"Littoral" - of, relating to, or situated or growing on or near a shore especially of the sea
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Welcome to the new age of warfare. This is where we remember about how things were done in the past, and then adopt new systems of war fighting into the fleet. We have a new class of ship coming into the fleet which look as it they were designed on a George Lucas Star Wars set. We are no longer fighting the Soviets. We are fighting an aggressive enemy, not fighting for a specific county, not wearing a uniform, and not knowing any boundaries. Whether we like it or not, this is our new battleground, our new reality.
So what is this "littoral" as it relates to the Navy? According to Navy Technology.Com, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is designed to:
"Satisfy the urgent requirement for shallow draft vessels to operate in the littoral (coastal waters) to counter growing potential 'asymmetric' threats of coastal mines, quiet diesel submarines and the potential to carry explosives and terrorists on small, fast, armed boats."
In other words, this ship was designed to counter today's threats. As good as the AEGIS combat system is (and it is that good), for today's threat we needed something different. The LCS ships are nothing like the AEGIS ships. Whereas the AEGIS ships have numerous capabilities to counter numerous threats, the LCS has a very specific and narrow mission. It relies on stealth and speed rather than defensive weapons. Currently, the Navy had three of these ships in the fleet and many "first of class" problems are being discovered and fixed. Dozens more of these ships are authorized to be built, so they will be an important part of the fleet for years to come.
The Zumwalt, named after former CNO Elmo Zumwalt, is a much different ship class than the LCS with a much different mission. ADM Zumwalt was the CNO when I was a white hat in the seventies. The ship has been nomenclatured to be part of the DD-21 Class, then renamed the DD (X) Class and now it is the DDG 1000 Class. Anyway, this new ship class which had already gone through downsizing, right sizing and design changes, will be nothing like the LCS class. The only similarity will be the unique appearance. When it is launched later on this year, the Zumwalt will look like a combination of the old "ironsides" ships from the Civil War and something that came out of the death star in Star Wars. It will have 21st and maybe even 22nd century technology infused throughout the entire hull. Most of this technology is not yet mature enough for the battlefield. Once it proves out, it is designed to eventually replace the to the Burke Class AEGIS Destroyer. It will be everything the Burke Class Destroyers are and hopefully a whole lot more.
Simply put, the Zumwalt is a ship design to kick butt and take names. If it is cutting edge, the Zumwalt will have it. It will have everything from a low radar profile to an integrated power supply. The power supply will supply electricity to the ship, and lots of it. The technology will really need to catch up with the concept as the amount of power required to run the engines, the rail gun (when added) as well as the free electron lasers (when added) will be enormous. It will look bad, and if the technology can prove itself, it will be bad. It will only need a small crew to be fully manned, and the operating costs to deploy this ship are much less than current platforms.
Currently, the plan is to build three DDG -1000 destroyers and then evaluate. If these ships can do all that we hope, the size of the ship class could be increased. Since the technology is still immature and needs more development, more of an upgraded version of the Burke Class Destroyers will be built in tandem. In any event, the Navy is moving out to meet all threats, both current and future.
Pound for pound, it is hard to beat the Navy as a deterrent against most if not all threats. I am sure there are many other things going on "behind the curtain" at NAVSEA, SPAWAR and DARPA that we don't know about which are even more fascinating. Things we will need in the future to keep us safe and free. If we don't screw things up by cutting way too deep in our defense budget, the Navy will continue on for many years to protect the homeland as well be "a force for good".
"Satisfy the urgent requirement for shallow draft vessels to operate in the littoral (coastal waters) to counter growing potential 'asymmetric' threats of coastal mines, quiet diesel submarines and the potential to carry explosives and terrorists on small, fast, armed boats."
In other words, this ship was designed to counter today's threats. As good as the AEGIS combat system is (and it is that good), for today's threat we needed something different. The LCS ships are nothing like the AEGIS ships. Whereas the AEGIS ships have numerous capabilities to counter numerous threats, the LCS has a very specific and narrow mission. It relies on stealth and speed rather than defensive weapons. Currently, the Navy had three of these ships in the fleet and many "first of class" problems are being discovered and fixed. Dozens more of these ships are authorized to be built, so they will be an important part of the fleet for years to come.
The Zumwalt, named after former CNO Elmo Zumwalt, is a much different ship class than the LCS with a much different mission. ADM Zumwalt was the CNO when I was a white hat in the seventies. The ship has been nomenclatured to be part of the DD-21 Class, then renamed the DD (X) Class and now it is the DDG 1000 Class. Anyway, this new ship class which had already gone through downsizing, right sizing and design changes, will be nothing like the LCS class. The only similarity will be the unique appearance. When it is launched later on this year, the Zumwalt will look like a combination of the old "ironsides" ships from the Civil War and something that came out of the death star in Star Wars. It will have 21st and maybe even 22nd century technology infused throughout the entire hull. Most of this technology is not yet mature enough for the battlefield. Once it proves out, it is designed to eventually replace the to the Burke Class AEGIS Destroyer. It will be everything the Burke Class Destroyers are and hopefully a whole lot more.
Simply put, the Zumwalt is a ship design to kick butt and take names. If it is cutting edge, the Zumwalt will have it. It will have everything from a low radar profile to an integrated power supply. The power supply will supply electricity to the ship, and lots of it. The technology will really need to catch up with the concept as the amount of power required to run the engines, the rail gun (when added) as well as the free electron lasers (when added) will be enormous. It will look bad, and if the technology can prove itself, it will be bad. It will only need a small crew to be fully manned, and the operating costs to deploy this ship are much less than current platforms.
Currently, the plan is to build three DDG -1000 destroyers and then evaluate. If these ships can do all that we hope, the size of the ship class could be increased. Since the technology is still immature and needs more development, more of an upgraded version of the Burke Class Destroyers will be built in tandem. In any event, the Navy is moving out to meet all threats, both current and future.
Pound for pound, it is hard to beat the Navy as a deterrent against most if not all threats. I am sure there are many other things going on "behind the curtain" at NAVSEA, SPAWAR and DARPA that we don't know about which are even more fascinating. Things we will need in the future to keep us safe and free. If we don't screw things up by cutting way too deep in our defense budget, the Navy will continue on for many years to protect the homeland as well be "a force for good".
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