It's a way to save some money on our defense budget, without really harming our national security.
Basically this. It saves us money (some of which is reinvested in other capable programs) without having any kind of major security impact. My testimony on the risks this could create can be found in the NSC's thread.
Despite looking cool, the LCS project has been plagued by cost overruns, botched contracting, and delays. This makes reductions in that program in order to control costs; it will pose little to no security concerns because much of the money saved is reinvested in
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which (although somewhat slower and with a deeper draft) has more surface-to-surface and anti-air capabilities and will be fully capable in its assigned missions, particularly when used in conjunction with the LCS we do build, as well as the planned next-generation systems that we do not plan any cuts to (such as the
Ford-class carriers, the
Virginia-class submarines, and the F-22 Raptor). Alternative forward basing and crew rotation models can mitigate the impact on operations having a smaller surface fleet would cause.
