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from the may-return-home-under-its-own-power-one-day dept.
El Reg reports:
The US Navy's most advanced ship yet, the $4.4bn stealth destroyer USS Zumwalt, has had to be ignominiously towed through the Panama Canal after its engines failed yet again.
While cruising down the intercontinental waterway, the crew spotted water leaking from two of the four bearings that link the destroyer's advanced electric engines to its propeller drive shafts. Both engines locked up shortly afterwards, and the ship hit the side of the canal, causing some cosmetic damage.
[...] Repairs are expected to take at least ten days and may mean the ship doesn't get into its home port until next year.
This is the latest in a long litany of failures for the USS Zumwalt that have raised questions over the efficacy of the new class of ships. Originally the US planned a fleet of 32 of the advanced destroyers, but the eye-watering cost of the craft has since seen that cut to just three vessels.
[...] It's natural to get teething problems with a new design, particularly something as revolutionary as the USS Zumwalt. But the Navy has already decided to revert to an older class of destroyer for its fleet upgrade. It seems someone on the general staff actually read Arthur C Clarke's warning tale Superiority .
Previously: USS Zumwalt Breaks Down During Sea Trials
[Ed note. Superiority, linked above, is a science fiction classic; well worth reading.]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday November 28 2016, @01:01PM
You stopped reading right there - that is YOUR failure. And, obviously, you stopped thinking as well.
Like a lot of other people, you seem to believe that the ONLY way to do business, is the current, corrupt system that we have.
In what other industry does the paying customer pay for R&D, development, experimentation, both successes and failures, and guarantee a cost-plus profit? And, what do we get for this? One boondoggle after another. Seemingly, each generation of military industrial complex management becomes less and less connected with reality. We have a POS gen-five aircraft being pushed to the fleet, which can already be challenged by Russia and China. Air superiority my ass.
The ships - what is wrong with the idea of building a few SMALLER ships to test the design, rather than committing to a damned CRUISER?!?! (again, I remind you that the Zumwalt is a "destroyer" in name only) They could have built 3 or 4 corvettes for a fraction of the cost of the Zumwalt. Or, two frigates. Or, even a couple of real DESTROYERS. (I also remind you that I was a destroyer man - I know a destroyer when I see a destroyer)
It may or may not cost billions to research quality weapons platforms and the weapon systems - but you seem to have missed the "piss away" part of "piss away billions of dollars". We paid for better than state-of-the-art weapon systems, and what we got was shit.
Every military contractor should be held to account. If/when they FAIL to deliver what they promise, then they DON'T GET PAID!!! We've had more than enough of this cost overrun being covered by the taxpayer. That is pure idiocy. It amounts to giving your CEO's multi-million dollar bonuses when they FAIL to produce. Idiocy.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 28 2016, @09:12PM
In what other industry does the paying customer pay for R&D, development, experimentation, both successes and failures, and guarantee a cost-plus profit?
Law firms. I think it goes a long ways to explaining why legal action is such a money sink.