Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmo
My reservation about using corvettes in the martitime security, anti-pirate type roles is that I'd be worried they would not have the range, sea-keeping or even crew-comfort needed to carry out those missions without being some sort of logistical burden. Indeed, that was something that bothered me about the LCS concept. The thing was just too short legged and I feared it would be a logistical nightmare. I'd use austere frigates in those roles with long range and good sea-keeping. Hell, the NSC was designed for those types of mission. I have heard that the ships was designed to be up-armed if neccessary -- but I am not sure how so or by how much.
For the "true" littoral type missions...I am not sure what I'd do. Maybe the original concept of using very small (600 ton) ships with some sort LCS-tender ship is the way to go. Personally, I like Galrahn's pet idea of using large LPD-17 size motherships with swarms of USVs, UAVs, ... Time will tell, but I think we are still in a time of exploring of those ideas.
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Any discussion of buying a corvette-sized warship for the USN has to include a discussion of how to sustain them. Where friendly port access is available, the problem is not as great, but you are right, some form of tender that can refuel, and support corvettes appears vital to this discussion.
Also, if you go all the way down to a 600 ton ship, you will need to make up for the lost aviation somehow. The LCS gains a lot of its value from its ability to embark two H-60 equivalents (typically one H-60 and several VTUAVs).
I think a small, largely commercial-spec'd LHD (along the lines of the ThyssenKrupp MHD150, the Canberra class or Mistral) has a lot to offer for Global Fleet Station deployments, and can provide aviation and some small-boat support for higher threat situations, but I think there will still be a need for self-deployable, corvette and/or frigate sized surface combatants.
I'm still on the fence on the mothership concept. I like the fact that its a big hull that can sustain itself for significant periods, and carry a large load. I'm just not convinced it can give you the same geographic flexibility as a cost-equivalent number of corvettes plus tender.
For example, (pulling numbers out of the air) for the price of one $1.2 billion LPD-17, you might buy 6 $100 million 600 ton corvettes, and one $600 million tender/aviation ship. Those 6 corvettes could range over a much larger geographical area than the small USVs and boats from the LPD-17, and each corvette packs a much larger useful payload.
Just MHO.