — where as few as 32 sailors and eight officers manned the ship, and much of the maintenance burden fell to contractors — has driven up costs.
The answer? Put sailors back in charge of more maintenance, which means the Navy might need to add even more sailors to the crew.
Indeed, the additional manning might serve as yet another driver of higher operating costs, but the current numbers indicate that expenses can’t get much worse.
Today, a littoral combat ship costs about $70 million annually to operate, according to a calculation of budget data obtained by Defense News. In comparison, the cost of operating an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer — a much more mature and established design program — runs around $81 million.
High operating costs cloud the future of littoral combat ships, budget data reveals
Operating costs for the LCS are eating into Navy's accounts.
www.defensenews.com
