Advantages-disadvantages from their acquisition by our Navy
“The Navy could transport the Freedom Littoral fighter jets it plans to decommission to other countries,” Marine Corps Chief of Operations Admiral Mike Gildey told senators today.
It is easy to understand that Greece might be interested in such a concession of warships from the USA and for this reason we quote the main points of this article, which are the following:
“Testifying before the Senate Credit Committee subcommittee on defense, Gilday suggested that the committee evaluate the possibility of transporting ships to South American countries, where the LCS could conduct anti-drug operations.
“Now, with regard to the options that will arise with these ships, I would suggest to the subcommittee to consider offering these ships to other countries that could use them effectively. There are countries in the south, in South America, for example as you pointed out, that could use these ships with small crews. “So instead of just looking at dissolution as the only option, I think there are others we can see, sir,” Gilday told Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).
Other countries have received US Navy ships as soon as they leave service. The U.S. Navy, for example, has flown several Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates to other nations, including Turkey, Bahrain, Poland, and Pakistan.
The Navy is seeking to decommission nine Freedom-Class LCSs as part of its budget proposal for fiscal year 2023, but the plan has been criticized by senators as none of the ships has reached its life expectancy.
Gilday told Congress Thursday that the Navy wants to decommission the ships because they would not do well in a possible clash with China, which Pentagon officials describe as an “accelerating threat” to the military.
“Unfortunately, the Littoral Combat Ships we have have mechanical issues, which is a negative factor, while the lack of sufficient combat capability against a Chinese competitor is greater.
A key factor in our decision was the anti-submarine warfare package developed for the Freedom Hull, which was simply ineffective. And so we refused to put an extra dollar in this system that would not match the Chinese submarine threat. “That was the main guide, sir, that led us to determine that these ships, compared to others, just did not bring the desired increase in our combat power in battle,” Gilday said.
Freedom class LCS recently encountered two major problems:
One problem in the whole category had to do with the combination of tools that combine the ship’s gas turbines with diesel engines and the second with the difficulty in locating the planned anti-submarine warfare package for the LCS mission program.
Revealing its 2023 budget request in March, the Navy announced it would scrap the ASW package for the LCS mission program after it found it difficult to place the Raytheon AN / SQS-62 (VDS) variable depth sonar on the hull. of the Freedom category.
Instead, the Navy is planning the Constellation-class frigate program (FFG-62) that will house the service’s main anti-submarine warfare capability, which will include Thales’ CAPTAS-4.
Gilday told a hearing Thursday that the Navy has other advantages, such as Poseidon P-8A destroyers and aircraft, that can carry out the ASW mission.
“The new frigate class we are building will bring improved anti-submarine warfare capability. “The missiles we have at the moment have very capable anti-submarine warfare capabilities,” he said.
“As far as anti-submarine warfare is concerned, we do have other capable systems in the fleet, not only at sea level, but also at the bottom thanks to the most efficient submarines in the world that we have and our P-8 aircraft for large ASW surveillance. .
Fincantieri Marinette Marine, which manufactures Constellation class frigates, has started work early, but has not yet set the keel for the first ship.
When the Navy issued the original contract to Fincantieri for the construction of the first frigate, it included the option of nine more ships, but also retained the possibility of awarding contracts to a second shipyard for additional ships after the first ten.
Fincantieri invested $ 180 million in its shipyard before receiving the initial frigate construction contract and said before that it would invest another $ 80 million to $ 100 million if it won the tender to build two frigates a year for the Navy. the USNI News.
During Thursday’s hearing, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) Said she wants to spend more money on developing the industrial base for the frigate program. Baldwin State is home to Fincantieri’s Wisconsin. Baldwin said it would support the Navy to buy three or four frigates a year, but acknowledged that this would likely require a second shipyard.
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro told Baldwin that he believes the Navy should complete the construction of the first ship in its class to resolve any initial problems before moving on to a second shipyard.
“I would be in favor of adding a second yard at the right time, but I think before we make that decision it is very important to make sure that the technologies we use in the frigate and our investment are going well,” said Del Toro.
“And so we have to make sure that the ship stays on schedule, in cost, on time, and that investment has to come first before we really think about a second yard for that.”
The top Navy politician said it was “possible” to buy two ships a year that would not justify a second shipyard.
According to the Navy’s five-year 2023 budget program, the service wants to buy one frigate in 2023, two in 2024, one in 2025, two in 2026 and one in 2027.
Congress has expressed concern that the Navy introduced a second shipyard too early in the joint statement of reasons accompanying the FY 2022 appropriations bill.
“There is concern that the early addition of a second CCF yard before the first yard identifies and rectifies technical and production issues will inject unnecessary risk and complexity into the project,” the statement said.
“The Navy’s budget chief, Rear Admiral John Gambleton, said during the March budget announcement that the five-year frigate budget plan reflects what a shipyard could build.”
The Coastal Fighter (LCS) is a group of two relatively small surface-to-surface vessels designed for offshore operations by the United States Navy.
We are talking about surface warships capable of responding to enemy threats by denying access to friendly coastal areas and combating any asymmetric threats to the coast.
The Freedom class and the Independence class are the first two LCS variants. Each is slightly smaller than the US Navy-class frigate Oliver Hazard Perry, but larger than Cyclone-class patrol vessels.
Each has the capabilities of a small offensive transport, including a flight cabin and hangar to house two SH-60 or MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, a stern ramp for handling small boats and the volume and payload to provide a small attack force. with combat vehicles in a roll-on / roll-off port facility.
Standard armaments include Mk 110 57 mm guns and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe missiles. They are also equipped with autonomous aircraft, surface and submarine vehicles. Featuring lower air defense and surface warfare capabilities than destroyers, the LCS concept emphasizes speed, flexible missions and shallow drafting.
From the above, it is clear at first sight and based on their mission, that the LCS coastal warships in question “fit” the Aegean business environment.
Therefore, our assessment is that our navy should consider in the light of the existing means at its disposal, the emerging Turkish threats and the problems presented by these vessels, their integration and utilization, in order to move accordingly. MINISTER to the USA, if deemed necessary, for their free concession to our country.
However, the fact that Turkey in the operational environment of the Aegean, in case of a military confrontation with our country, is expected to use unmanned naval vessels, UAV Bayraktar, armored with electronic means of coast guard ships and other means that pose asymmetric threats to us, feeling that our Navy should carefully consider the acquisition of these American vessels.
