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LCS Manning Report
LCS Manning Report
LCS Manning Report
August 1, 2013
The Honorable C. W. Bill Young Chairman, Subcommittee on Defense Committee on Appropriations House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515-6018 Dear Mr. Chairman: The enclosed report regarding manning of the Littoral Combat Ship is submitted to the congressional defense committees as required by the committee report accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 2013 (Report 112-493 on H.R. 5856). A similar letter has been sent to Chairmen McKeon, Durbin, and Levin. If I can be of further assistance, please let me know. Sincerely,
Enclosure: as stated Copy to: The Honorable Peter J. Visclosky Ranking Member
August 1, 2013
The Honorable Howard P. McKeon Chairman, Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515-6035 Dear Mr. Chairman: The enclosed report regarding manning of the Littoral Combat Ship is submitted to the congressional defense committees as required by the committee report accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 2013 (Report 112-493 on H.R. 5856). A similar letter has been sent to Chairmen Levin, Durbin, and Young. If I can be of further assistance, please let me know. Sincerely,
Enclosure: as stated Copy to: The Honorable Adam Smith Ranking Member
August 1, 2013
The Honorable Richard J. Durbin Chairman, Subcommittee on Defense Committee on Appropriations United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Mr. Chairman: The enclosed report regarding manning of the Littoral Combat Ship is submitted to the congressional defense committees as required by the committee report accompanying the Department ofDefense Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 2013 (Report 112-493 on H.R. 5856). A similar letter has been sent to Chairmen McKeon, Levin, and Young. If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
Enclosure: as stated Copy to: The Honorable Thad Cochran Vice Chairman
August 1, 2013
The Honorable Carl Levin Chairman, Committee on Armed Services United States Senate Washington, DC 20510-6050 Dear Mr. Chairman: The enclosed report regarding manning of the Littoral Combat Ship is submitted to the congressional defense committees as required by the committee report accompanying the Department ofDefense Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 2013 (Report 112-493 on H.R. 5856). A similar letter has been sent to Chairmen McKeon, Durbin, and Young. If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
Enclosure: as stated Copy to: The Honorable James M. Inhofe Ranking Member
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REPORT TO CONGRESS
July 2013
Prepared by: OPNAV- SURFACE WARFARE 2000 Navy Pentagon Washington, DC 20350
To date, preparation of the report/study cost the Department of Defense a total of approximately $3601.00 for the 2013 Fiscal Year. This includes $0 in expenses and $3601.00 in DoD labor. Generated on 2013APR05. ReflD: 47F8BB29
Table of Contents
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Requirement Background Future Manning Plans Additional Crew Member Accommodations Training Opportunities for Junior Crew Members Projected Timeline for Proposed Manning Changes Projected Cost of Ship Modifications to Accommodate Additional Crew Members Conclusion 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 5
1. Requirement
The committee report accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2013 (Report 112-493 on H.R. 5658), on page 28, includes the following language: The Committee directs the Secretary of the Navy to submit a report to the congressional defense committees not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act on future manning plans for the LCS. The report should include the Navy's plan for future manning requirements, including how additional crewmembers will be accommodated based on the outcome of the aforementioned pilot program, how training opportunities for junior crew members will be provided, a projected timeline for proposed manning changes, and a projected cost of ship modifications to accommodate additional crew members.
2. Background
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a key element of the Navy's future force and is optimized to assure access in the littorals by using an open architecture design, modular weapons, sensor systems, and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to gain, sustain, and exploit maritime supremacy. One of the key performance factors established in the vision for LCS was to reduce life cycle costs. The Navy wanted LCS to employ minimal manning concepts in the core crew and mission module detachments to the maximum extent possible. The Preliminary Design Interim Requirements Document dated February 10, 2003, set the manning targets for the LCS core crew at 15 (objective) and 50 (threshold). In 2003, based on this requirement and through a Human Systems Integration analysis, the Navy determined that a core crew of 40 could conduct all functions necessary to maintain a combat ready Littoral Combat Ship. Further, the Navy determined that 75 berthing spaces would be available on the ship to support a core crew of 40 members, an embarked aviation detachment with 20 members, and a mission module detachment with 15 crew members, for a total LCS complement of 75 Sailors. This aggressive manning target was intended to incentivize industry design teams to use automation, which would allow the Navy to minimize crew size and manpower overhead and reduce LCS lifecycle costs. The emphasis on small crew size was influenced by Navy's desire to pursue a "multi-crew, forward stationed" deployment model for LCS.
2
In 2004, follow-on functional workload analysis found that a core crew size of 40 would be insufficient to perform all functions required to sustain operations, and that core crew size should be increased. Further, in 2012, a Navy Resources, Requirements and Review Board, added the requirement for the ship to carry one MH-60 and up to three Vertical Take-off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles at all times. This requirement, approved by the LCS Oversight Council, increased the size of the aviation detachment to 23 in order to meet maintenance and operational support requirements of the aircraft. This decision prompted the LCS Program's Configuration Change Board to add three additional berthing spaces to LCS 1 and 2 in postdelivery availabilities which increased the total berths available to78. Again, Navy planners knew these manning targets were aggressive and might need to be adjusted based on experience with operating the Flight 0 ships.
deployment. The Navy expects to complete this evaluation in FY14 and incorporate any proposed manning changes beginning in FY15.
8. Conclusion
Based on current analysis and lessons learned from FREEDOM's deployment, LCS will be configured to support up to 98 total personnel, to include core crew, Mission Package detachment, and aviation detachment. Projected costs to modify ships to accommodate this manning level are $600,000 for LCS 3 and $700,000 for LCS 4. Projected design and engineering costs for future ships are estimated at $6 million for both LCS variants. The costs to modified follow on ships will be addressed in future budgets. Manpower and workload analyses of FREEDOM's eight-month deployment to the Western Pacific will continue through her deployment. Finally, Navy Manpower Analysis Center will conduct a study aboard FREEDOM in early 2014 to support the development of the LCS Ship's Manpower Document (SMD) which will further codify manpower requirements and policies and validate crew size, crew rotation construct, and associated shore manpower required to operate and support the LCS class.