Uh oh:
The Navy is struggling to find support to buy new logistics ships, even as a new study finds the Navy’s current plans to recapitalize that logistics fleet are insufficient to support distributed operations in a high-end fight against China or Russia.
A new study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments finds that the Navy needs to spend $47.8 billion over the next 30 years beyond what it has currently laid into its plans in order to build a logistics fleet that could refuel and resupply the Navy and Marine Corps in a fight.
It is good that if we must fight a war it will be far from our shores. I'd rather be able to spare our homeland from systematic attack by fighting overseas if we must fight.
But that gives our enemies and advantage because their lines of supply are short. We must extend our supply lines over vase oceans in the fact of enemy interference.
Which means we need a lot more logistics ships for such a war because we can't hire civilian ships in a less than permissive sea environment as we have had in the post-Cold War era.
A new era of great power competition requires a more robust supply effort. Not just for the Navy. Which requires even more if it fights dispersed.
And it requires a Navy combat fleet able to protect the larger logistics effort that all the services will need.
