Dominant Logistics
LHD Carriers
A lot of effort has gone into the task of improving the sealift capacity of the U.S. Navy. Unfortunately, most of this effort has been highly misguided and is of little use. Massive RO/RO sealift ships are all well and good for transporting materials to foreign shores, but there are a wide array of problems with relying upon this strategy of global mobility.
The first problem comes from the fact that it takes far too long to load and unload these vehicles. It's all well and good that these enormous ships can carry so much material, but loading and unloading the vessels is a nightmare. Because of the exhaust put out by the vehicle engines, only a few vehicles can safely be moved within the ship at a time without putting too much carbon monoxide into the air. Spread this delay between vehicles out over hundreds of vehicles and you can see where it will take far too long to load or unload.
The next problem comes from the weight of all of this hardware. The typical fully loaded T-AKR sits very low in the water and can only use deep water ports for operations. This is a luxury that we may not have in future conflicts, but even if we do have this option, it isn't necessarily wise to use it. After all, the fact that we must rely on deepwater ports means that our adversaries can easily determine when we are leaving and where we will be going. All they have to do is make the port unsafe and we can no longer off load our materials.
Which brings us to the matter of the vulnerability of RO/ROs. Is it really a wise move to be transporting billions of dollars in combat materials on a non-combat vessel that is slow and highly vulnerable to conventional and unconventional strikes? A couple of mines or even a small boat with explosives can put the bulk of our deploying combat capability at the sea floor in a very short period of time.
Even if we do overcome all of these challenges with the current T-AKR fleet, there is still the matter of getting to the fight. Because we must rely on deepwater ports, unless the conflict is occuring AT a deepwater port, we still have to get to the fight. The RO/RO offers no other means today for off loading closer to where the materials are needed. They also lack any effective means for off loading materials other than by the equipment driving off the rear ramp.
A simple solution exists to sufficiently address all of these problems in addition to addressing some other Navy issues as well. The LHD-class of aircraft carrier is amongst the largest carriers in the world but it also has the ability to lower itself in the water and flood a lower deck to allow operation of LCAC and LCU in its well. It also has ample room on its deck to operate a variety of helicopters and other VTOL aircraft.
The LHD Wasp series
For those not familiar with the full capabilities of these amphibious assault ships, here is a brief overview:
The ship includes facilities for 2000 personnel (in addition to the crew) as well as a full suite of command and communications systems.
For support operations, the LHD can carry 450,000 gallons of fuel, it can produce 200,000 gallons of fresh water per day, and it includes a 600 bed hospital with 6 fully equipped operating rooms.
With the well deck, the LHD can carry a total of 61 amphibious assault vehicles, or it can carry a mix of vehicles and use 3 LCAC, 2 LCU, or 6 LCM in the well deck.
On the flight deck, the LHD can operate a variety of aircraft including jumpjets for air defense, ASW helicopters, and transport helicopters including up to nine CH-53s. In a vertical assault configuration, the LHD can carry up to 42 CH-46 helicopters and in air defense missions. It can also service 20 Harriers with additional aircraft for ASW.
For combat, the LHD includes a full complement of AA missiles, CIWS, .50 caliber machine guns, countermeasures systems for air and sea, radar and targeting systems, and an electronic warfare suite.
In addition to all of these systems, the LHD is small enough that it can transit every major waterway on the planet. It was specifically designed to allow for passage through the Panama Canal, the smallest of the major waterways.
We currently operate a small fleet of these vessels but at a price of less than $2 billion per ship (compared to over $5 billion for supercarriers), it makes sense to considerably expand this fleet. We have a significantly less capable amphibious ship in the LHA that should be replaced with LHDs to expand the fleet to 12 ships. Additionally, we should reduce the current supercarrier fleet by three ships to allow for the addition of six more LHDs for a total fleet of 18.
This transition would result in a significant improvement in our sealift capacity, but the LHD overcomes the limitations of the T-AKR RO/RO in this role. With the LHD, we would have the options of off loading in port, conducting an amphibious landing, or potentially even airlifting the assets into the theater.
The LHD also provides substantial support assets to the deployed force so that additional equipment like field hospitals and ROWPU systems would be optional. The ship also can provide full command and control capabilities including sufficient means to operate some types of recon aircraft from the ship. But the benefits of a large LHD fleet are not limited to the Army and the Marines.
Littoral Warfare
In the littoral regions of the world's seas, the LHD is a much better option than traditional supercarriers for naval missions. There's no reason that the landing craft used in the LHD's well could not be replaced with smaller naval warfare vessels for operations in the shallow regions. Fast attack or coastal patrol boats could easily be carried in the LHD's well and supported for long durations by the ship.
The flight deck would be ideal for operating a substantial quantity of dedicated compound Blackhawks that could be used for littoral patrols, mine warfare, attack missions, indirect airborne rocket artillery, or as transport aircraft for support and medevac missions. Given that the LHD can carry 42 CH-46s, it should have sufficient means to support a similar sized fleet of compound Blackhawks.
Blue Water Operations
While this approach would dramatically enhance our abilities in the littoral regions, it can also be an excellent platform for blue water operations as well. This role has been dominated for many years by the supercarriers but modern systems can make the LHD a strong contender in this role as well.
The LHD can currently support 20 Harriers in addition to a small compliment of helicopters. It should be able to operate a similar quantity of the new VTOL F-35s as well. We could also exchange these aircraft for a mixed fleet of F-35s and compound Blackhawks for a greater variety of options. The well deck can then be used for underway replenishment operations from other vessels or amphibious aircraft.
Forward Communications
A recent project in the DoD is evaluating the use of ground-based lasers for high-bandwidth communications from forward theaters to CONUS. The LHD would make an ideal platform for this technology. It already has substantial communications capacity but the use of lasers would dramatically improve overall bandwidth without needing to develop and field a land-based system that would need to be transported to a given theater.
Now some may bring up the inability of the LHD to support aircraft like the E-2C Hawkeye and S-3 Viking for critical support roles. But with the proposed Joint Transport Rotorcraft using a tilt-wing design, we can easily field these support aircraft based on the JTR. A fleet of 18 of these ships would allow us to use the LHDs in a greater variety of roles without compromising amphibious assault capabilities. What this would give us is a forward deployed element of active capacity - instead of sending troops into a theater and bringing in support assets after the fact, our support systems would already be in place before our forces deploy. Communications, medical, fuel, water, and aircraft systems would all be in place before the deployment even began.