Corvette Carriers: A New Littoral Warfare Strategy

U.S, World
Corvettes, like the Skjold class employed by the Norwegian Navy U. S. Navy Institute | James Alexander Michie

Corvettes, like the Skjold class employed by the Norwegian Navy, could give the United States a lethal presence in adversary littorals. NORWEGIAN NAVY

A new strategy of coastal war arises. And, with the renewal of the competition of great power, the Navy and Marine Corps must use boats that can threaten the adversaries in their waters of origin.

This being so, it is necessary to emphasize that the United States Navy has long identified the threats on the coastlines and the need to fight within these nearby waters. Despite his efforts, still struggles to create a capable fighting force that delivers speed, lethality, and deterrence. Expeditionary strike groups are back in vogue with the Navy and Navy team; a new frigate will soon be on the horizon; and coastal combat vessels (LCS) are still in search of a viable combat mission. However, all these options involve large and expensive platforms and have been the focus of the surface fleet for too long. What the Navy and Marine Corps team needs is a complement to existing capital ships: fast-attack ships that are strategic assets and can be deployed globally.

Possible solution

It is considered that a possible solution to the problem of the naval coast is the fusion of the sea base with the concepts of rapid attack of the Second World War and the Cold War of the Navy. The oldest dock landing ships, such as the USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) class, have a large well deck designed for the transport of marine connectors (LCAC) and utility boats [LCU]).

It should be noted that one of the fastest naval platforms afloat, the Skjold can do 60 knots, carries eight Naval Strike missiles (a weapon that comes to the inventory of the US), A OTO Melara 76 mm gun (also familiar for the US Navy) and a crew of 20 or less.

In this way, loaded with fuel and missiles for rearmament, a corvette carrier could quickly deploy two stealth sloops like the Skjold with a range of 800 nautical miles, capable of threatening an enemy naval fleet or base with a barrage of missiles from the surface to surface. Taking this concept further, the Navy could use the existing expeditionary maritime base ships (the Lewis B. Puller class [ESB-3] and the Montford Point class [T-ESD-1]) to carry four to five corvette missiles to a theater of his choice, which offers the potential of swarms of fast attack ships and poses a new problem to the adversaries in their waters of origin.

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Source: Lieutenant Colonel Colin D. Smith, U.S. Marine Corps | U.S. Naval Institute

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