by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Launching 5th-generation stealth air attack, controlling groups of surface, air and undersea drones, transporting Marines for fast air and surface attack missions and conducting massive, full-scale amphibious warfare campaigns … are just a few reasons why the Navy and Marine Corps Combatant Commanders consistently request amphibious assault ships.
The 2024 Defense Bill has been passed by Congress, and the legislation does fund some now-in-development amphibious assault ships, however the appropriations committees are now tasked with allocating the dollars necessary to build the ships.
Priorities for the Corps include ongoing construction and development of the next-two critical America-class amphibious assault ships, called LHA 9 and LHA 10 as well as critical funding for Amphibious Transport Dock LPD 33. The first three America-class amphibs, a next-generation platform capable of transporting as many as 20 F-35Bs, are built .. and the service is surging ahead with plans to build the next two. and ship-builders are waiting for Congressional appropriations to approve and release portions of the funds.
Marine Corps Adapts
Recognizing the changing nature of the global environment, and the increasingly concerning Chinese threat in the Pacific, the Corps has in recent years made a number of intense moves to adapt to the kinds of amphibious warfare operations which will be required in the future. There are many elements to this, to include a literal “explosion” of unmanned systems, manned-unmanned teaming and command and control, high-speed, yet extremely lethal weapons platforms to support expeditionary operations, specialized “island-hopping” littoral units and “Stand-In” forces positioned to quickly close with an enemy as needed. Many of these adaptations were outlined in the Marine Corps Force Design 2030, a strategic text outlining the Corps adaptive approach to future amphibious warfare. Among other things, the concepts of operation articulated in the text seek to build upon the speed and rapid deployment capability of platforms armed with anti-armor weapons and fortified by close-in drone-surveillance and targeting. Success of anti-armor weapons in Ukraine, for instance, is cited in the Marine Corps Force Design 2030 text as a reason why light, expeditionary yet extremely lethal sea-air-land, multi-domain forces are needed. This was the reason why the Corps is reducing its amount of heavy armor, as the service wants to prioritize rapid deployment, anti-armor lethality, island-hopping sea-land warfare operations and extensive use of unmanned systems for surveillance and close-in-attack. While many applaud the Corp’s vigorous effort to adapt to a new threat environment with lighter, faster anti-armor weapons and drones, some former Corps amphibious assault commanders maintain that tanks and heavy armor should remain a critical element of any amphibious assault force.
“If you read the history of every major war. The most frightening thing for enemy soldiers to be under artillery fire…a barrage of artillery fire. It will wreck them, body, mind, and soul. We have a whole thing about it, don’t we? Shell shock. So to not be able to deliver cheap volume fire would be a critical mistake…..to not be able to support assaults with our armored vehicles, armor, et cetera, would be a critical mistake,” Former Director of Expeditionary Warfare, Navy, Ret. Maj. Gen. David Coffman, senior Warrior Naval Warfare Expert, said in an interview with Warrior about the future of amphibious warfare.
Coffman, who Commanded a Marine Expeditionary Unit, told Warrior he was glad that there is a legal mandate for 31 amphibious assault ships … but feels 31 is much to small a number for the Corps.
“It’s great that it is enshrined in law, but the requirement must be for considerably more than 31 if our nation wants to be a global maritime power,” Coffman said.
Big Deck Amphibs & Sea Basing
Increasingly, big-deck amphibs are expected to function as critical “mother ships” operating large groups of unmanned systems, aircraft and surface attack platforms at stand-off distances. In maritime areas such as the Pacific, where critical areas are separated by what’s called the “tyranny of distance,” a need for Sea-Basing, multi-domain networking and manned-unmanned command and control is indispensable to maritime security and deterrence missions.
In recent years, Congress has mandated that the Navy and Marine Corps maintain a total of at least 31 amphibious assault ships, and Combatant Commander demand has for years out-paced or exceeded available amphibious warship platforms. For this reason, the Corps continues to place budget for more amphibious assault ships on its “unfunded priorities list,” and the Corps has consistently worked closely with Congressional decision-makers to help pursue, ensure and preserve the stable, consistent, reliable funding required to meet the military and security needs of the force.
“Section 1023 of the FY2023 NDAA amends 10 U.S.C. 8062 to require the Navy to include not less than 31 operational larger amphibious ships, including 10 LHA/LHD-type ships and 21 LPD- or LSD-type amphibious ships,” a Congressional Research Report from Aug 2023 says.
