Latest news with #LittoralCombatShip
Barnama
27-04-2025
- Business
- Barnama
Royal Malaysian Navy Continues To Defend Sovereignty Of Malaysia's Seas
By Noraizura Ahmad KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 (Bernama) -- The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) continues to strengthen its role as the country's main line of maritime defence through the implementation of various strategic initiatives that reflect its high commitment to the country's sovereignty and safety of its waters. Chief of Navy Admiral Datuk Zulhelmy Ithnain said that the success of the procurement of new assets - including the Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 (LMSB2), Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) - proved that the Navy was on the right track in improving combat readiness and capabilities. 'The keel laying of the LMSB2 was completed on April 8 at Istanbul Shipyard, Turkiye marking an important phase of ship construction that is estimated to be completed in mid 2026 before being handed over to the RMN at the end of 2007,' he told Bernama in conjunction with the 91st Navy Day with the theme 'TLDM Perkasa, Kedaulatan Terpelihara' today. Zulhelmy also shared that the LC1 is expected to be handed over to the Navy in Aug 2026 while the start of construction for LCS 2 and LCS 3 would be in June 2025 and January 2026 respectively. 'From the 19 FIC units approved in 2020 to support Op Benteng, 14 have been received and the rest are expected to arrive at the end of this year,' he said. Zulhelmy also said that the RMN planned to procure two Multi Role Support Ships (MRSS), three LMS Batch 3 and four Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) helicopters, all of which will be operational before 2035 under the 13th Malaysia Plan. 'These assets will not only strengthen the element of 'prevent resist' but also contribute to the Navy's combat capabilities and would be developed through partnerships between local and international shipyeards to empower the national defence industry sustainably and reduce dependency on foreign original equipment manufacturers,' he said. To ensure continuity of operations, Zulhelmy the Navy is focusing on vital infrastructure development such as the construction of the Naval Region 4 Headquarters (MAWILLA 4) in Sarawak to protect national strategic interests in Borneo waters.
New Straits Times
27-04-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Royal Malaysian Navy continues to defend sovereignty of Malaysia's seas
KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) continues to strengthen its role as the country's main line of maritime defence through the implementation of various strategic initiatives that reflect its high commitment to the country's sovereignty and safety of its waters. Chief of Navy Admiral Datuk Zulhelmy Ithnain said that the success of the procurement of new assets - including the Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 (LMSB2), Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) - proved that the Navy was on the right track in improving combat readiness and capabilities. "The keel laying of the LMSB2 was completed on April 8 at Istanbul Shipyard, Turkiye marking an important phase of ship construction that is estimated to be completed in mid 2026 before being handed over to the RMN at the end of 2007," he told Bernama in conjunction with the 91st Navy Day with the theme 'Navy strengthened, sovereignty safeguarded' today. Zulhelmy also shared that the LC1 is expected to be handed over to the Navy in August 2026 while the start of construction for LCS 2 and LCS 3 would be in June 2025 and January 2026 respectively. "From the 19 FIC units approved in 2020 to support Op Benteng, 14 have been received and the rest are expected to arrive at the end of this year," he said. Zulhelmy also said that the RMN planned to procure two Multi Role Support Ships (MRSS), three LMS Batch 3 and four Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) helicopters, all of which will be operational before 2035 under the 13th Malaysia Plan. "These assets will not only strengthen the element of 'prevent resist' but also contribute to the Navy's combat capabilities and would be developed through partnerships between local and international shipyards to empower the national defence industry sustainably and reduce dependency on foreign original equipment manufacturers," he said. To ensure continuity of operations, Zulhelmy said the Navy is focusing on vital infrastructure development such as the construction of the Naval Region 4 Headquarters (MAWILLA 4) in Sarawak to protect national strategic interests in Borneo waters. Besides defence aspects, the welfare of naval personnel is being addressed through the new Armed Forces Family Home construction project, he added. "The projects underway are at the National Hydrography Centre, the Kota Kinabalu Naval Base and the Naval Region 2 Headquarters in Sandakan. On this year's 91st Navy Day celebrations, Zulhemy said it would be in moderation but filled with interesting events, including a parade, blood drive, welfare visits and Armada Open