Pentagon admits: Navy's newest warship can't survive combat
http://rt.com/usa/news/combat-ship-navy-freedom-163/
USS Freedom (Reuters/U.S. Navy/Lockheed-Martin)
Pentagon admits: Navy's newest warship can't survive combat
Published: 17 January, 2013, 01:49
The Navy is sending one if its newest combat ships overseas,
even though the Pentagon knows the ship's guns dont properly function and is unsure whether the ship can even survive combat.
The USS Freedom, one of the newest class of Littoral Combat Ships, has long been unable to pass inspections. The ship, which was commissioned in 2008, was designed to fight massive enemy fleets and is said to be one of the fastest ships in the Navy. The USS Freedom cost the US government $670.4 million but the expensive vessel has failed many of its inspections.
In May 2012, the Navy inspection report disclosed that the ship had failed 14 of 28 inspection tests, including an assessment of its fire-fighting systems, communications, electrical systems and forward propulsion. But even eight months later, the ship continues to have its problems.
J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Departments director of operational test and evaluation, revealed his concerns in an annual study released by Congress on Tuesday.
Gilmore believes the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is still not expected to be survivable in combat. He first expressed his concerns in 2011 when he predicted the ship would not survive in a hostile combat environment.