Israel Says the LCS is too much for too little
Report: Cost Prompts Israel to Reject LCS
Foreign military customers have always been one of the goals of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship program, but at least one potential operator may have already backed out. Israel had been looking at buying two littoral combat ships, according to a Jerusalem Post story, but their high cost means they’re no longer in the running. Full Story
Little wonder when the LCS is $700-million plus per unit for a ship armed only with a 57mm gun with a crew only large enough to make the front page of the paper when the craft goes down.
Comparitivly the Dutch built the De Zevern Provincien class 6050-ton FFG’s with a rather robust armarment suite for $816 million
Lets compare
LCS:
The LCS, isnt it cute, with its quaint little 57mm gun up front? But hey $700-mill a unit buys a lot of influence in Congress
- 1x BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun, 400 rounds in turret and two ready service magazines with 240 rounds each.[8]
- 4x .50-cal machine guns
- 2x Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm guns
- 21x RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Surface-to-Air Missiles
- Other weapons as part of mission modules* (under development)
Dutch De Zevern Provincien
- 5×8 Mk41 vertical launch system with 8 cells each
Standard armament: 8×4 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile and 32 SM-2 IIIAsurface-to-air missiles
Another 8 cell MK41 VLS can be added
2 GoalkeeperCIWS guns
2 quadruple Harpoonanti-ship missile launchers
1 Oto Melara127 mm/54 dual-purpose gun
2 Oerlikon Contraves20 mmmachine guns
2 twin MK32 Mod 9 torpedo launchers with RaytheonMK46 Mod 5 torpedoes
Even if you go cheaper and without a large air defense capability, look at the Danish “support frigates” of the Absalon-class. For $267-million per hull (almost 1/3rd the price of a LCS), here is what you get :
Danish Absalon:
Now thats a Littoral Combat Ship! ( i mean frigate)....
1 × 5″/62 caliber Mark 45 mod 4 gun (gotta love a 5-incher for NGFS!)
2 × Oerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun Systems CIWS
6 × 12.7 mm Heavy machine guns
MU90 Impact ASW torpedoes
VLS with up to 36 RIM-162 ESSM/RIM-7 Sea Sparrow (Mk 56/Mk 48 VLS)
3 x 2 × Stinger Point-defence SAM
8-16 × Harpoon Block II SSM
Come on!
When Israel, who always wants our stuff says, ‘no thanks’ you have to take a look at our military industrial complex.
I say buy a case of Danish’s