Days at several naval bases including in Kota Kinabalu, Tanjung Gelang base in Kuantan and in Sandakan. Even though the loss of 10 naval personnel in a helicopter crash during Navy Day rehearsals last year left a deep impact, Zulhelmy said the force was still forging ahead with a more people-oriented approach. "Even though last year's incident remains fresh in mind, the celebrations will continue as a symbol of our personnel's resilience. We hope Malaysians will continue to support our efforts to defend the sovereignty of our country's waters," he said. Zulhelmy also expressed his confidence towards the implementation of the Transformation 15to5 Plan and the maritime defence policy that outlined the RMN as a modern navy, dedicated and respected in the region. – BERNAMA
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Yahoo
Navy finally finds something the LCS is good at: Stopping drug smuggling
The oft-maligned Littoral Combat Ship, or LCS, may have found its true calling: chasing down smugglers. USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, a Freedom-variant LCS, recently stopped two suspected drug smuggling operations within 72 hours 'through a combination of air and surface operations' while deployed to the Caribbean, according to the Navy. A Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment that is embarked aboard the ship and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 50, Detachment Three helped the Minneapolis-Saint Paul seize nearly 1,279 pounds of cocaine worth about $9.5 million along with 2,480 pounds of marijuana worth roughly $2.8 million, according to an April 17 Navy news release. The successful operation is one of several examples in recent years of an LCS nabbing drug smugglers. In 2020, USS Gabrielle Giffords stopped a vessel in the Eastern Pacific that was carrying $106 million worth of suspected cocaine. In 2021, USS Wichita and USS Sioux City seized $17 million and more than $20 million worth of suspected cocaine, respectively in the Caribbean Sea. Not a bad haul for Littoral Combat Ships, vessels long beset by problems, including a serious design flaw in the Freedom-variant's propulsion system, prompting the Navy to decommission some of the ships after a short lifespan. The Sioux City was mothballed in 2023 after only five years of service. The LCS's reputation was so bad four years ago that then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday suggested to lawmakers that the service give the ships to other countries that 'would be able to use them effectively.' But the LCS is 'almost perfectly made' for operations against drug smugglers, said Brian Persons, who previously served as the civilian chief engineer and executive director of Naval Sea Systems Command and later became deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems. 'Eventually, these ships, they find their place and niche in the warfighting world,' said Persons, who is currently a senior management scientist with the RAND Corporation. The Navy selected two different hull designs for Littoral Combat Ships: The Freedom- and Independence-variants. Freedom-class ships are among the smaller warships in the Navy. At 387 feet long, they are more than 100 feet shorter than an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and displace less than half of the total tonnage, 3,400 tons to a destroyer's 8,400. But Littoral Combat Ships are fast, carry embarked helicopters and are brimming with air- and surface-search radar, all of which are helpful for nabbing drug smugglers, who tend to use go-fast boats and rudimentary submersibles, Persons told Task & Purpose. The ships are also armed with missiles, though they are unlikely to use them against drug smugglers due to the costs of the munitions, he said. Of all the Navy's warships, the LCS is probably the best choice for counternarcotics missions, said Persons, who explained that destroyers and cruisers are expensive ships that are designed for 'high-end' combat, such as ballistic missile defense. Also, drug smugglers tend to focus on speed in hopes of eluding detection rather than fighting back against pursuers, unlike military forces in China and Russia, which have advanced anti-ship weapons, Persons said. 'It would be extremely overkill for a destroyer or cruiser to go do counternarcotics missions,' Persons said. 'They could do it, but the Littoral Combat Ship system would be a better employment of assets for the U.S. Navy. While drug cartels currently do not pose a serious threat to U.S. Navy ships, that may not remain true forever, said James Holmes, the J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. 'If the Russia-Ukraine war and the operation in the Red Sea have shown anything, it's that naval warfare has been 'democratized,'' Holmes told Task & Purpose. 'Capabilities once available only to great powers are becoming available to many contenders.' Ukraine has managed to inflict losses on Russian ships using shore-launched missiles and drones, even though it does not have a significant navy itself, Holmes said. And Houithi rebels in Yemen have used missiles and drones to challenge Western navies, even though they have not hit any warships so far. 