The Lethal and Affordable Three-Tier Fleet
By Ben DiDonato | October 9, 2019
It is well known that the current, largely homogeneous, surface combatant fleet is not an affordable force structure for the future. This is a key force driving the development of a new frigate, but serious questions remain about the affordability of the currently planned force structure. Considering the CG(X) program was canceled after estimates reached $5 billion per ship and that the recent reemergence of great power competition likely will drive an even more expensive design, these concerns have merit.
One potential solution to this problem is to go beyond the current high-low framework to a three-tier, high-medium-low fleet. The ships to support this framework would be approximately as follows:
https://blog.usni.org/posts/2019/10/09/the-lethal-and-affordable-three-tier-fleet
