The US Navy can't fire its awesome new gun that can hit a target more than 70 miles away because the rounds are costing the service nearly a million bucks a piece.
Just a couple weeks after the Navy commissioned its most advanced warship, the USSZumwalt (DDG-1000), the service says it won't be buying any more of the guided precision munitions the ship's Advanced Gun Systems uses, called the Long Range Land-Attack Projectile (LRLAP).
The 155mm round is "the most accurate and longest-range guided projectile" in Navy history,according to Lockheed Martin. It's also one of the most expensive, with the price of each round costing roughly $800,000 to $1 million, for a total cost of around $2 billion if the service purchased its planned buy of 2,000 rounds, Sam LaGrone of USNI reported.
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Corporate greed sure. More accurately known however, as The Military Industrial Complex.
ReplyDeleteAaaannndddd which political party wants to keep throwing money at this stuff?
ReplyDeleteNo practice rounds necessary.
ReplyDelete10:07 AM - Both. It's been that way for decades. This is NOT partisan, this is one of the few thing that left and right can agree on.
ReplyDeleteIt's largely driven by economies of scale. When this new ship and gun program was first bid, it was on a much larger quantity. The government (DoD) cut the program to just 3 ships!
ReplyDeleteBasic economics means higher prices for lower production.
Heck if Apple could only produce/sell a 1,000 cell phones a year, they'd cost $100K each!!!