Independence-class Coastal Stealth Ships (LCS) The US Navy can be decommissioned ahead of time. Six of them were found to have structural damage.
According to Military Watch Magazine, we are talking about cracks in the hulls that arose due to design flaws. Their correction may require significant efforts either on the part of the Navy or the manufacturer. The article notes that the LCS program was problematic from the very beginning. Nevertheless, Independence's stealth ships were preferred over Freedom-class ships, which also have a lot of problems. It is assumed that all Freedom ships and part of Independence can be written off due to high operating costs and limited combat capabilities.
Military Watch Magazine writes that both variants of the coastal ship solve a narrow range of tasks, while the supposed anti-submarine capabilities have been completely canceled.
In addition, according to experts, the ships have unsatisfactory reconnaissance equipment and limited protection against anti-ship missiles, vital systems are not duplicated. One missile hit will be enough to lose combat capability and not control the operation of all systems.
Therefore, the article notes, coastal ships can be written off several decades ahead of schedule.
Svetlana Tsygankova
