Interested Amateur

Soryu-class SSK In the June 2010 Proceedings article, " The Right Submarine for Lurking in the Littorals ", Milan Vego, of the Naval War College, lays out a case for a US Navy SSK.   Advantages include, Better suited for operations in shallow, confined waters. Sufficient sensors and weapons for operating in these regions. SSNs are three to five times more expensive than SSKs. Less problematic to home-port SSKs abroad. Sufficient range and speed for operational deployments, if home-ported near their operating areas. Another Naval War College professor, James Holmes, laid out similar arguments at the National Interest, " Diesel Submarines: The Game Changer the U.S. Navy Needs " and " U.S. Submarines: Run Silent, Run Deep...On Diesel Engines? " He adds, Procuring and operating a common SSK with allies would show the US has "skin in the game" and demonstrate US resilience and resolve.  However even if not common, home-porting SS...

Introduction The Frigate Platform Dock (FPD-150) is the most flexible ship in the IAFM.  It came about when I was mulling over how to provide enough escorts for SAGCOMs and CVCOMs, while still supporting forward deployed Marine forces.   The existing US Navy force model splits amphibious vessels (LPD, LSD, LHD/A) and escorts into distinct pools. However you still have to provide escorts for ESGs as well as CVBGs.  But if you look at a modern amphibious ship, like the LPD-17, the systems aboard aren't that far off from those on a frigate.  It has an air defense radar, short-range SAM systems and C4ISR.   So my thought was, why not smash together the capabilities of a guided-missile frigate and a modest-sized LPD and make a self-escorting "Frigate Platform Dock"?  This way, every ESG is always self-escorting.  Also, an ability to perform strike with VLS-based munitions, and Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) with Multiple Launched Rocket System ...

Gulfstream G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) aircraft Much has been written on the Chinese A2/AD bubble.  It's clear from the literature that operating outside the first island chain is not as safe as it used to be.  There are a multitude of air, sea, subsurface and ballistic missile threats.  The threats grow in number and variety the closer you get to the Chinese coast. ASBMs, surface-delivered AShMs, submarines, and air-delivered AShMs from long range bombers and fighters like the Su-30MKK all contribute to this dilemma.   In addition, gaining and maintaining air superiority over Taiwan and other areas inside the first island chain will be increasingly difficult.  US and allied air forces in the region will likely be outnumbered at the beginning of a conflict, so maximizing effectiveness of every aircraft and every sortie will be paramount.  One key force multiplier in any air war is advance Airborne Early Warning (AEW).  The ea...

GA MQ-9B SeaGuardian Carrying ASW Pod While considering the role and missions for the IAFM light carrier (CVL-150), incorporating UAVs into the air wing appeared to offer a lot of opportunity.   UAVs can hit combinations of size, signature, endurance, and price that are hard to match with manned aircraft.  And, obviously, if they're shot down, you don't lose a pilot. Missions The primary "economy of force" missions for the CVL are, Anti-Submarine Warfare  Sea Control  Distributed Lethality Scouting CAS/COIN/ISR Marine Aviation Support (LPH) Mine Countermeasures Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief. (HA/DR) Many of these missions are slow and time consuming and would be greatly enhanced with a long-endurance aircraft.  Recently General Atomics demonstrated their MQ-9B SeaGuardian dropping sonobouys and processing results.  The Hudson Institute developed an ASW concept of operations for MALE UAVs in their work entitled " Sustaining the Undersea Ad...

“Economy of Force: Allocate minimum essential combat power to secondary efforts.”  -US Army Field Manuel 3-0, Operations, 2001   The IAFM includes two aviation ships: the large, 70-80,000 ton conventional carrier (CV55) and the smaller, SC-150-based CVL-150.  In the Battle Force 2045 version of the IAFM, I include sixteen CVL-150s and sixteen CV55s.   Small carriers have a long history in the USN, but fell out of favor after the retirement of the WWII-era CVE and CVL classes, and the LPH amphibious assault ships.  There were various attempts to resurrect the small carrier throughout the years.  Perhaps most notably was the Admiral Zumwalt-era Sea Control Ship in the 1970s. By U.S. Navy - Original: Naval Aviation News, March 1972, p. 42 and Additional: GlobalSecurity.org, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8094777 This design was never built for the US Navy, but it was sold to Spain and Thailand, who built the Príncipe de Ast...