Austerity and Naval Strategy

As I've noted previously, I'm a longtime student of naval strategy. I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few articles I've collected over the last few years. The question of how to continue safeguarding American interests while searching for efficiencies has been both prominent and contentious for several years now, and the Navy has spent those last few years quietly pursuing a pretty effective campaign of doing just that. As I noted in my dissertation:

Western militaries have recently considered a variety of options for managing international security challenges with a smaller footprint. Naval advocates, for example, propose a variety of approaches, from fielding modified destroyers optimized for stand-alone missions[1] ; to increased emphasis on comparatively inexpensive amphibious assault ships[2] ; vice supercarriers.[3] (The experimental 2012 conversion of USS Ponce into a Gulf-based logistics platform[4] ironically reflects the use of similar assets off the Dhofari coast to facilitate logistical support for Operation Badree.[5]) These approaches mirror the 2011 NATO campaign in Libya, in which amphibious vessels spearheaded operations utilizing embarked V/STOL aircraft and attack helicopters[6], vice a supercarrier and air wing.

[1] Albaugh, Kurt; “Six Frigates and the Future of Gunboat Diplomacy”; Small Wars Journal; Bethesda, MD; 04APR2011; http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/722-albaugh.pdf

[2] Axe, David; Navy’s Newest Assault Ship Moonlights as Pint-Sized Aircraft Carrier; Wired.com; N/A; 22OCT2012; http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/navy-mini-carrier/

[3] Ottens, Nick; Amphibs vs Carriers: Which Has the Future?; Atlantic Sentinel; N/A; 29JUL2011; http://atlanticsentinel.com/2011/07/amphibs-vs-carriers-which-has-the-future/

[4] N/A; ‘Floating base’ deploys to Gulf: US Navy; Agence France-Presse; Washington, D.C.; 07JUL2012; http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/floating-base-deploys-to-gulf-us-navy-1.1045755

[5] Monick, S.; “Victory in Hades: The Forgotten Wars of Oman 1957-1959 and 1970-1976, Part 2A: The Dhofar Campaign 1970-1976”; Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol. 12, Nr 4; Saldanha, South Africa; 1982; http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/600 ; pp. 23

[6] N/A; Libya: UK Apache helicopters used in Nato attacks; BBC; N/A; 04JUN2011; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13651736

A few additional notes.

1) Because I was writing about the Dhofar Rebellion, I compared the deployment of USS Ponce with the deployment of a similar vessel off the Dhofari coast during Operation Badree. I was unaware until recently that a similar approach was used in Falklands War of 1982. The US Navy is currently expanding upon this capability (source, source) as a continuation of its use of the Ponce. As that first source article notes:

The idea is for these cheaper vessels wherever possible to take the places of the Navy’s front-line destroyers, cruisers, amphibious ships and aircraft carriers, maintaining American presence on routine patrols while freeing up the tougher, more expensive warships like the flattop Ford to prepare for what they do best: fight a full-on shooting war.

The Navy has made some other smart purchases as well. I've already noted their pursuit of economies of scale by capitalizing on the F/A-18 platform. The Navy has also been able to develop economies of scale in the production of the Virginia Class submarine fleet, as well as converting four of the existing Ohio Class ballistic missile submarines instead of retiring them entirely in accordance with treaties between the United States and Russia. The Littoral Combat Ship has been a bit more problematic, but the Navy's overall record has been strong - arguably stronger than those of its peers.