This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 47%. (I'm a bot)
> After years of cost overruns, underwhelming demonstrations, and debilitating mechanical failures, the Navy appears to be looking to supplement the troubled littoral combat ship program with a new ship to serve the same purpose, but better.
> The Navy posted formal requirements for a new frigate design on July 11 under the auspices of the Guided Missile Frigate Replacement Program or FFG(X).
> While the request doesn't explicitly identify the FFG(X) as a successor to the LCS, meant to replace the its Cold-War era cruisers as small surface combatants, USNI News passive aggressively described the FFG(X) project as a ship "Much like the Littoral Combat Ship that currently fills the small surface combatant role."
> From the looks of it, this RFI suggests that the Navy is finally ready to bail on the LCS for, well, a way better version of the LCS. "In many ways, this FFG(X) design goes beyond what today's LCS can do, particularly as it relates to surface warfare,"as USNI News put it.
> This new version will also utilize unmanned systems to expand "Sensor and weapon influence to provide increased information to the overall fleet tactical picture while challenging adversary ISR&T efforts," according the RFI. But why launch a new program instead of just upgrading the existing LCS fleet? According to The Drive, the "Up-gunned" Small Surface Combatant version of the LCS costs an additional $70 million and still has one major flaw: It lacks air defense capability.
> In 2010, the Navy intended to begin a 30-year procurement cycle wherein it would purchase 55 LCSs for $40 billion, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Sean Stackley estimated the average cost to buy an LCS would be between $430 and $440 million, but in fiscal year 2011, the unit cost was $1.8 billion, according to a budget analysis.
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