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1 1 (January 12, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govecak0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional R searh Service ~ Inform ing the legislive debate sirce 1914 Updated January 12, 2021 Navy Future Large Surface Combatant (LSC) (DDG Next) Program: Background and Issues for Congress Introduction The Navy's Future Large Surface Combatant (LSC) program, also known as the DDG Next program, envisages procuring a class of next-generation guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) to replace the Navy's aging Ticonderoga (CG-47) class Aegis cruisers. The Navy wants to procure the first Future LSC around FY2028, although that date could change. The Navy's proposed FY2021 budget requests $46.5 million in research and development (R&D) funding for the program in one R&D line item and some additional funding for the program in another R&D line item. The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy's FY2021 funding request and emerging acquisition strategy for the program. Congress's decisions on this issue could affect future Navy capabilities and funding requirements and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base. Terminology Decades ago, the Navy's cruisers were considerably larger and more capable than its destroyers. In the years after World War II, however, the Navy's cruiser designs in general became smaller while its destroyer designs in general became larger. As a result, since the 1980s there has been substantial overlap in size and capability of Navy cruisers and destroyers. The Navy's new Zumwalt (DDG- 1000) class destroyers, in fact, are considerably larger than the Navy's cruisers. In part for this reason, the Navy now refers to its cruisers and destroyers collectively as large surface combatants (LSCs), and distinguishes these ships from the Navy's small surface combatants (SSCs), the term the Navy now uses to refer collectively to its frigates, Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs), mine warfare ships, and patrol craft. Surface Combatant Industrial Base All LSCs procured for the Navy since FY1985 have been built at General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works (GD/BIW) of Bath, ME, and Huntington Ingalls Industries/Ingalls Shipbuilding (HII/Ingalls) of Pascagoula, MS. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are major contractors for Navy surface ship combat system equipment. The surface combatant base also includes hundreds of additional component and material supplier firms. Existing CG-47 Class Aegis Cruisers The Navy procured a total of 27 Ticonderoga (CG-47) class cruisers (one of which is shown in Figure 1) between FY1978 and FY1988. The ships entered service between 1983 and 1994. They are commonly called Aegis cruisers because they are equipped with the Aegis combat system, an integrated collection of sensors and weapons named for the mythical shield that defended Zeus. The first five ships in the class, which were built to an earlier technical standard, were judged by the Navy to be too expensive to modernize and were removed from service in 2004-2005, leaving the current force of 22 ships. The Navy's FY2020 30-year shipbuilding plan projected that these 22 ships would reach the ends of their service lives and be retired between FY2021 and FY2038. Figure I. Existing CG-47 Class Aegis Cruiser USS Antietam (CG-54), commissioned in I 987 Source: Cropped version of U.S. Navy photograph. Future LSC Program Navy's General Concept for the Ship The Navy envisages the Future LSC as a ship with a new hull design and, initially, combat system equipment similar to that installed on the Flight III version of the Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class destroyer-a type of ship that the Navy is currently procuring. (For more on the DDG-51 program, see CRS Report RL32109, Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.) Navy officials have stated that they envision the Future LSC as being larger than the DDG-51 Flight III design, which has a full load displacement of about 9,700 tons, but smaller than the Navy's DDG-1000 class destroyers, which have a full load displacement of about 15,700 tons. The mid-point between those two figures is 12,700 tons, though the Future LSC could have a displacement higher or lower than that. The Navy states that the Future LSC would initially integrate nondevelopmental systems into a new hull design that incorporates platform flexibility and growth capabilities to meet projected future fleet system requirements. Initial LSCs will leverage DDG 51 Flight III combat systems as well as increased flexibility/adaptability features https://crsreports.congress.go

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