'Now, I doubt drug cartels will ever field antiship cruise or ballistic missiles, but they could well deploy cheap surface, air, or even subsurface drones against littoral combat ships,' Holmes said. 'LCS has been doing pretty well now that it has found its niche, but these are very lightly armored warships. The trimaran variant, the Independence class, even has an all-aluminum hull and a legacy of hull cracking. These are not rugged ships. So, I hope we aren't getting complacent during drug interdiction operations.' Top enlisted leader of Air Force Special Operations Command fired amid investigation The Marine in one of the most famous recruiting commercials is now in Congress 75th Ranger Regiment wins 2025 Best Ranger Competition Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer reenlists in Marine Reserve Air Force pilots get a new way to pee at 30,000 feet
Asia Times
01-04-2025
- Business
- Asia Times
US Navy's latest frigate drifting into familiar troubled waters
The US Navy's newest frigate program is sailing straight into the same storm that sank its last two major shipbuilding efforts: rising costs, design chaos and shrinking credibility. Last month, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that despite repeated assurances of lessons learned from the troubled Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and Zumwalt-class (DDG 1000) destroyer programs, the US Navy's Constellation-class frigate (FFG 62) is repeating the same acquisition missteps. In all three cases, the US Navy committed to ship construction before achieving stable designs, resulting in cascading delays, soaring costs and diminished capabilities, according to the GAO's latest findings. Like the LCS, the Constellation-class frigate began construction with an overstated design completion date, later revealed to be only 70%, not 88%. This led to a three-year delay for the lead ship and a US$3.4 billion commitment to incomplete designs. Like DDG 1000, where immature technologies and unstable requirements inflated unit costs sevenfold, the frigate now faces technical risks from unproven propulsion and machinery control systems. Further, the frigate's modifications have eroded its advertised commonality with the Italian parent design, undermining the program's original risk-reduction rationale and prompting it to sacrifice speed in compensation for weight growth — a trend that parallels the LCS and Zumwalt's ultimate delivery of less than promised. The GAO stresses that history will continue to repeat itself until the US Navy abandons its flawed acquisition playbook and adopts leading commercial ship design practices, such as completing functional designs before construction, which jeopardizes the fleet's readiness and credibility. The Constellation class was envisioned as a general-purpose naval combatant, akin to the 1970s Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates. A December 2024 US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report notes that the class intentionally avoids introducing new, unproven technologies and relies instead on systems already deployed across the US Navy to reduce costs. The CRS report mentions the Aegis Combat System and Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar as pre-existing systems to be used in the Constellation class, distinguishing it from the LCS, which struggled with immature systems, such as its propulsion system and multi-mission modules. Emphasizing the need to replace the LCS, Andrew Latham argues in a February 2025 article for 1945 that even with missile upgrades, the type would be little more than a liability in a possible Pacific conflict due to a weak hull, a lack of long-range weapons, and limited endurance to contribute in a fight against China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) blue-water fleet consisting of frigates, destroyers and cruisers. However, a May 2024 GAO report notes that the Constellation-class frigate's design has experienced unplanned weight growth exceeding 10% of the initial estimates due to incomplete design information and underestimations when adapting the foreign parent design to US Navy requirements. The report mentions that growth has raised concerns about the frigate's ability to meet its speed requirements, leading the US Navy to consider reducing the ship's speed as a potential solution. However, in a November 2024 article for 1945, Robert Farley notes that extra weight could make it difficult for the Constellation class to keep pace with US carriers and destroyers, and may also complicate future upgrades. A CRS report from last month describes the operational roles of the Constellation-class frigates. The ships are designed as multi-mission platforms capable of anti-air, anti-surface, antisubmarine and electromagnetic warfare, enabling them to operate independently or as integral units within carrier strike groups, surface action groups (SAG) or allied naval formations. The report states that the US Navy plans to conduct an iterative procurement of at least 20 ships, with additional ships anticipated under the