Does Navy leadership believe the Navy is urgently needed soon?
If the greatest threat of war with China is in the next four years (and I don't necessarily agree with that), we need numbers and the only way to get them is to build smaller warships:
Earlier this year the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a study titled "The First Battle of the Next War: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan." The study's recommendations included fortifying U.S. and allied bases (like Guam) and a "Shift to smaller, more survivable ships."
I'd say small, fast and stealthy missile ships armed with proven weapons that can be built in small shipyards and fighting within 24 months.
But I digress.
In regard to the composition of the Navy for war, I've long said pick a number needed and build the kind of ships needed to get to that number.
Yet I want to register a major caveat given our need to deploy ships long distances to fight:
Yet while small ships, like Cyclones or smaller, are useful in the Persian Gulf, I don't believe that small ships like the Russians and a lot of our allies build are possible for the Navy because our ships pretty much have a minimum hull size just to be able to cross an ocean to the patrol area without the hull being pounded to pieces.
As I'd expect with that initial author, he recognizes the size issue:
In the past two years I've written a couple of columns discussing small missile boats with long-range sea capability.
But we could also outfit larger modularized auxiliary cruisers. And perhaps outfit some as motherships to help deploy and sustain smaller warships overseas, now that I think about it.
But most importantly, we have to be able to trust our Navy's upper leadership.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
