Navy wants to decommission 9 warships
PORTLAND, MAINE >> The Navy that once wanted smaller, speedy warships to chase down pirates has made a speedy pivot to Russia and China — and many of those recently built ships could be retired.
The U.S. Navy wants to decommission nine ships in the Freedom-class of littoral combat ships — warships that cost about $4.5 billion altogether to build.
The Navy contends in its budget proposal that the move would free up $50 million per ship annually for other priorities. But it would also reduce the size of the fleet that's already surpassed by China in sheer numbers, something that could cause members of Congress to balk.
Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, defended the proposal that emphasizes long-range weapons and modern warships, while shedding other ships ill equipped to face current threats.
“We need a ready, capable, lethal force more than we need a bigger force that's less ready, less lethal, and less capable,” he said Monday at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space symposium in Maryland.
All told, the Navy wants to scrap 24 ships, including five cruisers and a pair of Los Angeles-class submarines, as part of its cost-cutting needed to maintain the existing fleet and build modern warships. Those cuts surpass the proposed nine ships to be built.
Most of them are older vessels. However, the littoral combat ships that are targeted are young. The oldest of them is 10 years old.
The Navy envisioned fast, highly maneuverable warships capable of operating in nearshore, littoral waters when it announced the program a few months after Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The ships topped 50 mph — fast enough to chase down pirates — and utilized steerable waterjets instead of conventional propellers.
The ships were supposed to be made versatile through plug-and-play mission modules for surface combat, minesweeping operations or antisubmarine warfare. But those mission modules were beset by problems, and the anti-submarine capability was canceled in the new budget.
And what about that speed? The fastest ship can't outrun missiles, and firing up those marine turbines for an extra burst of speed turned the ships into gas guzzlers, analysts said. Early versions also were criticized as too lightly armed and armored to survive combat.
U.S. Senate Armed Services Chair Jim Inhofe said the program was plagued by troubles from the start, and that “moving forward the Navy must avoid similar acquisition disasters.”
U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria, DVirginia, was more blunt, tweeting that it “sucks” to be decommissioning so many ships, especially newer ones.