The Navy should slash its planned buys of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) to free up money for additional Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyers, and halve the number of planned F-35 carrier variant Joint Strike Fighters to invest in unmanned strike aircraft, according to an analysis released yesterday by a Washington think tank.
Scaling back production of the LCS vessels and F-35Cs would allow the Navy to shift resources to large surface combatants and unmanned systems more suited to operate in anti-area access denial environments, which are a growing challenge and priority for the service, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) said.
“To meet the demands of a U.S. strategy weighted toward the Pacific Rim while maintaining global dominance at sea, the U.S. Navy should prioritize investment in cutting-edge technologies that offer a new means of projecting naval power, such as stealthy unmanned long-range strike platforms and autonomous undersea vehicles,” the analysis said.
“It should scale back purchases of platforms less useful in an A2/AD (anti-access area-denial) environment, such as the LCS and the F-35C,” said the report, titled Sustainable Pre-eminence: Reforming the U.S. Military at a Time of Strategic Change. The document addresses what it says is the need for the Pentagon to enact broad reforms to operate in a reduced fiscal environment while countering key security challenges, such as A2/AD.
CNAS recommended that the Navy cut its planned buy of 369 Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35Cs by 50 percent and fill fighter requirements by ordering more Boeing [BA] F/A-18 Super Hornets beyond the current multi-year contract. It said the F-35Cs relatively short range requires vulnerable aircraft carriers to deploy to dangerous A2/AD environments.
“By buying fewer F-35s more quickly, the Navy will revitalize its strike fleet sooner and free up resources it can use in the 2020s and 2030s to buy combat capable (unmanned aerial systems), which by then should be more technologically advanced if DoD accelerates development now,” the report said. It called on the Navy to speed up the development of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) and develop a program of record with the goal of having 25 percent of its carrier-based strike platforms unmanned.
“Without long-range strike UAS, carriers will become excessively vulnerable and operationally limited in A2/AD environments,” the think tank said.
On the troubled LCS program, CNAS suggested the Navy reduce its planned buy of 55 ships to 27. Lockheed Martin and Austal USA are the manufacturers of the two variants in the class of ships designed to operate close-to-shore and carry out mine-hunting, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions.
The small ship class has long faced criticism for early procurement problems that included cost overruns and delays before the first two ships became operational. A third one is due to arrive in the fleet later this year. Questions have also swirled around the Littoral Combat Ship’s survivability in a hostile or A2AD scenarios.
“The LCS does not have the war-fighting capabilities and sea-worthiness needed to address emerging threats or rigorous conditions at sea,” CNAS said, adding: “The Navy should reinvest the savings generated by truncating LCS into buying upgraded DDG-51 destroyers and Virginia-class submarines, two ships that can better project power in potentially contested environments in the Asia-Pacific and greater Middle East.”
The Navy has adamantly defended the LCS, touting the ship’s adaptability for carrying out three missions while taking on burdens currently carried out by more expensive surface combatants that could be freed up for other tasks. The Navy has also shot back at critics who have questioned the ship’s survivability. Most recently, Navy Undersecretary Robert Work said anyone who doesn’t consider the LCS a warship is “nuts.”