Dear Navy - it's time for an intervention

Just crank-out Arleigh Burke’s and America class LHA’s. They work.
 
NJROTC-CC said:
Just crank-out Arleigh Burke’s and America class LHA’s. They work.
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Burkes are OK but not too much growth margin - can't add much without stability concerns at this point. More importantly,
it lacks the command and control space that a cruiser has and we need that for many operations where we really don't want a carrier close by - like ASW.
America Class has a key flaw - no well deck in the first two and that is a huge burden because there is a lot of heavy equipment that that really can't move via air in a timely manner. Having the ability to operate LCACs and LCUs is a very big deal in the Amphib world so that class has to be redesigned.
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Just like you need more than one or two wrench sizes to fix your car, the Navy needs a variety of ships to accomplish its many and varied missions.
 
I'm glad I'm not the genius who designed and especially approved a gator freighter without a well deck.
 
OldRetSWO said:
America Class has a key flaw - no well deck in the first two and that is a huge burden because there is a lot of heavy equipment that that really can't move via air in a timely manner. Having the ability to operate LCACs and LCUs is a very big deal in the Amphib world so that class has to be redesigned.
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But after the first two the rest do and will have well decks.

Big Fleet carriers are obsolete. The ones we have now will last a long time. We certainly do not need and cannot afford to build any more.

We need to build platforms that work and meet future needs, not needs of the past
 
NJROTC-CC said:
Big Fleet carriers are obsolete.
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Many studies done for over 50 years disagree with your assertion. I've been a Naval Officer since the 70's and have seen this come up over
and over again and the result is always the same. Little deck can't generate many sorties, the sorties that they can generate are very
weight/payload limited and probably most importantly can't launch E-2s or other Command and Control aircraft. I've seen it
wargamed at the War College when I was stationed there and it is not a pretty scenario.

Yes, they can operate F-35s but the B model is severely payload limited when in V/STOL operations. If you look back at the Harrier which is still in use, the difference is even more pronounced.

In any case, if you want to use LHAs/LHDs as substitute CVs, the first thing you need to do is take the Marines off of it or just not load them as the airwing that you'd need to load with personnel for ASW and other mission sets as well as the AIMD folks to maintain the much more significant number of F35's that you'd be carrying. The USMC fought pretty hard for those platforms and they might not like them to be taken away from more typical Amphib duties.
 
I am all for adapt and grow and change. But I cannot imagine a US Naval force without the carrier in its current state. And I am all for continuing to improve the design of carriers and other support vessels. Floating air bases aren’t possible in any other fashion that I am aware of.
 
Last entry. As much as I want to comment on this issue, this is not that the place to discuss naval strategies. I’m sure each class at the war colleges already learned how to beat the next adversary.
 
Well, I suppose the discussion on navy ships is over because this isn’t the place to discuss naval strategies.

The strategies which are based on navy ships.

Huh?
 
If you want an example of what not having a big deck carrier means, read "One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander". He went to war with two small deck carriers (HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible. He had no airborne early warning aircraft, no in flight refueling, short range helo based ASW. He was constantly worried that the loss of one of his carriers would end his ability to carry out and support the landings. Fortunately for him, the Argentinian carrier Vientecinco de Mayo did not sortie out as they were concerned about UK subs. Only Argentinian Air Forces were able to provide a strong attack arm, but they were limited by range.
 
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