Laser-Welded Metal Foam Sandwich Lightweights Ships

Lightweighting??? We are going with this as a verb? Really?

The newest language 'dumbdowning' term to slop into the lexicon trough.

Can I describe the term as 'makesoundlikeamoroning' if I hear it spoken aloud?

It was mentioned in replies to the story that lightweight is not something that shipbuilders look for because it changes the center of gravity. Lightweight aluminum superstructures are used to reduce topside weight, so a new foam sandwich material wouldn't be any better. In fact, repair would be more difficult. Although it wasn't mentioned in the article, I could assume that this new technology wasn't meant for displacement type hulls. It could be used for catamarans or ACV's, but as a replacement for current materials, I think not. There is an all steel honeycomb material that has been around for many years. It can be shaped into compound curves and is used as liners for gas turbine intakes and exhaust.