The purpose of this paper is to recommend changes to surface combatant ship design philosophy, relationship between setters of requirements and the ship design community, and suggest changes to the overall ship acquisition procedures/organization. As implied by the title, this paper contains substantial subjective material, although pertinent facts are presented when appropriate. The paper is based on the observations of the author during a 34-year military career largely devoted to ship-related R&D, design, operation, maintenance, modernization, planning, programming, and budgeting.
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