Compass Points - Two Ships
A tale of two landing & logistic ships
Compass Points - Two Ships
A tale of two landing & logistic ships
March 20, 2025
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Charles Dickens begins his masterful novel, A Tale of Two Cities, with a paragraph that might describe the current state of the world.
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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
-- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
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When the subject is military landing craft, there is a tale of two landing craft, and for those two landing craft it is the worst of times and the best of times.
The first landing craft is the landing craft the US Marine Corps says it needs to shuttle small units of Marines around Pacific islands near China. The Marine Corps has been pursuing a new landing craft for more than four years.
The roots of the Marine's new landing craft began late in the summer of 2019 when the incoming Commandant abruptly told the Navy that the Marine Corps would accept fewer amphibious ships. A few months later the Marine Corps said what it needed was three dozen smaller landing craft, at that time called the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW). Later, the proposed ship was renamed the Medium Landing Ship (LSM).
Over the last four years, what progress has been made constructing LSMs for the Marines?
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After years of delays procuring its own Medium Landing Ship (LSM) to ferry platoon-sized elements of Marines between West Pacific islands during a war with China, the U.S. Navy is now looking to existing, private-sector designs to potentially fill this capability gap.
The Navy halted its efforts to acquire the LSM last month, after an industry request for information (RFI) resulted in cost estimates that were beyond what the Navy and Marine Corps envisioned paying for the platform. Catch up on TWZ’s recent reporting on the acquisition travails that have plagued the program here. But earlier this month, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) issued a new RFI to industry seeking an existing vessel design that could be retrofitted into a LSM that would require only minor modifications to fulfill requirements. It also seeks information from shipyards regarding the capacity for such an effort if they submit information.
. . . Formerly known as the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) and also referred to as the Landing Ship Medium, the LSM is envisioned as delivering forces right onto a beach without any established port facilities. It would ferry mobile, platoon-sized Marine units to islands where they would fire anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) at Chinese forces and collect data for other U.S. forces, among other tasks.
. . . LSMs are seen as a key mover of Marines under the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concept, which is a major component of the Marine Corps overhaul known as Force Design 2030 that seeks to ready the service for a war with China.
-- Geoff Ziezulewicz, TWZ
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After four years, the Marine Corps has zero LAWs and zero LSMs and it is not clear that any will ever be constructed. As a result, the Marine Corps still has no way to logistically support the plan to scatter Marine missile units on Pacific islands near China. While the Marines continue to wait for a new LSM or substitute, China is not waiting.
China analyst Andrew Erikson reports that China's new Shuiqiao bridge barges have already been constructed and the ships are practicing amphibious landings,
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China recently began construction of 3-5+ (perhaps 7 and counting) Shuiqiao bridge barges at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) Longxue Island shipyard in Guangdong Province, and has now been observed exercising with them—at a nearby beach close to the Southern Theater Command Navy Headquarters in Zhanjiang, Guangdong . . . .
-- Andrew Erikson
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Helen Davidson in Taipei reports for The Guardian.
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The short video is shot from a public beach in China’s Guangdong province, the unidentified filmer standing quietly by some fishing boats and a few tourists out for a walk.
Just to their right, a line of strange looking ships loom in the mist. The enormous ships are unmoving, raised above the waves by thick pylons. Drop-down bridges connect them to each other, the front one extending down to the sand.
The original video reportedly disappeared from WeChat shortly after it was uploaded, but copies circulated widely among watchers of China-Taiwan hostilities. The 19-second clip was their first clear look at what many believe are China’s newest tool for its Taiwan invasion plans.
The barge-like Shuqiao ships were first seen during the construction phase in January, and reported by Naval News. The Zhanjiang beach test showed how together they can create a loading dock from almost a kilometre out to sea – exactly what China needs to overcome one of the key challenges of any land invasion of Taiwan.
-- Helen Davidson in Taipei, The Guardian
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How has China been able to build three Shuiqiao bridge barges so quickly and have three more already under construction?
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Shipbuilding is a key part of the expansion of the PLA, which has the world’s largest navy. In a recent report on China’s growing “dual use” shipbuilding industry, the Centre For Strategic and International Studies said China’s largest single state-owned shipbuilder had built “more commercial vessels by tonnage in 2024 than the entire US shipbuilding industry has built since the end of world war two”.