long-range shipbuilding plan. Once production stabilizes, the phased delivery of these frigates will incrementally provide operational commanders with adaptable assets for both blue-water and littoral missions. However, US shipbuilding capabilities are insufficient for the Constellation-class program's requirements. A January 2025 US CRS report explicitly links design instability and delays with operational-level uncertainty for fleet planning. It highlights that the FFG-62 lead ship is now facing an approximate 36-month delay, more than double the initial delay reported, due to design workforce limitations and incomplete design work before construction. The report notes that this is part of a broader pattern across multiple shipbuilding programs, creating what it refers to as an 'extraordinary situation' unseen since World War II. According to the report, these delays and the US Navy's inability to meet projected procurement rates undermine the access of combatant commanders to expected assets and complicate force generation planning. Despite these challenges, the US Navy's persistence in pursuing the Constellation class underscores the need to reconstitute its surface force to counter China's growing naval presence and power in the Pacific. Underscoring this point, the US Department of Defense's (DOD) 2024 China Military Power Report states that the PLAN is the world's largest navy, comprising 370 ships and submarines, including more than 140 major surface combatants. In contrast to the Constellation class, which is still under construction, Eric Wertheim mentions in a Proceedings article from last month that China has commissioned the Luohe, the first Jiangkai III-class (Type 054B) frigate, signifying a notable advancement in the PLAN's capabilities. Wertheim notes that the frigate, built at Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai, boasts enhanced stealth, firepower and technology compared to its predecessor, the Jiangkai II class. He says that the Type 054B, equipped with a 32-cell vertical-launch system (VLS), advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, and expanded antisubmarine warfare capabilities, positions China for diversified naval operations. He notes that the Luohe has been assigned to the PLAN North Sea Fleet while additional ships are in production, underscoring a strategic emphasis on modernizing China's naval forces. In contrast, the Constellation class may risk becoming a symbol of US shipbuilding dysfunction and decline. Alistair MacDonald mentions in a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article last month that the US Navy faces a critical challenge in shipbuilding as delays and cost overruns persist, undermining its strategic position amid intensifying global competition. To underscore the point, MacDonald says that the Constellation-class frigate, the first of a new frigate class intended to address fleet deficiencies, remains years behind schedule and over budget despite efforts to accelerate production by adopting a proven Italian design. He says that while US allies favor purchasing advanced American fighter jets and missile systems, American warships struggle to compete internationally due to high expenses and outdated infrastructure. MacDonald emphasizes that with China producing naval vessels at a superior pace and cost efficiency, the US must confront systemic inefficiencies in shipbuilding to restore naval dominance.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What's wrong with US shipbuilding? A top Trump advisor called it an 'absolute mess' as Musk's DOGE eyes military waste
President Trump has directed Elon Musk's DOGE to investigate wasteful Pentagon spending. White House NSA advisor Mike Waltz called US shipbuilding as "an absolute mess." Problems like ballooning costs, delays, and a hollowed industrial base are impacting shipbuilding. President Donald Trump has given Elon Musk's DOGE a new target — the Department of Defense. The White House expects it to find billions of dollars in waste, including in what his national security adviser called the "absolute mess" in US shipbuilding. This opens the door to DOGE cost-cutters trying to fire their way to efficiency in the federal bureaucracy that oversees shipbuilding, one part of the system struggling to design, buy, and build American warships. The largest problem driving the ship delays and soaring costs, per naval analysts, is one not easily solved: The decline of the US shipbuilding industry and the shrinking of its workforce. This weekend, President Donald Trump said he expected Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to "find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse" in the Pentagon. The Department of Defense's budget is over $800 billion, and it failed its seventh consecutive audit last year, meaning there's a lot of funding unaccounted for. The aim is to change that. "We need to know when we spend dollars," Trump's secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, said Sunday in an interview with Fox News. "We need to know where they're going and why. That's simple accounting, and that has not existed at