Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2015)

The 2015 The 2015

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U.S. Navy photo

A Landing Craft Air Cushion transports a Logistic Vehicle System Replacement ashore from the Military Sealift Command mobile landing platform USNS

Montford Point (MLP 1) as part of of? oad operations held during the Montford Point’s post-delivery test and trials.

Navy is “where it matters, when it matters”

U.S. NavyU.S. Navy

By Edward Lundquist f you pick up a naval or defense– pose a threat that is shrouded in mystery national naval response. was kicked off more than a decade ago. related magazine from ten years in unpredictability. China may or may With limited resources and lots of The Navy just christened the USS John ago, the stories would look pretty not be a threat, but based on the growth threats, the Navy is trying to recapitalize Finn (DDG 113), the latest ship in the much the same as they do today. of its military and its growing claims of and be the sea service it needs to be for Arleigh Burke class of guided missile

I “These are uncertain times.” “We territorial waters and control of airspace the next several decades. That includes destroyers, the ? rst of which was com- have to do more with less.” “We have to have its neighbors worried. Those who modernizing existing ships and aircraft missioned in 1991.

transform our military.” “We can’t af- thought the Cold War was over now see and building new ones. And something that is relatively new ford as much, so what we do buy has to a revanchist Russia annexing the sover- This summary provides an overview and different can’t shake the past. LCS be better.” “We need to adapt faster than eign territory of Ukraine and fomenting of some of the sea service’s major ship was developed as a platform for systems our adversaries.” armed separatists there. Russian ships programs. It doesn’t include all details to deal with three speci? c threats in a

The more things change, the more the and aircraft are now conducting patrols about all classes of ships; is not in any littoral environment. Critics continue headlines stay the same. that harken back to the days of the Soviet order of priority, and is admittedly brief. to decry the lack of ? repower or surviv-

With the budget-balancing device Union. One threat most people didn’t And what’s “new” is open to interpre- ability in a shootout, and ignore the real known as sequestration looming over see coming was the jihadists trying to tation. The newest and most modern threats in the littoral that can’t be fully the Pentagon, there is no end to the se- reestablish the caliphate of centuries destroyer ever built, the DDG 1000, has addressed by existing platforms.

curity challenges faced by the armed ago. Piracy, contraband smuggling and been a line item in the federal budget for Ballistic missile defense is on one end forces. North Korea and Iran continue to human traf? cking have spurred an inter- more than 20 years. The LCS program of the warfare spectrum, while from the 40 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JUNE 2015

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