OK people, buying foreign ship design won't do anything that solve the problems that occure with the LCS, and may infact have worse problems. Foreign ships
are design to meet the requirement of they countries, using naval standards of those country. Those standards can be quit different that those of the USN,
especially the new NVR (Naval Vessel Rule) that has created so much of the cost over run of the LCS. This would require the USN to completely redesign these
vessels to meet the NVR, a process that is more expensive that the simple clean paper design of the LCS. For those who do not believe this, I suggest you read
about the US Army attempt to produce the German Roland AA missile in the US, the design changes were so great that the missile ended up costing ten times as
much as the German made units.
The real solution to the LCS problem is patience, not over reacting to the problems that have come about because Rumsfeld's Pentagon had demanded the shipbuilder to do too much, too quickly, without having any real guild lines to work from. Of course this resulted in the hugh cost over runs we seen with the LCS, but they are not the major problems most of the people complaining think. Once the design and testing process is completed, and series production begins, the unit cost will drop, especially if the rate of product remains at the high level orginally projected.
The real solution to the LCS problem is patience, not over reacting to the problems that have come about because Rumsfeld's Pentagon had demanded the shipbuilder to do too much, too quickly, without having any real guild lines to work from. Of course this resulted in the hugh cost over runs we seen with the LCS, but they are not the major problems most of the people complaining think. Once the design and testing process is completed, and series production begins, the unit cost will drop, especially if the rate of product remains at the high level orginally projected.
Building them in the UK would also save a pile of cash too.
