Unexpected But Welcome: US Navy’s Amphibious Warship Plan Supported Across Political Parties & Government Branches
Greg Alan Caires
Greg Alan Caires is a visiting fellow at the Lexington Institute...
April 12, 2024File photo courtesy HII
Here’s some good news for America’s sea power. While the U.S. Navy has initiated another review of its 30-year shipbuilding plan in the face of widespread dissatisfaction, one element within that plan has been praised: the decision to provide funding for continued construction of amphibious warfare ships. These vessels offer unmatched flexibility and the capability of transporting, deploying, and supporting ground combat forces – typically U.S. Marine Corps – to conduct amphibious assaults, humanitarian operations, or disaster relief missions. This capability is essential for the United States as a maritime nation with a global security commitment. Whether responding to a natural disaster or deterring aggression, amphibious warships provide a unique platform for rapid and decisive action.
A few years ago, Congress mandated that the Navy maintain a fleet of 31 large and medium-size amphibious warships. To achieve this, building more San Antonio-class landing platform dock (LPD) ships is critical. Previous Congresses provided funds for these ships, but the Pentagon had been hesitant. Until submission of the Fiscal Year 2025 Pentagon budget to Congress last month, the Defense Department was considering either ending acquisition of these ships or changing their designs to reduce construction costs. As a result, the Navy was in an amphibious shipbuilding pause.
But those alternatives are no longer being considered, and in a rare and welcome moment of bipartisan, bicameral, and Executive-Legislative branch unity, both parties now support the plan for 31 amphibious warships. This about face is due in part to “perceived operational shortfalls” in the amphib fleet, according to Hudson Institute's Bryan Clark, when such warships were not available to support disaster relief in Turkey or evacuate noncombatants from South Sudan last year. “It was a black eye,” he recently told Jane’s.
https://www.marinelink.com/news/unexpected-welcome-us-navys-amphibious-512933
