Swinging through the internet this afternoon and its becoming more and more obvious that the America class LHD's just aren't designed for real deal Marine Corps amphibious operations.
Instead its optimized (in my opinion) to raids, SOCOM support and as a Sea Control Ship.
Why do I say that?
Simple. If you examine the specifications for that ship and then compare it to the ships that its going to replace, you see that the America class has a much smaller hospital. Much smaller well deck (when they get around to redesigning it). Much less vehicle storage...and much increased area for aviation.
Upon further reflection it becomes obvious that we're going to see MARSOC and or Navy SEALs on the big deck amphibs and the Battalion Landing Team relegated to the LPD and LSD of the formation.
What does this mean for operations? I'm not sure. You'll possibly see a new emphasis on raids (or rather a return to the raids model) and more ship boarding. Additionally you'll probably see the airwing reconfigured to meet the needs of the new reality.
That means more F-35's on the big deck than currently carried. You'll also probably see a few more AH-1Zs and almost no CH-53's..
On the LPD-17 class you'll probably see the number of CH-53's increase...along with it being the primary user of UH-1Ys. In a post I did
But if I am correct then the question must be asked. Why go through the trouble of adding a well deck to a ship that will rarely act as a traditional amphib? I contend that it won't. The talk of "redoing" the America class to fix that discrepancy was simply a shell game. I don't believe that they will actual go through with the mods. I believe that what you see is what you get and that the next move is to get the job done of redesigning/reshuffling the MEU among the Amphibious Ready Group ships to show the new thinking.
You very could be right. Think of the firepower and flexability this would give special operations forces. I understand your concern about the possible death of the Marine Corps as we know it, but the way things are going it would not suprise me.
ReplyDeleteSol while the LPD17 should take more CH-53s including the Kilo, there is ONLY so much room on the flight deck and in the hangar. Which leads to:
ReplyDeleteThe LHD8 class is definitely aviation centric. They will have the hangar space and large flight deck to operate USMC and USN a/c from. The other part of that is the class are intended to move TROOPS and light gear ashore using ANY a/c the Marines have. What is wrong with that?
(my assumption is that the USMC will depend LESS on watercraft to conduct fewer amphibious assaults then they have previously. That is debatable but if you read many recent documents and statement by senior naval leaders, it is what THEY are thinking)
AND while the LHD hullform is big, it sill must be CONVERTED to be a SCS. Currently the LHD do not have the weapons and sensors for sea control mission