There was once a time when I almost began the process of becoming a naval architect.
I was even hired by Electric Boat to do as-built's. Then laid off before my first day because the boat I was going to work on had been cancelled. Remember when boat four of SSN-21 was going to be named Scorpion? Ach, Scorpion is a bad luck name! Remember when it was going to be built in the early nineties?
Anyway...
I am looking at the debacle that is LCS.
I am looking at the lack of Frigate.
I am looking at the eyewatering price of DDG-1000.
Then I wonder...
Dust off the old Gearing glass plans.
Replace the foward twin 5" turrets with single 5" Mk45 Mod4's from a DDG-51. Replace the mid-ships torpedo tubes with a vertical launcher. Or put the VLS forward and one of the 5" mounts mid-ships. Keep the hanger and flight deck from the FRAM upgrades. Add some CIWS.
Nuke the steam plant and go diesel-electric (or gas-electric). Just look at all the free space in the hull now!
Upgrade the deckhouse to look all modern and geodesic, so nobody will see you just dusted off the old Gearing FRAM I plans. Add in modern amenities like air conditioning and he/she berthing.
Sensors and electronics can be pulled off the shelf, heck didn't we spend a lot on LCS stuff?
I'll bet there's even room for ASW junk too.
PS: 15k tons is NOT a destroyer! Zumwalt is a cruiser.
PPS: I've an alternate plan for the "module" idea from the LCS. The ships are designated as whatever they are at building and the modules installed then, never left blank. That way you never lose the training and tribal knowledge by swapping modules willy-nilly.
I was even hired by Electric Boat to do as-built's. Then laid off before my first day because the boat I was going to work on had been cancelled. Remember when boat four of SSN-21 was going to be named Scorpion? Ach, Scorpion is a bad luck name! Remember when it was going to be built in the early nineties?
Anyway...
I am looking at the debacle that is LCS.
I am looking at the lack of Frigate.
I am looking at the eyewatering price of DDG-1000.
Then I wonder...
Dust off the old Gearing glass plans.
Replace the foward twin 5" turrets with single 5" Mk45 Mod4's from a DDG-51. Replace the mid-ships torpedo tubes with a vertical launcher. Or put the VLS forward and one of the 5" mounts mid-ships. Keep the hanger and flight deck from the FRAM upgrades. Add some CIWS.
Nuke the steam plant and go diesel-electric (or gas-electric). Just look at all the free space in the hull now!
Upgrade the deckhouse to look all modern and geodesic, so nobody will see you just dusted off the old Gearing FRAM I plans. Add in modern amenities like air conditioning and he/she berthing.
Sensors and electronics can be pulled off the shelf, heck didn't we spend a lot on LCS stuff?
I'll bet there's even room for ASW junk too.
PS: 15k tons is NOT a destroyer! Zumwalt is a cruiser.
PPS: I've an alternate plan for the "module" idea from the LCS. The ships are designated as whatever they are at building and the modules installed then, never left blank. That way you never lose the training and tribal knowledge by swapping modules willy-nilly.