Navy Strike Team Works to Make Littoral Combat Ships More Self-Sufficient

The Navy wants to make the crews on its littoral combat ships more self-sufficient and more readily available for taskings by fleet commanders. 

One LCS strike team is currently working to address class design issues, increase the availability of spare parts and increase accountability for ships' post-shakedown availabilities, USNI News reported Wednesday. 

The strike team is led by Program Executive Officer for Unmanned and Small Combatants Rear Adm. Casey Moton, a past Potomac Officers Club event speaker.

“The bottom line is that the availability of the ships to the fleet commanders has not been what it needs to be, and we’ve had reliability issues in areas such as propulsion, cranes, radars and some other areas," Moton said. 

Moton said his strike team is a cross-functional mix of shipbuilders and sustainers urgently working to solve specific problems. 

The strike team is accounting for the lessons learned during the LCS program's previous deployments, Moton said. The LCS program has had eight major deployments since its first mission in 2013.

Moton said his team is exploring how to more quickly send over original equipment manufacturers for repairs when needed, in addition to improving the crew's self-sufficiency. He added that the strike team's work is indefinite and will continue as new issues arise.

Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, commander of Naval Surface Forces, said Moton's project is aimed at making littoral combat ships more reliable and maintainable. 

“These efforts drive toward increased ship reliability and more operational days across the entire class,” Kitchener said during the annual Surface Navy Associations symposium.