Lets just call a spade a spade. The Navy has a critical shortage of Subchaser/Destroyer Escort/Frigate type ships…again.
Going back to the old steam and steel navy of the 1900s, the torpedo boat was put out to pasture by the destroyer (who could both kill torpedo boats and launch torps while keeping up with the fleet). This gave the navy four distinct category of vessels:
1. Battleships– the default capital ship from 1890-1942
2. Large, armored or heavy cruisers– who could fight and kill anything up to a battleship
3. Smaller ‘light’ or protected cruisers– who could screened the fleet and scouted ahead
4. Destroyers– who provided escort for all of the above and could be assigned to expendable missions
Then came World War One and the Navy realized that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they were tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pulled away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or battleship open to a torpedo from the ship that effectively replaced the torpedo boat– the submarine.
WWI-era 110-foot Subchaser #57 of the “Splinter Fleet” these boats were small but had a lot of heart. Don’t knock them for their size– submarines of the day weren’t much larger
The answer was the “subchaser,” little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers. Hundreds of SCs were built and used by the Navy in WWI and even remained in service into the 20s to some degree. Then the Navy got rid of them, saying that anything a SC could do a Destroyer could do better so why waste the money.
Then came World War II and the Navy realized that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they were tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pulled away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or battleship or carrier open to a torpedo. (Sound familiar?)
USS Buckley (DE-51), your typical WWII DE. 1740-tons, 306-feet, built for the fight at hand.
The answer was the “destroyer escort,” little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers. Hundreds of DEs were built and used by the Navy in WWII and even remained in service into the 50s to some degree. Then the Navy got rid of them, saying that anything a DE could do a Destroyer, of which they had hundreds of left over from the Big One, could do better so why waste the money.
Then came the depths of the Cold War in the 1960s in which the Russkies were cranking out enough submarines to walk from Martha’s Vineyard to Hamburg without getting your feet wet and the Navy realized that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they were tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pulled away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or carrier or amphibious assault ship open to a torpedo. (Could have sworn I heard this song before)
Aerial view of Knox-class frigate USS McCandless (FF-1084) 4260-tons 438-feet long, these were excellent ASW/ASuW boats and held the line in the Atlantic for 25 years.
The answer was the “frigate,” little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers. Over a hundred frigates (46 Knox-class FF, 51 Perry-class FFG, 10 Bronstein-class FF, 6 Brooke-class FFG) were built and used by the Navy in the Cold War and even remained in service into the 21st century to some degree. Then the Navy got rid of them, saying that anything a frigate could do a Destroyer could do better so why waste the money. In turn, a group of expendable Littoral Combat Ships that are frigate-sized but not frigate-like will pick up the slack and serve as minesweepers if needed (hey any ship can be a minesweeper once, right?)
Now we have a resurgent and chest-pounding China, who is bullying its neighbors as it reaches out for Lebensraum and to return ethnic-Chinese to the fold while it rebuilds its military (augmented by a New Russia led by Tsar Vladimir I who is doing much the same thing but on a smaller asymmetric scale, and the always fun Persian Gulf follies in a world of unstable oil prices). Both of their navies rely on submarines to do the heavy lifting and (insert shock) the Navy realizes that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they are tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pull away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or carrier or amphibious assault ship open to a torpedo.
What they need is a (wait for it) class of little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers.
What they have are 32 ( mostly still building) lightly armed LCSs that currently cannot fool with a submarine, fight a surface contact larger than a speedboat or pirate launch, and, while they can escort a merchant or auxiliary ship in areas with such lightweight threats, if faced with any sort of actual foreign naval presence, is hard-pressed to even escort itself. About the only thing they do have in common with the 100 years of sub-chasers/destroyer escorts/frigates that preceded them is the ability to creep into shallow littoral waters and wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel.
Now that is going to change.
As reported by the USNI and others the last 20 LCS built will instead be much-augmented Small Surface Combatants (SSC)– presumably 10 on each hull.
The ships will pick up some sub-buster creds with multifunction towed array, provisions for ASW torps (helicopter carried), and torpedo countermeasures (Nixie or TRAPR DCL?).
For increased ASuW punch they will get an over-the-horizon anti-ship missile (likely an advanced Harpoon or possibly the excellent new Norwegian Naval Strike missile which has been tested on LCS-4 already), and confusingly, more light guns to include Mk.38 25mm remote mounts forward. While twin Mk44/46/50 gun mount (using a 30mm Bushmaster and the rounds from the GAU-8 Avenger cannon on the A-10) is already slated as a module for the series and is much superior to the 25mm is still listed as a possibility which would make it the first USN combatant to have three 25-57mm caliber batteries on board in modern history if fielded like this.
There will also be some survivability improvements to include more armor, signature management, an active EW system, upgraded decoys and an over the horizon search radar.
Sadly, no on-board Mk32 tubes or even a 8-cell Mk41 VLS for a few ASROC or ESSM bulk packs, but hey, at least this version of the LCS is closer to what the original one should have been and can control some ocean if needed. Perhaps this is an option later however….
Maybe the first 32 LCS can be modernized to SSC standard during their mid-life refit. An SSC will cost $60-$75 million more than a Flight 0 LCS, and procurement of the type is to begin by 2019.
And then just go ahead and call them frigates.
Just saying.
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