US Marines to Join the Hunt.

[seaman hornsby]

https://warisboring.com/marine-corps-says-its-going-to-start-hunting-submarines/?mc_cid=2a1decccae&mc_eid=1868557cec

[coryhenry]

I don't see why except for the Marines looking for more missions to justify more funding. The ASW community is already using drones and working with LCS to create expeditionary mission packages.

[X Bubblehead]

The Marines are trying to become more relevant than just shock troops with an amphibious specialty. They're divesting themselves of tanks in attempt to become more nimble for what is perceived as the next major challenge - keeping the Chinese guessing where they might appear next. (Hint: Follow the amphibs!) Hunting submarines in the littorals is no easy task, so they're leveraging emerging technology to free up ASW assets that could otherwise be used to protect Surface Battle Groups.

In a real shooting war, an aircraft carrier would not be my first (or fifth) choice of naval platforms to be embarked. Their life expectancy could easily be measured in days or hours once they enter the perimeter Chinese island chain. This forces the USN to rapidly destroy the A2AD capabilities of their artificial islands with cruise missiles (a choice task for the SSGNs) and beginning to prod them with Marines landing in unexpected places (whack a mole tactics) with long-range, precision weapons.

The possibility of a major, WWII-style beach assault hasn't materialized since Inchon. I think the Marines are being forward-thinking and proactive in enabling the Navy. A 500-600 ship Navy is not sustainable without the infrastructure to build and maintain it. (Gee, maybe Mare Island shouldn't have been whacked?!!) We can't even maintain the ships we have in a timely manner now. Throw in horribly-executed ships without missions, (LCS, Zumwalt class) and you have surface forces that are even more useless than a robust, though unnecessary amphibious assault capability.

Time will tell, but I think an enlarged submarine force would be a greater deterrent than a dozen carriers. Sure, they're big and impressive looking, but the point of sea power is to maintain sea lines of communication and turn real estate into rubble, something a robust fleet of SSNs and SSGNs is more than up to the task for. Keep the anti-air ships, mine countermeasure and ASW vessels, but carriers are too expensive, a PITA to equip and maintain and likely to be the target-of-choice for any adversary's forces. How many carrier losses would it take for the USN to fall back or worse, lose the political will to prosecute armed conflict with a near-peer adversary.

Remember when the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands war immediately sent the whole Argentinian Navy back to port at a flank bell? One nuclear submarine was worth the deterrent value of an entire surface action group. Know there were more made it even more prudent to stay home. Locating and prosecuting the latest submarines the US may be called on to deal with is difficult on a good day. If the Marines can bring something to the fight, it won't be unappreciated.

For everything else, there's Mastercard.

CCC