Gizmodo
Last month, the US Navy and General Dynamics took the lid off the new U.S.S. Independence littoral combat ship (LCS). This beast will sail close to the shore and throw everything imaginable at an enemy—from armored vehicles and helicopters to shells, torpedoes and missiles. Plus, it can hustle at a rumored 60 knots. Basically, that means the enemy will have a difficult time escaping the wrath of this mighty vessel no matter where they are.
Hell, you could be sitting in a Port-a-Potty in the middle of the desert and this thing would probably drop out of the sky hurling torpedoes up the toilet. And the best part is that the price tag tops out at only $208 million, which is fairly frugal for the US government. That's why the Navy plans on building 55 of them in the near future. [instapinch via DVICE]
Comments
All that stuff and they couldn't fit in one vertical launch tube. Adding standoff cruise missile capability seems like it would be par for the course in this beast's mission profile. Take out enemy radar/artillery installations with cruise missiles as you get your land troops close to the shore and assault. Maybe they assume it will be part of a larger strike force?
This thing could kill the S#&T out of you!!
Faslane
ah i see our debt is at a low 9.3 trillion. let's buy a couple of hundred of these and go to war with another country pushing the debt to over 10 trillion. hey, why not?
Holy frak, that's an awesomely scary piece of machinery!
Yes but we would most likely win... and be the only people left on the planet.
Looks like something I'd have made out of Legos, back in the day: lots of angles and HEAVY.
200 mill for that baby? Can I get payments on that? I've got some neighborhood kids pissing me off.
Yarp. That boat's scary alright.
Tell ya what, though. Why don't we take only 20, rather than the planned 55, and spend the rest of repaving the goddamned 5 freeway through LA.
That. Is. Hot!
People will surrender just to make it sail away, ugly ass boat.
If there is one thing i don't mind having my 30+% tax being taken out of my paycheck for it is cool military shit.
I like it...
If we dont build it, we will all speak chinese.
[www.nytimes.com]
Funny...this thing was just mentioned in the above story from a week ago about how NOT to build a military ship.
@s0crates82: no shit!!!! That Rules, I'm in SD, but been on the 405, and a bunch of others up there many times, terrible!!!!
Faslane
more like clitoral combat ship.
Sorry, too easy.
This ship......in space!
Cool! My dad served on the USS Independence (CVL-22). It got atom-bombed twice. And O'hare (as in Chicago O'hare) was on board for a while, too.
You can see all the good photos at
[www.cvl-22.com]
Time to buy some General Dynamic stock.
"Run by Informix"...blahahaha splat.
I wonder how many educational books that ship could buy. Or renewable energy advancement or medical research or infrastructure development/repair or... Oh, nevermind. Just bomb something already.
@Fuzzysmith:
wasn't that referring to a different ship?
We have posters of those ships all around the office because we were involved in the designing of them.
Feels good to see concept images put out to sea.
@Fuzzysmith: The times article is about Lockheeds failure to convert a mini cruise ship into a Navy Ship. This boat is actually designed from the ground up to be a Navy Ship.
@TheGeektoriousBIG: Just logging in to pick some up...
It protects your life to be able to read the books. Simple. Ask the Tibetans.
@Atlantys: That's a security breach right there. :: scoffs ::
Oh my god. It looks like Die Another Day got it right. Look out for mysterious stealth ships that cause global panic and disruption.
P.S. Where's the Fox News logo?
"remember men, we're stationed in ITCHY Hull"
The FU-Boat.
"The report details such projects as the Navy's $5.2 billion Littoral Combat Ship, which has had such extensive troubles that the service expects the cost of its first two ships to exceed their combined budget of $472 million by more than 100 percent. The Navy canceled construction of the planned third and fourth ships by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, the prime contractors on the project."
I think I know what they're doing with the old ships.
+ Watch video
@Kaiser-Machead: OH MAN! Perfect.
Imagine sailing this thing towards the enemy with FU-2 or FU-4 on the side.
@shamoononon:
Because this poster hanging by my desk [www.globalsecurity.org]
is clearly a security breach
Well, that will be useful in the fight against Al Qaeda. As I always say, when fighting radical terrorists in the desert sands, you need a good....navy?
*sigh* How many educational textbooks, indeed.
Ok first of all 60 knots is about 70 mph and thats nuts. Its amazing what these new hulls can accomplish. And by comparison an F/A 22 Rapter costs about $125 million and a B2 bomber costs about $2 billion. Dang this is quite a bargin.
I don't think the $208 Million price-tag is the actual cost. That may be the cost minus development overruns. But this whole project has been famous in its mismanagement.
...Silly looking ship. Feeble attempt by an obsolete Navy Dept. to remain relevant. We really need to unhitch our economy from this run-away Military Industrial Complex.
(Former FC2, Honorable Discharge - 1999)
I bet that 60kts is a lowball.
Rock on Navy. Rock on.
@Marcelo: It's called "projection of power". Al Quaeda isn't the only team in town.
Wow... battleships have been getting uglier and uglier, and less menacing over the years...
...kinda sad almost.
(Former CW3, Honorable Discharge 2004)
Yeah but what happens when someone pulls a TNT ladden speed boat up next to it?
That awesome piece of metal looks like it's about to take off and kill some alien terrorists.
pfffft,
without a Yamato-class Wave Motion Gun, this ship will never be the savior of mankind.
@Fuzzysmith: You beat me to it. That NYT article was the first thing that came to mind when I saw that picture and read the headline.
@MrBlahBlah: While the other ship (Freedom) is featured in the NYT article, the article is equally critical of the General Dynamics design. "Even though General Dynamics had more time to digest the Navy's design changes before starting construction, its ship [the Independence] ran into many of the same problems and delays as Lockheed's. The price tag also more than doubled."
@Epaminondas: The speedboat gets blown up and the destroyer laughs. The haul is made to deflect shaped charges.
Where can I put a down payment? I've been meaning to get a new yacht.
Sounds like these Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) have been built for Figurative Usage (FU).
@roomwithaview: The criticisms, however, were more about the financial and acquisition aspects, rather than its technical capabilities.
lol taxpayers money at work.nough said.
For those who do not work in Navy acquisitions, this ship is basically fucked up beyond belief.
It is grossly overweight. Mission-critical components are going to have to be left off of this ship for it to perform anything like advertised.
Secondly, its so far over budget that supposedly it will be killed if McCain wins (apparently he has said this). All the Naval officers I work with daily mention this all the time.
I work with some of the systems that will be put onto this ship in mission modules and basically we are testing something for a ship that probably won't even exist.
Naval acquisitions are pretty fucked up, boys and girls.