What Matters Most for the Navy’s Fleet?
No navy can exercise command before wresting command from its antagonists.
James Holmes
December 26, 2015
Earlier this month Secretary of Defense Ash Carter delivered a stinging public rebuke to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, in the form of a memorandum directing Mabus to truncate acquisitions of littoral combat ships (LCS). Carter wants to cut LCS purchases from fifty-two to forty hulls. He ordered the navy to reallocate the savings to add firepower to the remaining forty, buy more carrier aircraft and guided missiles, and modify submarines to carry more cruise missiles.
Commentary on Carter’s directive was quick in coming, and it divided along very old lines: between partisans of quantity and quality, “presence” and “posture,” peacetime constabulary duty and wartime combat operations. At issue: LCS cutbacks will make it harder to build up to a 300-ship fleet. The fleet currently stands at 272 vessels, and the leadership is counting on sizable numbers of inexpensive hulls to make up the difference. Yet the LCS boasts little combat power in its current form. Better to add fewer ships with more punch, say backers of Carter’s plan, than more ships that do little to augment the fleet’s battle strength.
Just ask any navalist: more ships of all types is always better. But if you can’t afford all you want of all types, which do you favor? It depends on how you gauge the likelihood of war. If war appears probable, it makes sense to bulk up the fleet. If not, better to emphasize lower-end ships that can be built in large numbers on the cheap.
This debate reflects the division of labor within oceangoing navies. Think about it. Maritime strategy operates in peacetime and wartime alike. And vital national interests are at stake whether forces are exchanging fire or not. For the United States, peacetime strategy is about stewardship over the liberal system of seagoing trade and commerce. It’s about safeguarding freedom of the sea. Lightly armed surface combatants police the sea, fanning out to likely trouble spots to combat piracy, weapons proliferation, and trafficking in all manner of hazardous goods. More units equates to broader geographic coverage and safer seas for merchant traffic. That’s where LCS-like vessels excel.
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/what-matters-most-the-navys-fleet-14734
