Thread: Lockheed: We've cut cost of building littoral combat ship

Lockheed Martin: We've cut cost of building littoral combat ship

An industry group led by Lockheed Martin is building the Freedom-class littoral combat ship, a 378-foot steel monohull capable of exceeding 40 knots. — Lockheed Martin

Congress has been highly critical lately of Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, the companies leading the development of different classes of the littoral combat ship (LCS) , a new vessel that’s supposed to improve the Navy’s ability to rapidly perform different missions in the world’s shallow, near-shore waters.

The first ship in each class – Lockheed’s Freedom and General Dynamics’ Independence – are each expected to cost more than $700 million, more than twice their original price. Freedom also experienced a cracked hull and Independence has suffered from severe corrosion.

Freedom already operates out of San Diego, and Independence will start doing so late this year. Construction also is nearly finished on Ft. Worth, a Lockheed ship that also will be stationed here.

Joe North, vice president of littoral ship systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors. — Lockheed Martin

Joe North, vice president of Lockheed’s littoral combat ship program, has been visiting San Diego this week. We sat down with him to discuss the status of the program. Here are excerpts from the interview, which was edited for clarity and continuity.

Q: The recent debt ceiling deal reached by Congress will reduce the defense budget by about $350 billion over the next 10 years. An additional $500 billion might be cut. Are you concerned that Congress is going to slow the pace of LCS construction or even cancel some of the contracts?

A: Well, (it’s) always a concern when there are budget cuts going on. We think LCS is pretty much one of their top needs, at the top of their list. I think that will, hopefully, be preserved in the budget process. We just got through the competitive process for five years worth of 10 ships, and they down-selected the both of us (Lockheed and General Dynamics.) That means we will have 20 of them.

Q: If the ‘Super Congress’ doesn’t reach a deal (on the next phase of the debt ceiling) there is a potential for some real hard and fast cuts. If something like that happens, is it possible they’ll (say), “You know, we ordered these ships but we’re not sure we can pay for themâ€

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