Where the Littoral Combat Ship went wrong

Did the Littoral Combat Ship fail because it tried to make a cheap frigate too capable?

Yes: its pursuit of broad modularity and bespoke systems created an overcomplicated ship instead of a focused, dependable small combatant.

The Littoral Combat Ship tried to make every possible mission equally important instead of accepting a clear primary role. The programme then developed bespoke interchangeable systems rather than adopting a simpler, proven modular approach. A tool analogy compares it to a drill with many incompatible bits: the modules can be removed and inserted, but they do not work together as a dependable whole. Excessive ambition therefore turned a potentially useful small combatant into a more complicated and less reliable procurement programme.