-- Helen Davidson in Taipei, The Guardian
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The US Marine Corps, after four years, has zero LSMs on the water and zero under construction. On the other hand, China has three innovative landing and logistic, Shuiqiao bridge barges, on the water and three more under construction.
The new administration is looking to cut waste and improve efficiency. Beginning back in 2019 the Marine Corps took its focus off the global, flexible Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF), drastically cut combined arms units, equipment, and capabilities. and focused on a plan to put small Marine missile units on Pacific islands near China.
There was never a need to change the focus of the Marine Corps from the global MAGTF to regional missile units on Pacific islands. If the Marine Corps needed more missiles, missiles could have been added to the global MAGTF. If specific operations needed reconnaissance teams on islands, then a MAGTF could have landed the teams and supported the island teams.
The entire plan to change the focus of the Marine Corps to small missile units is the kind of wasteful government program that should be ended. The Nation does not need and cannot afford a regional missile Marine Corps. What the Nation needs is a restored and enhanced global, combined arms, 9-1-1 crisis response Marine Corps, always on patrol on the world's oceans, and always ready to arrive at a crisis to deter, assist, and fight.
It is time to cut the waste from the Marine Corps and rebuild the muscle. A stronger, global Marine Corps will help the United States move -- as Charles Dickens said -- from the worst of times to the best of times, and from the age of foolishness to the age of wisdom.
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TWZ - 01/15/2025
Navy Now Seeking Commercial Ship Design To Propel Its Long-Delayed Medium Landing Ship Program Forward
The Navy halted the Medium Landing Ship effort last month after high cost estimates and is now seeking commercial vessel designs to move Marines in a Pacific fight.
By Geoff Ziezulewicz
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Andrew Erikson - 03/13/2025
Shuiqiao Bridge Barges Expand & Extend PRC Amphibious Landing Capabilities, Threatening Taiwan (Updated)
By Andrew Erikson
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The Guardian - 03/20/2025
China has debuted its new landing barges – what does this mean for Taiwan?
Sighting of Shuqiao ships provides insight into China’s integration of its military, paramilitary and civilian operations – and its plans for a potential invasion
By Helen Davidson in Taipei
This article is perfectly written and the "Tale of Two Cities" opening is perfection to sum up the folly and foolishness of the current CMC Gen Smith and his criminal cohorts! Their disastrous FD2030 has ruined our Corps' MAGTF capabilities and their planned transition to island missile batteries units is a proven colossal failure! The Corps has yet to stand up a single active island missile battery to supposedly deter orcounter CHICOM naval threats in the Pacific arena!
VISION2035 is a MUST to restore our MAGTF lethality, our expeditionary capabilities, and our MAGTF lethality!
Semper Fidelis!
The new PLAN vessels with “landing bridges” seem innovative, but recall the Allied Invasion of Normandy used the nearby port of Cherbourg and the Mulberry Bridge system to being vast amounts of war fighting logistics to the fore. So not a “new idea, just a different concept. It is also not as if the Corps has no experience with MEU/MEB/MEF ship to shore logistics. Further the Chinese system while innovative seems to presume an uncontested beach head. Okay one can guess that the proposed invasion of Taiwan will go unopposed. Maybe, maybe not. What is clear is that the 38th and 39th CMC have wasted time and resources looking for answer to a question that never really needed to be asked, namely why would we put Marines on isolated island redoubts as sitting ducks with short range fire crackers, to plink away at PLAN war ships? Why does the Corps need a new “LSM’ if it is going to stick to its knitting and meet or exceed the Title X mandate. One would presume the need is not for a new “LSM” but rather the types of vessels that currently provide amphibious lift for the ARG/MEU and can provide enough of them, to as General Van Riper suggests “heel toe, heel toe” the MEU’s as directed statutorily. Supposedly, we will see that a SecNav is confirmed by the senate on 24 March. Let’s hope they get it done. Time is wasting, China and other adversaries have no interest in the timing of the United States Senate’s confirmation process. They just want to harm America and its allies. Best response? An ARG/MEU sailing over the horizon with Marines on board prepared for whatever would come their way. Tactical Decision Games, are one way to keep the Marines engaged while afloat. Sharpening Kabar’s works as well. Iron sharpen’s iron. Time to focus on revitalizing the MAGTF and having the lift to get it to where it needs to be, when it needs to be there.