Global Courant 2023-05-18 14:50:13
The US plans to catch up with China’s navy by building its first frigates since the early 2000s, a strategic plan that could make up for dwindling fleet numbers but not lost time.
Admiral Mike Gilday, chief of US naval operations, said at a recent Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing that he wants to boost US naval shipbuilding from two ships at one shipyard per year to production at two yards. Popular Mechanics reported.
The comment underscores the perceived need to ramp up production of upcoming Constellation-class frigates, with the US Navy initially committing to procure 20 vessels. The Popular Mechanics report notes that the desire to add a second shipyard for production could see an additional 40 ships over the next decade, with about 50 ships seen as the ideal number for the U.S. Navy.
Since the decommissioning of the successful Oliver Hazard Perry class, the US Navy has not operated any frigates, creating a capacity shortage in specific mission areas. notes Peter Suciu in an August 2021 article for The National Interest that the Perry-class frigate was a low-cost design, built between 1977 and 2004, intended to replace the United States Navy’s World War II destroyers and to meet large Cold War fleet numbers requiring strict design controls on size and incurred costs.
Suciu notes that the 71-ship Perry class had a 40-year service life performing low-intensity missions such as maritime interdiction operations, counter-narcotics, and cooperation with partner navies.
However, he says this resulted in the frigates being in a worn condition, leading to them being withdrawn from service in 2003, with the last Perry-class frigate being decommissioned in 2015. This left the US Navy without frigates for the first time since 1943.
That decision has led the U.S. Navy to deploy too-capable ships for low-intensity missions. Jerry Hendrix notes in an April 2020 article for National Review that the U.S. practice of using ships such as Arleigh Burke destroyers for tasks such as anti-piracy, displaying the flag, and maintaining sustained naval presence could divert these critical naval assets from more important roles, such as providing missile defense and other high-value missions.
Hendrix says frigates and corvettes, with their smaller size, smaller crews, lower sensors and weapons, and lower cost, make it feasible to buy in large numbers to perform low-intensity missions.
He says that while the US Navy attempted to replace the Perry class with Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) corvettes, the LCS proved not to be as effective as hoped with multiple issues with weapons systems, survivability and hull integrity, leading to the early retirement of the type.
The U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship Gabrielle Giffords is armed with the agency’s new Naval Strike Missile. Photo: Handout
Although John Cole and Thomas Ulmer in a December 2017 article for Defense 360 While the US briefly reconsidered reactivating the Perry class in 2016, that plan was put on hold as the frigates would face maintenance, personnel and capacity issues.
Cole and Ulmer point out that shipbuilders may no longer be making the components of the old frigates, that training new crews would undermine limited resources that could be spent on acquiring newer naval assets, and that refurbished frigates are unsuitable as a capacity shortfall for more expensive naval assets. .
Aside from addressing a capability gap in low-intensity missions, the US may have to match China’s burgeoning navy in terms of number of ships.
Global Courant noted in February 2023 that as of 2022, the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) is the world’s largest navy with 340 ships, while the United States Navy is the second largest with 280 ships.
That gap is expected to widen as China has 400 ships by 2025 and 440 by 2030, with much of that growth coming in the form of large fighters such as cruisers and destroyers. In contrast, the The Biden administration’s plan for 280 ships in 2027 and eventually 363 ships in 2045 is small in comparison.
While US warships may be more advanced, quality cannot replace quantity and physical presence. In a May 2022 Heritage Foundation articleBrent Sadler points out that the Biden administration’s strategy of investing in naval shipbuilding is downright shrinking the capacity of the US Navy while placing too much faith in wonder weapons such as unmanned warships that are still in the prototype stage.
Sadler notes that even if the US gamble pays off, the US Navy will still have fewer ships to train future crews. He says it is better to keep ships in active service, training and maintaining capacity until viable replacements are available.
China’s fleet numbers are supported by formidable naval shipbuilding capabilities, with one of its 13 naval shipyards having more capacity than all seven US naval shipyards combined. This capability is made possible by China’s civil-military fusion strategy, which builds warships and civilian ships in the same shipyards at the same time.
This approach enables China’s shipbuilding industry to operate at full capacity despite economic downturns, apply civilian mass production techniques to naval shipbuilding, incorporate advanced civilian technologies into warships, maintain production capacity and circumvent sanctions against military modernization.
China is already deploying this fleet worldwide and new warship designs are being built for it.
China’s Type 055 cruiser Nanchang. Photo: Facebook
Global Courant noted in a separate February 2023 article that China’s upcoming Type 054B frigate is a low-end anti-submarine ship designed to operate alongside the high-end Type 055 cruisers and Type 052 destroyers, which are too expensive to be built in large numbers.
The Type 054B has a size closer to the Type 052 destroyer than its Type 054A predecessor. This increased size and displacement may indicate more global commitment and a desire to emulate US naval power.
In addition, its increased size enables it to carry more fuel and supplies for global deployments aimed at securing the Maritime Silk Road geostrategic project and integrating new weapons, armaments and technologies, enabling it to operate as part of the battlegroups of Chinese aircraft carriers.
Similar:
Loading…
