Image source: topwar.ru
Combat ship Coronado United States Navy built under project Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), on Wednesday made the last flight after less than nine years of service and arrived in the port of San Diego for disposal. The Independence class ship was launched in 2014 and after two months due to technical problems returned to port PostScript to Hawaii for repairs. In the future, Coronado came up several times for repairs. This is not the first event of early cancellation of littoral combat ships of this class due to recurring technical problems of different nature.
Project Littoral combat ship (LCS) is one of the most ambitious and expensive programs of the U.S. Navy. The construction of these vessels two series of Freedom and Independence, designed to perform various tasks in the coastal area, began in 2005. By 2030, it was planned that the Navy received 30 ships of this class, the total budget for the construction of the entire series was then estimated at 12 billion dollars. Coronado was the fourth ship of the series Independence.
In the first months of operation, all the court began to face various technical problems and occasionally stood in for repair. The power plant was too weak for ships of this displacement, the increase in speed over 12 knots (with the developers high of 45 knots) led to the failure of the gearbox. Some courts began to have cracks in the housing. Due to the weak armament of the ships in the series LCS sailors for the eyes called "Little Crappy Ship", which means "Little crappy ship".
The result of many faults of the regular Navy of the United States was forced to scrap the project and to refuse further purchases ships of both series.
Initially, the programme for the construction of small-sized combat class ships LCS was presented to the public and to Congress as "the perfect vehicle for the world in which the United States was the only superpower." However, according to Navy Times, then the developers did not foresee that in the future the United States will have to confront adversaries like Russia and China" that (unpredictability), frankly, doubtful. And now it became obvious that these ships are too weak and small to "survive the battle with a rival Navy."
The first two ships of this series are already on the preservation, the third - Fort Worth - getting ready for disposal, it is now the turn for the cancellation and Coronado. Officially the construction cost of the ships of this series were not disclosed, but according to the newspaper the New York Times in 2008, estimates for the production of such a vessel was approximately $ 500 million without additional equipment.
The Navy tries to quickly get rid of the problem and hopeless ships require large expenditures for maintenance and repairs, to invest in the development of new projects. While the Navy is trying to "save face" to avoid criticism for wasting money.
So the chief of naval operations Admiral Mike Gilday said the Navy is "optimistic" about the ability of LCS to provide a presence in the Western Pacific ocean during the operations for the suppression of drug in the waters near South America and the Caribbean. Of course, if you manage to get there on their own...
