Birth Pains of the New Navy -- New Wars
The U.S. Department of Defense leadership has concluded that the current mix of ships, and naval strategies they support, cannot be sustained. It’s not like this sort of thing has not happened before. This would be the third time in a century that the naval world was transformed by new technology. A century ago, the new “all big gun” battleship design had made all existing fleets obsolete. At the same time these new battleships appeared, so did aircraft. Three decades later, the aircraft carrier made the battleship obsolete. Now cruise missiles , UAVs and all manner of new sensors, software and electronics are threatening the aircraft carrier. If you go back and read the popular and professional media at the time of the last two transformations, you will note a lot of uncertainty about whether it was really a transforming moment. That is the case now, but the issue is heating up because the current carrier-centric navy is simply unaffordable. This includes the large amphibious ships (which carry helicopters and vertical takeoff aircraft, and look like carriers.)
Strategypage
Something big will soon occur to to navies worldwide. Some are well on their way to equipping their fleets for 21st Century warfare, others are wasting huge funds propping up last century building practices, and suffering accordingly. The Strategypage exert alludes to a major transformation in warship design which New Wars has consistently pointed toward the past several years. The ongoing procurement problems such as out of control costs is a sign of something that occurs periodically in warship design, obsolescence.
Read more ....
My Comment: Another excellent analysis and summary from New Wars. With dwindling budgets and facing a myriad of different threats .... a review of how we spend our money on the ships that we build is long overdue. The comments that accompany New War's post is also a must read.
On a side note .... I raised the issue last week with my Conservative contacts in the Canadian Government on the new funds that are being allocated for the Canadian Navy (the advantage of being a Canadian who has been involved in Canadian politics for a very long time .... you tend to develop these contacts). Their answer was blunt but not surprising .... it has all to do about politics and keeping Canadian shipbuilders busy. Many of the ships that they are thinking of building can be built elsewhere and at a cheaper cost .... but it defeats the political purpose of keeping Canadians working. Hence .... this allocation of monies to the Navy should be treated as a jobs bill, rather than a thoughtful and serious approach towards building a Canadian Navy that makes sense.
But I am still optimistic. The key right now is for the Navy Chiefs in the Canadian Ministry of Defense to provide the right plan on what to build for the 21rst century .... they now have the money ..... the key is figuring out how to spend it so that it makes sense. Are they smart enough to do this .... I hope so .... but I am with-holding judgment until they submit their strategic plan on what needs to be done and built .... a plan that I expect in the next year or two. Until then .... let the lobbying and discussion of what needs to be done begin.
