Keeping with the theme of warfare in the Littoral Zone.
If you REALLY want to fight in this area then the LCS is not the answer. No, the answer is to retask the
Riverine Units and have them operate in Green and Brown water.
This is going to be a major undertaking however.
First you have to re-equip them with CB-90's or equal boats. Their rigid raiders can operate far afield but in order for them to be effective they need a slightly larger boat.
Next you need to provide them with some type of mother ship. I really hate the idea of dedicating an amphib to the mission of supporting these
Littoral Action Groups (my new name for the organization) but its necessary. We should take an
LPD that is to be retired, service life extend it (again) and have it act in this role...we'll need three. One for action in the Pacific, Atlantic and Middle East.
Lastly you need to have dedicated air assets devoted to fighting in the Littoral Zones, supporting these Littoral Action Groups yet capable of operating from the decks of the mothership. In other words bring back the
Sea Wolves. The US Navy should bring back its attack helicopter component. Ideally it would simply be additional CH-60's armed with hellfires. This would allow a fast response when necessary to emerging threats detected by radar or recon UAVs/aircraft and it would simplify logistics.
This would give you a force capable of operating in the Littoral Zone effectively. If its a counter-insurgency at sea then this force will be optimal. If its full scale warfare then hand the issue back to the big boys---Burke's, Subs and Aircraft Carriers.
Lets not fool ourselves. Full scale combat in the littoral zone will shred LCS and this new organization I propose. This will also bring our doctrine in line with common sense. The littorals are dangerous. If its less than full scale war then the Littoral Action Group, equipped with CB-90s, LPD motherships and dedicated CH-60's can handle it.
This leaves the question. What do we do with the LCS? I'm sad to say, we scrap it and move to a cheaper solution. It is looking more and more like the Navy's version of the FCS...a concept that was designed in haste to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
