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Seems ambitious, what are your thoughts? @AlphaMike @Anmdt et al.
UPDATED: Navy’s Force Design 2045 Plans for 373 Ship Fleet, 150 Unmanned Vessels - USNI News
This post has been updated with comments from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday The latest plan to design a future force calls for a fleet of 373 manned ships, buttressed by about 150 unmanned surface and underwater vehicles by 2045, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike...news.usni.org
Navy’s Force Design 2045 Plans for 373 Ship Fleet, 150 Unmanned Vessels
Sam LaGroneJuly 26, 2022 1:23 PM
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) sails alongside amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA-7) during a photo exercise for Valiant Shield 2022 on June 12, 2022. US Navy Photo
The latest plan to design a future force calls for a fleet of 373 manned ships, buttressed by about 150 unmanned surface and underwater vehicles by 2045, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday’s update to his Navigation Plan for the Navy.
“In the 2040s and beyond, we envision this hybrid fleet to require more than 350 manned ships, about 150 large unmanned surface and subsurface platforms, and approximately 3,000 aircraft,” reads the NAVPLAN obtained by USNI News.
“Strategic competition with China is both a current and long-term challenge. Focusing our force design on 2045 will inform the most consequential decisions and investments the Navy needs to make in the critical decade ahead.”
Last week, USNI News reported the service had delivered a classified force structure assessment to Congress that factored in the combatant commander requirements and a more detailed threat assessment – particularly in the Western Pacific. The NAVPLAN factors in the latest National Defense Strategy idea of “integrated deterrence,” partnering the Defense Department with other government agencies to compete with China and keep a military advantage over Russia as well as the emerging Joint Warfare Concept linking the services together in a conflict.
The NAVPLAN defines the overarching threats as the declining value of military deterrence, aggressive actions from the Chinese and Russians in contrast to international law and the speed of technological change.
Under that thought process, the 2045 fleet promotes ships with the flexibility to host higher-power weapon systems and sensors that can be quickly upgraded as technology changes.
“We will build future platforms with modernization in mind—hardware upgradeable and software updateable at the speed of innovation,” reads the report.
“We must build adequate space, weight, and power into our large long-life capital investments to support evolving sensors and weapons systems.”
The notional 2045 Navy calls for:
12 Columbia-class ballistic missile nuclear submarines
12 Aircraft carriers
66 Submarines split between fast attack and large diameter payload boats
96 Large surface combatants like the Arleigh Burke class destroyer and the emerging DDG(X) next-generation destroyer
56 Constellation-class guided-missile frigates
31 Large amphibious ships
18 Light amphibious warships to support to Marine Littoral Regiments
82 Combat logistics ships and auxiliaries
150 large surface and subsurface unmanned vessels that will act as sensors and as auxiliary magazines to the manned fleet
USS Spruance (DDG-111) arrives at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) for a scheduled port visit as part of the Abraham Lincoln Strike Group on May 21, 2022. US Navy Photo
In aviation, the plan calls for a mix of 1,300 5th generation carrier aircraft with a family of Next Generation Air Dominance fighters and unmanned aerial vehicles, 900 “anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, to include helicopters and maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft” and 750 support aircraft.
The totals are a further tweak to the roughly 500-ship total Gilday said the service needed to meet its requirements during remarks at the WEST 2022 conference, co-hosted by AFCEA and the U.S. Naval Institute earlier this year. The round number is also largely in line with the Trump administration’s fleet plan then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper issued late in 2020.
In line with a larger Defense Department drive, the Navy is crafting a concept of operations to conquer the vast distances in the Western Pacific with a network of sensors and shooters to find and attack targets. The Navy’s emerging Distributed Maritime Operations concept was refined last year during the Large Scale Exercise 2021. The idea for DMO is to have a fleet commander with direct operational control over several formations like a carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups to mass their power together over thousands of miles.
To keep the pace and cost of new ships to the fleet, the report doubles down on the Fiscal Year 2023 budget goals of cutting existing ships in the fleet, including aging Ticonderoga -class cruisers and relatively young Littoral Combat Ships. Removing both classes of ships from the fleet have been contentious in Congress, with legislators form both parties seeking to block the early retirements.
“The Navy must set a sustainable trajectory now to ensure we remain the combat-credible maritime force our nation needs in the future,” reads the report.
“Retiring legacy platforms that cannot stay relevant in contested seas—and investing in the capabilities we need for the future—is essential for our national security.”
Update + CorrectionLarge surface combatants (DDG + CG). (Forces goal : 96 | currently active : 70 DDG +22 CG= 92, fitting out : 4, under construction : 10)
The USN will gradually retire the 22 old Ticonderoga not late into 2030, which will make the DDG-51 class the only active large surface combatants of the fleet. As of the time of this writing:
- 70 are active in the fleet
- 4 are fitting out
- 10 are under construction
Some updatesNuclear attack submarines (Forces goal : 66 | currently active : 51 , fitting out : 2, under construction : 2)
The mainstay of modern US SSN fleet is the Virginia's, around 21 are currently in active service, with the latest addition, the Montana SSN 794 just commissioned about a month ago.FY 2022 saw the induction of 2 Virginia class SSN 793 and 794.FY 2023 will likely saw either 2 Virginia or one, the contender being the SSN 795 and 796With 2 more under construction#SSN 797#SSN 798#SSN 799-807 are under various construction and fabrication phase.It took around 5-6 years for a single boat, the upcoming block V will likely took a longer time with the addition of the VPM module. The build rate is also ~1.5 boat per year (varying) so we're likely seeing another addition of 12-15 Virginias to the USN until 2045, for around 36 Virginia's.36 Virginias, 3 Seawolfs and the rest are flight III Los Angeles class which is now getting prepped for decommissioning. I think 66 (only comprised of modern Seawolfs and Virginias) is way to ambitious, but who knows.To be continued......
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@Nilgiri @Kartal1 @Sanchez check this out, SM-6 onboard Super Hornet.
Super Hornet Armed With SM-6 Missile Spotted Over California
F/A-18E/Fs armed with adapted SM-6 surface-to-air missiles that also possess major surface strike capabilities could be a boon for the Navy.www.twz.com