The Navy is looking at alternatives to robotic missile carriers for the fleet.
I'm eager for the Navy to have options other than its preferred option:
The study will compare the Navy’s preferred plan — a large unmanned surface vessel (LUSV) outfitted with vertical launching system tubes that can fire strike missiles — to other options. Four categories of options being considered are modifying existing naval ship designs, such as amphibious ships, expeditionary fast transports and expeditionary sea bases; modifying commercial vessel designs, such as container ships and bulk carriers; creating a new naval ship design; or creating a new commercial ship design, Aldridge said.
Perhaps I'm misreading the concept of "large." But the LUSV sounds like an unmanned version of the Arsenal Ship. Even if "large" just means relative to tiny unmanned surface vessels, I'd bet the ship grows over time if put into development. Which is stupid if you want to correct America's over-reliance on a few expensive ships--our big carriers. Making Arsenal Ships robotic doesn't make them less stupid. These kinds of high-value targets motivate enemies to threaten them wherever they are.
But I hate the option of adding missiles to Navy logistics ships. We have too few of them to make them offensive ships, too. Especially with a larger fleet spread out over more ocean.
Spreading out missiles across the fleet is a good basic concept that harnesses network-centric warfare capabilities (I know the term of art has changed a lot over the decades, but the concept is the same).
Ships, subs, planes, helicopters, and ground force assets must fight as one to kill ships and knock down planes. When shooters and sensors don't have to be in the same platform, options expand.
And I'm fully on board the container ship option, as I've long advocated in a modularized auxiliary cruiser concept. Indeed, such ships might be a stepping stone to fully robotic ships.
Missiles need to be spread out in the existing fleet. And more hulls must be in the fleet. The Navy must minimize the effects of losing a single ship for waging a campaign to control the seas.
And for Neptune's sake, kill the "large" in LUSV in this study.
NOTE: War updates continue in this post.
