The U.S. Navy Does Not Need an Air-Defense Frigate
By Steven Wills
April 18, 2017
Powerful interests opposed to the U.S. Navy’s current Frigate plan and continued production of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) are again compelling the Navy to undertake yet another study in hopes of somehow proving that a more powerful air-defense frigate; a 21st century version of the Navy’s now retired Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate is a better choice than the upgraded Frigate now being designed as the service’s future small surface combatant. Two recent naval force architecture studies from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the MITRE Corporation also demand that the Navy’s current Frigate program be shelved in favor of a heavy frigate better capable of conducting high-end naval combat than the LCS-based frigate. Unfortunately, these calls for an air-defense frigate are at odds with a number of important, current conditions.
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/04/18/the_us_navy_does_not_need_an_air-defense_frigate_111198.html
