Did the US Littoral Combat Ship program have a viable future?
Short answerIt had a sound StanFlex-like idea, but the American procurement approach made the program a dead end.
NotesThe sound concept at the heart of LCS was its mission modules, which resembled Denmark's StanFlex system. Modularity had already worked at a practical scale and through an established operating method. The United States tried to enlarge and improve the model within a peacetime acquisition structure poorly suited to it. The comparison makes LCS a procurement and requirements lesson rather than a simple verdict against modular ships.