Fleet Numbers Matter

The Navy needs numbers to fight for control of the sea. Attrition requires enough surviving ships to exercise control.

This author argues for an offshore patrol vessel (OPV) for the Navy to get numbers. 

The USN really needs the OPV capability. Having them would better balance our fleet so they can execute those missions we don’t have the spare capacity to send our over-loved DDGs … and soon FFGs to do.

That makes sense because as the author argues, the forthcoming Constellation frigate is going to be a capable warship with shrunken capabilities like our Burke missile destroyers (DDGs). They are not the cheap Perry-class frigates of the Cold War despite the same designation. Tip to Instapundit who has a couple more links on the issue.

But about those frigates, I am not encouraged about Navy expansion efforts thus far: 

The first Constellation-class guided-missile frigate will deliver at least a year late due in large part to workforce shortfalls at the Wisconsin yard where it’s built[.]

Well.

I've wanted numbers for a long time, having noted how the small warships have disappeared from the fleet with grade inflation. The LCS intended to get numbers that I cited in that old post failed spectacularly.

But I've consistently argued for more numbers. I've hoped the Navy recognized that. But the Navy refusal to build more but less capable ships was essentially a decision to pick a low number.

I want more ships to survive combat as we shift from projecting power ashore in a permissive environment to fighting to control the seas. Yet I also recognize that because our ships must sail across oceans just to reach patrol areas, we have minimum sizes for ships that our continental allies don't face when they reach their patrol areas almost literally after leaving port.

Defenders of the Navy say it has twice the tonnage of China's navy. So we are clearly superior. But how much of that tonnage is from 10 super carriers? How long will that "advantage" last when the shooting starts?

NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.

NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.