By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
The US Navy has added a first-of-its-kind high-speed medical transport vessel capable of transiting through dangerous littoral areas in support of maritime war efforts, while operating a floating hospital and casualty trauma ward.
It is the latest delivery of the Navy’s fast-growing Expeditionary Fast Transport vessel, a transport vessel equipped with life-saving medical and surgical capability called the USNS Cody
“The delivery of the first Flight II EPF is a significant milestone. The ship’s enhanced medical capabilities will ensure that it provides critical support to our sailors and marines, while still performing its other mission sets.” said Tim Roberts, Strategic and Theater Sealift Program Manager, Program Executive Office (PEO), Ships, said in an essay published by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).
Built by Austal USA, the USNS Flight II EPF introduces high-speed, combat trauma medical capabilities to an existing class of high-speed EPF Transport ships. Should a Marine be shot or massively injured during a maritime combat operation, the USNS Cody is would be able to perform emergency, life-saving surgery.
“Cody is the US Navy’s first EPF to include enhanced medical facilities that enable a broader range of surgical procedures to be undertaken at sea, with 2 operating rooms and an onboard pharmacy, blood bank and laboratory to support missions.” Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said in a company statement.
While the Navy does operate several floating hospital ships such as the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy, these ships might not be fully ruggedized for maritime combat and would likely be at risk operating in closer proximity to enemy fire. They would need to operate at standoff distances and be surrounded by warships and other air and surface protection to defend against attacks.
Any kind of island-hopping maritime warfare engagement between China and the US in the South China Sea or other parts of the Pacific theater would likely generate a very high number of casualties given the precision, range and scope of weapons systems and platforms operated by both the People’s Liberation Army and the US Navy. Multi-domain sea-to-land kinds of island and coastal warfare would also likely involve amphibious attack and ship-to-shore kinds of combat with US Marines, operations also likely to generate casualties.
Perhaps the largest risk of casualties in the Pacific might exist in the event that a US and allied force had to “dislodge” or “extract” an occupying PLA force from Taiwan. While not impossible, an effort of this kind would require movement of heavily armored forces and high-risk amphibious landing into PLA shore defenses. Certainly US Marine Corps F-35B air power could very well change this equation, however the possibility remains extremely dangerous for US and allied forces with or without air superiority. China has a large land-army and a US-led coalition might be best served to destroy occupying PLA forces from the air. In any scenario, such a campaign is likely to be extremely costly in terms of human lives.
The possibility of maritime warfare casualties is something the US Navy, Marine Corps and US Army Pacific is almost certain to be preparing for, yet how can it be accomplished? Guam is 1,700 miles from the Chinese coastline and opportunities for land-basing of medical equipment is challenging. New US military presence in places such as the Philippines could greatly impact this equation, as the Philippine islands are merely several hundred miles from Taiwan, yet any warfare scenario in the Pacific would almost certainly require forward positioned US Navy medical treatment technology.
Rapid Maritime Warfare Transit & Hospital Ships
All of these factors help explain why the US Navy is fast-tracking its new fleet of Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels able to rapidly transport 500 tons across littoral and blue-water areas. Takes little imagination to recognize that an ability to rapidly transit heavy armor such as Abrams tanks across vast waterways quickly brings tremendous tactical advantage and multiplies options for Commanders. This kind of ability to move forces, equipment, weapons and larger platforms is the kind of thing which could figure prominently in any effort to “remove” an occupied Chinese force from Taiwan. Historically, heavy armor has been extremely difficult to mobilize and deploy, particularly in largely maritime areas such as the Pacific. While this is still true to a large extent, the advent of EPF vessels and the new Ship-to-Shore connectors introduce a previously unprecedented ability to quickly move 70-tons tanks across the ocean.
“The ships can transport approximately 419 short tons and travel 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 33 knots. Each vessel includes a flight deck to support day and night aircraft launch and recovery operations. The ships are capable of on/off-loading heavy equipment and vehicles such as a fully combat-loaded Abrams Main Battle Tank,” the NAVSEA essay says.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization and Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
