Navy says it will cost $8M to $10M to repair littoral combat ships, spokesperson says

MAYPORT, Fla. — Action News Jax has learned exactly how much it will cost to repair each Naval Station Mayport littoral combat ship and who will help the Navy pay for it.

According to a Navy spokesperson, it will cost $8 million to $10 million per ship, or $56 million to $70 million total.

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The spokesperson also said that Lockheed Martin, the company that built the ships, will split the cost with the Navy.

Mayport’s Freedom Class littoral combat ships were billed as the future of the Navy and Mayport.

Ultimately, 12 ships were supposed to home port at Mayport, bringing millions in economic impact.

JANUARY 2022: Navy could spend millions to repair littoral combat ships

But the ships have had well-documented engine problems, with four ships already set to be decommissioned, including the USS Little Rock.

Action News Jax’s John Bachman spent a night aboard the Little Rock in December 2019. While on board, Bachman heard engine failure announcements. Just a few months later while on its first deployment, the Little Rock had to be brought back to Mayport for engine issues.

Bachman asked Maritime Expert Rod Sullivan in January 2022, “Is this a major undertaking to fix this?”

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Sullivan responded, “Yeah, this is a major fix.”

Sullivan is retired Navy. He has criticized the LCS program for combining diesel and gas engines to try to increase speed as a design flaw.

Action News Jax told you in February 2022, the fix could cost $10 million.

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“So we’re talking about dry docking the ship, cutting a hole in the steel hull, taking out old bearings, and putting in the new ones. This is not a small job. This is expensive time consuming job to take care of,” Sullivan said at that time.

Breaking Defense first reported on the Navy’s report issued to Congress last month, stating that it will cost between $8 million to $10 million to fix each ship and Lockheed Martin will split the cost. A Navy spokesperson confirmed that report to Bachman.

“This has been a very serious problem and we want to make sure we work with industry to hold to the terms of the contract,” Capt. Andy Gold, LCS Program Manager, said in January 2022.

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