the Defense Department." White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, a retired Army colonel, specifically pointed to US military shipbuilding programs as a point of interest. On Sunday, Waltz said on NBC's Meet the Press there was "plenty to look into in shipbuilding, which is an absolute mess, to look into contracting, into procurement." He also expressed concern about the process, which pays shipbuilders to begin working before designs are finished. "You pay people right up front and then they don't deliver for years and years and years," and "maintenance and costs overrun," he said. The US Navy is the most powerful and most advanced naval force in the world today, but the Big Navy programs and industrial base that this force depends are struggling. There has been a string of broken programs, such as the Littoral Combat Ship, some of which are now being decommissioned decades before their time, and the Zumwalt-class destroyers, the mission and armaments for which were a question mark for years. Each of the destroyers costs around $8 billion. The new USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier's development was hamstrung by changing requirements and the integration of dozens of new technologies. It was delivered years behind schedule to the tune of roughly $13 billion. And even now, major programs are facing tremendous delays. Last year, a Navy review found that top military shipbuilding projects, new submarines and surface ships, are delayed by years and facing rising costs. That includes Block IV Virginia-class attack submarines, Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, the Constellation-class guided missile frigate, and the next Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. The delays range, but most are a full year or two behind schedule. The design and construction of these warships are overseen by Naval Sea Systems Command, which has a workforce of over 75,000 civilian and military personnel. Lawmakers, officials, government watchdogs, and experts have called attention to American shipbuilding woes, including weakened domestic industrial capacity, budget and schedule issues, and last-minute design changes. Other challenges include the lingering effects of COVID-19, inflation, supply chain breakdowns, and a dwindling workforce. US Navy officials, analysts, and industry experts have said inconsistent defense budgets, shifting Navy requirements and cost estimates, and reduced domestic capacity have been hollowing out the Navy's shipbuilding capabilities for decades. The industrial base has shrunk, and the Navy is reliant on a few shipbuilders for design and construction. This same issue constrains maintenance and repair. Domestic capacity is limited, and international yards aren't an option due to current prohibitions. Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, wrote last year that the Navy needs to break what she called the "doom loop." Shipbuilding, maintenance, and repair costs continue to rise as the fleet ages and shrinks. New construction issues arise in the process. And while the Navy criticizes shipbuilders, shipbuilders are lamenting the rising costs of wages, inflationary pressures, and budget uncertainty. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that under the Navy's 2025 shipbuilding plan, total costs would average $40 billion per year in 2024 for the next 30 years, about 17% more than the Navy estimates. That comes as the Navy prioritizes building a larger fleet with more distributed firepower. The goal is 390 total battleforce ships by 2054. The CBO said that the Navy's plan would put a strain on the US industrial base, meaning "over the next 30 years, the nation's shipyards would need to produce substantially more naval tonnage than they have produced over the past 10 years. The rate of production of nuclear-powered submarines, in particular, would need to increase significantly." America's top rival, China, is the world's leading shipbuilder. It has been building up its navy by leveraging commercial and military shipyards. Unclassified US Navy data indicates China has 230 times the US shipbuilding capacity. Seapower is a critical element of national power. In a potential war with the US, China could have the advantage in combat repair and replacement. The US Navy can't catch up in quantity, but it has options. It is looking into better sustaining its ships and subs, extending the lives of certain assets, fixing maintenance backlogs, and prioritizing autonomous systems. Whether DOGE ultimately targets shipbuilding when it starts looking into the Pentagon remains to be seen. There's a lot of waste in the department and bipartisan concerns about that. The DOGE is acting like an internal consultancy, triggering controversies and alarm as it sweeps through government agencies. Its head, Elon Musk, sought to shut down USAID and tried to access Treasury's tightly controlled payment systems. A review of Pentagon programs could trigger concerns about the security of defense systems and who, exactly, is digging into the department's plans and projects. Read the original article on Business Insider
