[Onkel Neal]

The littoral combat ship Coronado, only six years in service, is on the chopping block to be decommissioned, the U.S. Navy announced. (U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON – The cost of upgrading and repairing the first four littoral combat ships is too high and it’s better just to decommission them, the U.S. Navy’s budget director said during the service’s budget roll-out.

Following a string of engineering casualties, mishaps at seas and leadership problems, a 2016 reorganization of the littoral combat ship program designated the first four ships – Freedom, Independence, Fort Worth and Coronado – test vessels to be used to figure out how to fix the LCS fleet.

The hulls have accrued between six and 12 years of service but their usefulness as test vessels is waning and they’re no longer worth a deeper financial investment, according to Rear Adm. Randy Crites, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget.

“Those four test ships were instrumental to wringing out the crewing, the maintenance and all the other things we needed to learn from them,” Crites told reporters during the Feb. 10 budget roll out. “But they’re not configured like the other LCS in the fleet, and they need significant upgrades. Everything from combat [systems], to structural, you name it. They’re expensive to upgrade.”

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/20...-us-navy-says/

Is it me or does this seem like an awfully expensive waste of resources?