Is The U.S. Military About To Lose Its Ability To Conduct Amphibious Operations?
ByDaniel GourePublished2 days ago
Amphibious Operations, RIP? It appears that Marine Corps Commandant General David Berger may have told the story of how his Service needed to transform itself too well. As part of his vision for a new Marine Corps, the Commandant called for reducing the size of the Navy’s fleet of large amphibious warships and acquiring a new class of smaller, lighter vessels.
Unfortunately, many observers, defense experts, and even some senior Pentagon officials concluded that General Berger’s modernization program required an either-or decision: either the Marines would be a force designed to operate in a high-end conflict, one reliant on light amphibious warships, or the Corps would maintain its role as a multifunctional force, the proverbial Swiss Army Knife, relying on large amphibs but in smaller numbers.
This either-or approach is already being reflected in the Navy’s FY2023 budget submission, which proposes truncating the planned procurements of the San Antonio-class LPD 17 Flight II amphibious warship, and retiring older ships, virtually guaranteeing that the residual amphib fleet will be too small and old to adequately support operations across the entire continuum of conflict. The proposed Navy budget also could seriously damage the nation’s shipbuilding industrial base.
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/04/is-the-u-s-military-about-to-lose-its-ability-to-conduct-amphibious-operations/
