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U.S. NEWS Friday 8 april 2022
U.S. Navy intends to decommission some of its newest warships

By DAVID SHARP troubles from the start, and
Associated Press that “moving forward the
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Navy must avoid similar ac-
The Navy that once want- quisition disasters.”
ed smaller, speedy war- U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-
ships to chase down pirates Virginia, was more blunt,
has made a speedy pivot tweeting that it “sucks” to
to Russia and China — and be decommissioning so
many of those recently built many ships, especially new-
ships could be retired. er ones. “The Navy owes a
The U.S. Navy wants to de- public apology to Ameri-
commission nine ships in can taxpayers for wasting
the Freedom-class of littoral tens of billions of dollars on
combat ships — warships ships they now say serve no
that cost about $4.5 billion purpose,” she said.
altogether to build. Some detractors pro-
The Navy contends in its claimed littoral combat
budget proposal that the ships to be the Navy’s “Lit-
move would free up $50 tle Crappy Ship,” but that’s
million per ship annually for not fair, said defense ana-
other priorities. But it would lyst Loren Thompson.
also reduce the size of the “It’s not a little crappy
fleet that’s already sur- The USS Detroit, a Freedom-class of littoral combat ship, arrives Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, in Detroit. ship. It does what it was
passed by China in sheer Associated Press supposed to do. What it
numbers, something that was supposed to do isn’t
could cause members of and a pair of Los Angeles- 50 mph (80 kph) — fast bines for an extra burst of enough for the kind of
Congress to balk. class submarines, as part of enough to chase down pi- speed turned the ships into threats that we face to-
Adm. Mike Gilday, chief its cost-cutting needed to rates — and utilized steer- gas guzzlers, analysts said. day,” said Thompson, from
of naval operations, de- maintain the existing fleet able waterjets instead of Early versions also were crit- the Lexington Institute.
fended the proposal that and build modern warships. conventional propellers. icized as too lightly armed In the Navy’s defense,
emphasizes long-range Those cuts surpass the pro- The ships were supposed to and armored to survive threats shifted swiftly from
weapons and modern war- posed nine ships to be built. be made versatile through combat. The speedy Free- the Cold War to the war
ships, while shedding other Most of them are older ves- plug-and-play mission dom-class ships proposed on terror to the current
ships ill equipped to face sels. However, the littoral modules for surface com- for decommissioning fea- Great Power Competition
current threats. “We need combat ships that are tar- bat, mine-sweeping op- ture a traditional steel hull. in which Russia and China
a ready, capable, lethal geted are young. The old- erations or anti-submarine That entire class of ships are asserting themselves,
force more than we need est of them is 10 years old. warfare. But those mission suffers from a propulsion he said.
a bigger force that’s less The Navy envisioned fast, modules were beset by defect that will be costly In the end, the Navy may
ready, less lethal, and less highly maneuverable war- problems, and the anti-sub- repair. The Navy proposes be content with smaller
capable,” he said Mon- ships capable of operat- marine capability was can- keeping a second variant, numbers of Freedom-class
day at the Navy League’s ing in near-shore, littoral celed in the new budget. the aluminum Indepen- ships for maritime security
Sea-Air-Space symposium waters when it announced And what about that dence class. and small surface combat-
in Maryland. All told, the the program a few months speed? The fastest ship U.S. Senate Armed Services ant operations, said Bryan
Navy wants to scrap 24 after Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist can’t outrun missiles, and Chair Jim Inhofe said the Clark, defense analyst at
ships, including five cruisers attacks. The ships topped firing up those marine tur- program was plagued by the Hudson Institute.q

Judge tosses Girl Scouts’ recruitment

suit vs. Boy Scouts

By LARRY NEUMEISTER contentious and expen- accurately the co-ed na-
Associated Press sive” litigation and neces- ture of programming, not
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal sitates dismissal of the law- to confuse or exploit Girl
judge on Thursday rejected suit brought by the Girls Scouts’ reputation,” Heller-
Girl Scouts’ claims that the Scouts of the United States stein wrote. “Such branding
Boy Scouts created mar- of America. is consistent with the scout-
ketplace confusion and The lawsuit was filed in late formative branding Boy
damaged their recruitment 2018, a year after the Boy Scouts has used for a cen-
efforts by using words like Scouts announced that tury, including in its co-ed
“scouts” and “scouting” in boy scouting and cub programs that have existed Boy Scouts of America uniforms are displayed in the retail store
recruitment drives. scouting would be open to since the 1970s.” at the headquarters for the French Creek Council of the Boy
Manhattan Judge Alvin K. girls, leading the organiza- The term “scout” is descrip- Scouts of America in Summit Township, Pa., Feb. 18, 2020.
Hellerstein ruled that the tions to compete for mem- tive of both the Boy Scouts’ Associated Press
Boy Scouts of America can bers after social trends and Girl Scouts’ program- sion comes while the Boy dreds of lawsuits brought
describe their activities as and a rise in sports league ming, the judge wrote. Scouts are in bankruptcy by individuals claiming they
“scouting” without refer- participation drove down “The Boy Scouts’ decision proceedings in Delaware were molested by scout
ring to gender and that the membership for decades. to become co-ed, even that began in February leaders as minors.
matter does not need to The pattern worsened if it affects Girl Scouts’ op- 2020. The Irving, Texas- Messages seeking com-
be put to a jury. when the pandemic hit. erations, does not demon- based organization sought ment left with lawyers in the
Hellerstein said his written “The Boy Scouts adopted strate bad faith,” the judge bankruptcy protection af- case were not immediately
decision caps a “serious, the Scout Terms to describe added. Hellerstein’s deci- ter it was named in hun- returned. q