Rough Seas Ahead for Littoral Combat Ship.

• Author: Tadjdeh, Yasmin

As the Navy reaches major milestones in the littoral combat ship program, the future of the embattled vessel remains uncertain.

The program--which includes two variants built by Lockheed Martin and Austal USA--is one of the Navy's most controversial programs. In recent years, critics have pointed out the ship's lack of survivability in warfare and limited capabilities. Pentagon leaders have slashed planned buys and restructured the program by opting to build upgraded frigates based on an LCS hull.

However, with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, it is possible that his administration could restructure the program once again, said Ronald O'Rourke, a naval analyst for the Congressional Research Service.

"With the transition to the Trump administration, DoD leaders have an opportunity to decide whether they want to review the program again in light of the new administration's defense priorities, and if so, whether to leave the program unchanged or change it in some way," he told National Defense in an email.

This change could manifest itself in a variety of ways, he noted. The administration could change the procurement quantity or the annual procurement rate.

"The Trump administration also has the option of considering whether to pursue another idea that has been mentioned from time to time in recent years, which would be to develop a completely new frigate design and put that design into production some number of years from now," he said.

A new frigate could have a displacement of roughly 4,000 to 6,000 tons compared to about 3,000 tons for the LCS, he added.

"With various potential options for maintaining or somehow changing the LCS program, and for possibly developing and procuring a completely new frigate design, there are many potential paths," he said.

Bryan Clark, a naval analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said the Navy could start pursuing this vessel in the 2020 time-frame.

Despite an uncertain future, naval leaders said the littoral combat ship and the LCS-based frigate programs are reaching a number of major milestones at a recent industry conference hosted by the Surface Navy Association.

The sea service is preparing to release a draft request for proposals for the ship by spring, said Capt. Dan Brintzinghoffer, program manager for frigates at the littoral combat ship program executive office.

"We'll put a draft RFP on the street ... in the next two months,"...