American Sea Power at a Crossroads: A Plan to Restore the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Advantage
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By Bryan Clark & Timothy A. Walton , Seth Cropsey
September 30, 2020
The U.S. fleet is at an important crossroads. Nearly twenty years after the drive for transformation led to costly and problematic programs such as the littoral combat ship (LCS), Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier, and Zumwalt-class destroyer, the Navy is again starting work on new ships in every vessel category. It is essential to make smart decisions on the design of these ships, and of the fleet as a whole, to create a force that affordably supports future defense strategy and avoids mistakes of the past.
The Navy is arguably facing a once-in-a-century combination of challenges and opportunities as it embarks on its new family of ships. Today its leaders, like their predecessors in the years after World War I, are reconsidering the relevance and survivability of the fleet’s premier capital ship. In addition, emerging technologies are enabling new platforms and tactics that could disrupt the design of today’s fleet; rising adversaries are threatening U.S. allies and the international order; and budget constraints prevent the Navy from countering revisionist powers by simply growing the fleet with better versions of today’s ships and aircraft. Today’s Navy, however, unlike its interwar predecessor, sustains a global presence to underpin a network of alliances and protect vital sea lanes and does not have the luxury of bringing the fleet home to retool for the emerging competition.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/09/30/american_sea_power_at_a_crossroads_a_plan_to_restore_the_us_navys_maritime_advantage_579137.html