Many lawmakers and service leaders maintain the view that indeed more amphibious assault ships are needed to address the seriousness of the growing Chinese threat in the Pacific to Taiwan and areas in and around the South China Sea.
Funding for Amphibious Assault Ships
The Navy and the Marine Corps are concerned about the need for consistent funding to address the threat, secure America and international waterways and, of critical importance, maintain a robust industrial base. As part of this effort, a group representing 650 amphibious warship suppliers across the nation called the Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition is similarly devoted to supporting the continued ship construction. Much like the Navy, the AWIBC is also hoping for steady funding to maintain its workforce and continue shipbuilding progress.
“We would like to have LPDs on contract every two years and LHA amphibs on contract every four years. This gives the supply chain and the industrial base some vision of what is coming down the pike so they don’t get caught being understaffed,” Capt. Paul J. Roden, USCG (Ret), AWIBC Chairman, told Warrior in an interview.
Leaders of the Navy and Marine Corps have recently been expressing concern that the the Navy’s FY2024 30-year shipbuilding plan shows the number of amphibious assault ships in the Navy dropping below and remaining below 31, decreasing to 26 ships in 2035, according to an August 2023 Congressional Research Report.
“Marine Corps officials have stated that a force with fewer than 31 larger amphibious ships would increase operational risks in meeting demands from U.S. regional combat,” the report says.
The Marine Corps supports a revised Navy ship force-level goal with 31 larger amphibious ships, including 10 LHA/LHD-type ships and 21 LPD-17s. Section 1023 of the FY2023 NDAA amends 10 U.S.C. 8062 to require the Navy to include not less than 31 operational larger amphibious ships, including 10 LHA/LHD-type ships and 21 LPD- or LSDtype amphibious ships. The Navy’s FY2024 30-year (FY2024-FY2053) shipbuilding plan shows the projected number of amphibious ships remaining below 31 ships throughout the 30-year period, with the figure decreasing to 26 ships in FY2035 and to 19 to 23 ships in FY2053. Marine Corps officials have stated that a force with fewer than 31 larger amphibious ships would increase operational risks in meeting demands from U.S. regional combat
The AWIBC coalition is steadfast in its support for the Marine Corps and Navy and based on the non-partisan DoD-grounded ethic of supporting
national security, yet they do express concern that delayed or compromised funding for necessary shipbuilding, national security suffers and the industrial base capacity can be greatly damaged. The AWIBC represents the shipbuilding workforce, to include 650 companies across more than 39 states and 249 Congressional districts, and its leaders express concern that unstable funding can drive large numbers of highly skilled and highly specialized shipbuilding professionals away from the industry. This kind of development, AWIBC proponents and some members of Congress say, can impair industry’s ability to retain the skilled workforce needed to support shipbuilding and national security.
Roden and some members of Congress advocate for what’s called multi-procurement ship-buys wherein blocks of several ships are placed on contract at one time.
A Congressional Research Report from August, 2023, says the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act permits the Navy to enter into “block buy contracts for procuring up to five LPD-17 and LHA-type amphibious ships.”
Block buys would enable predictability, budget planning and consistent, steady progress for the shipbuilding industry as they can plan production, secure long-lead items and maintain business with suppliers and subcontractors.
“It’s in the best interests of the Navy and the country if there were a multi-ship procurement strategy so shipbuilders can lock-in their suppliers,” Roden.
At an upcoming event on Capitol Hill with lawmakers, shipbuilders and service leaders such as the Marine Corps Commandant, AWIBC will unveil results from a recently completed industrial-base survey.
Often called the “Swiss Army Knives” of maritime warfare, amphibious assault ships, Marine Expeditionary Units and Amphibious Ready Groups have for decades been foundational to the Corps, yet they are even more vital in today’s fast-evolving threat environment. The need for multi-domain kinds of air-sea-land coastal, littoral or island-hopping warfare operations has become more pressing given the threat environment in the Pacific theater. Although amphibious warfare moving into the future is less likely to approximate the kinds of linear maritime combat formations such as those used with success in Iwo Jima in WWII, the need for sea-land-air warfare operations and continued readiness across dispersed formations will persist into the future.
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.
