FD 2030 - I know What You Did Last Summer
Another Horror Movie From the Navy / Marine Corps Ship Building Team
Compass Points has issued cautions against the Light Ampibious Warship (L.A.W.).
FD 2030 - Can the L.A.W. Survive China?
The Ugly Truth is the Light Amphibious Warship is Extremely Vulnerable
FD 2030 - Gen Jenkins Knows the L.A.W.
Commanded Largest Marine Amphibious Force Since Inchon
FD 2030 - Fallacies of L.A.W. & SIF
Hiding from China
FD 2030 - New Warship Will Not Fight
Marine Corps is Depending on the L.A.W.
The L.A.W. is the sequel to the Littoral Combat ship. The Navy’s failed Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) grew out of some design studies in the late 1990’s. That was just about the same time Hollywood was producing the horror movie, “I know What You Did Last Summer.” After two decades of wasted time and money, the Navy is terminating the program early and putting the scary Littoral Combat Ship out of everyone’s misery.
Unfortunately, as authors Colonel Baird, Colonel Wells, and Captain Schuster report in their National Interest article, “The Light Amphibious Warship Is a Bad Sequel to the Littoral Combat Ship,” the Navy / Marine Corps ship building team is busy working on the sequel to the LCS, the brand new Light Amphibious Warship. And it looks like another horror feature. See link below.
National Interest (nationalinterest.org) November 19, 2022
Topic: Light Amphibious Warship. Region: Americas Tags: Light Amphibious Warship, Littoral Combat Ship, Force Design 2030, Stand-in Force, Expeditionary Sea Base
The Light Amphibious Warship Is a Bad Sequel to the Littoral Combat Ship
The ongoing joint Navy-Marine Corps program to field a LAW using an abbreviated design and procurement schedule could end in failure.
by Stephen Baird, Carl O. Schuster, & Timothy Wells
. . . During good economic times, the Department of Defense can endure a few “lemons” and “white elephants” without subjecting itself to congressional accountability. It took twenty years to acknowledge the LCS program consumed billions of precious defense dollars and prevented the construction of ships that were truly needed to maintain the United States’ position as the world’s preeminent maritime power. The lessons of the LCS have been well documented by the GAO, CRS, and others but was anything truly learned? The ongoing joint Navy-Marine Corps program to field a LAW using an abbreviated design and procurement schedule could also end in failure. Congress must assert itself and demand accountability for the LAW program to avoid another bad sequel to a bad movie.
Colonel (USMC) Stephen Baird is a career artillery officer. He has extensive artillery and operational level experience including command of a direct support artillery battalion, Assistant Chief of Staff G-5 Plans for I MEF, Chief of Staff 1st Marine Division, and Chief of Staff for Marine Forces Central Command during Operations OIF and OEF.
Captain (USN) Carl O. Schuster is a career naval officer who served on a variety of US and allied warships before transferring to intelligence at mid-career. He has extensive experience as a planner at the amphibious group to theater command level and finished his career as the director of operations at then US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.
Colonel (USMC) Timothy Wells is a career infantry officer. He has extensive infantry and operational level experience including Command of the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Assistant Chief of Staff G-3 for Marine Corps Forces Central Command during Operations OEF and OIF, Lead MAGTF Planner for I MEF, and Command of Marine Corps Embassy Security Guard Forces, Near East and South Asia.
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/light-amphibious-warship-bad-sequel-littoral-combat-ship-205887
Good article. Every time I read about the LAW, I try to think through the concepts presented and wind up channeling my inner Mugatu ("I feel like I am taking crazy pills"). The LAW seems to have the same conceptual employment as a rubber raiding craft....not a good thing on such a vessel. The procurement plan, as noted in the article, seems to be modeled on a poorly chosen source. Hey Phil, are you out there? Can you shed any detailed information on how the LAW is supposed to operate and survive inside the WEZ? In all seriousness, the Navy isn't even trying to pretend that they are planning for LAWS to have a 'silent service' dedicated shadow (usually found in statements like "opsec prevents us from speaking to details, but America can rest assured, the US Navy will have other assets in the vicinity to support the defense of the LAWs as they support Marine Forces deployed across the atolls and islets of the Indo-Pacific Chain".
Now, if LAW could give us 2 additional ships back in the ARG, it might be a small addition, but it would add some cube space and operational flexibility, there might be something beyond a 21st century Liberty ship running solo operations.