Welcome to the CavasShips Podcast with Christopher P. Cavas and Chris Servello…a weekly podcast looking at naval and maritime events and issues of the day – in the US, across the seas and around the world. This week…we are joined by retired Vice Admiral John “Fozzie” Miller, former commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command to discuss the likelihood of Iranian aggression and what the US Navy and its partners and allies can do to deter and respond if necessary.
Please send us feedback by DM’ing @CavasShips or @CSSProvision or you can email chriscavas@gmail.com or cservello@defaeroreport.com.
This Week’s Naval News:
The carrier USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN passed through the Strait of Malacca August 16 as she moves from the western Pacific to take up station in the US Central Command area of operations. ABE is relieving the carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT on station in CENTCOM as the tense situation in the Middle East shows no sign of ending. At the other end of the Pacific, carrier USS CARL VINSON returned to San Diego August 15 to wrap up her latest deployment to the central Pacific area.
The submarine tender USS EMORY S LAND pulled into the Australian naval base at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia on August 16. The ship’s mixed crew of US and more than 30 Australian sailors will together carry out a maintenance period on a US Navy Virginia-class submarine as the Royal Australian Navy gains experience in supporting nuclear-powered submarines. EMORY S LAND, normally based at Guam, has been operating in Australian waters since late May. The efforts are part of the AUKUS strategic agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to provide nuclear submarines for Australia and increase defense cooperation between the three countries. On August 15, the US State Department announced an agreement for quote, “frictionless trade” to develop next-generation technologies between the three partner nations and provide certain exemptions on arms exports and controls.
The carrier USS RONALD REAGAN arrived at Bremerton, Washington on August 14 after transferring homeport from Yokosuka, Japan. REAGAN will undergo a drydocking overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The ship was based in Japan with the US Seventh Fleet for nine years and conducted a turnover with the carrier USS GEORGE WASHINGTON in San Diego during July. About 350 REAGAN crewmembers transferred to GW during the turnover and will return to Japan with GW.
The US Navy said August 14 the destroyer USS OSCAR AUSTIN would shift homeport from Norfolk, Virginia to Rota, Spain during the fall of 2024. OSCAR AUSTIN will become the fifth US destroyer to join the Forward Deployed Naval Force Europe in Rota, a plus-up announced in May 23 by Spain and the United States. A sixth destroyer, yet to be named, is to transfer to Spain during 2026. A force of four US destroyers has been forward-deployed to Rota since 2009.
The US Navy on August 13th notified Congress of its intention to award a multi-ship procurement deal to build four new amphibious ships. The estimated $11.5 billion deal would buy three San Antonio Flight II amphibious ships – LPDs 33, 34 and 35 – and fund the big-deck assault ship HELMAND PROVINCE, LHA 10. The Navy did not specify which company would receive the contracts, but only one shipyard currently is building ships of that type – HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The actual award is expected in a few weeks. The move follows a so-called “pause” initiated in 2023 by top-level Pentagon leadership to reexamine the need for large amphibious ships. For its part, the US Marine Corps – the primary beneficiary of amphibious ship lift – has not wavered from its declared need for a fleet of 31 amphibs, which the new multi-ship buy would help maintain.
In new ship news, the Virginia-class attack submarine IDAHO SSN 799 was launched August 6 at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut. The sub’s christening ceremony was held earlier this year in March.
The expeditionary fast transport POINT LOMA EPF-15 was christened August 10 and launched August 15 at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. The ship is the second Flight II variant of the Spearhead class, able to embark a medium-sized medical facility.
And in old ship news, the former Russian and Soviet aircraft carrier MINSK, long a tourist attraction in China, apparently caught fire on August 16 and appears to be seriously damaged. The Kiev-class carrier, decommissioned in 1993, was sold for scrap in 1995 but eventually acquired by a Chinese group of video-arcade owners to become an amusement park. Never operational with the Chinese Navy, the ship was an attraction known as Minsk World in Yantian, China until 2006. The fire occurred while the MINSK was undergoing refurbishment in Nantong.
Servello Squawk:
It was great news that the Navy notified Congress that it intends to move forward with a multi-ship deal to build four amphibious warships beginning in Fiscal Year 2025.
Now I’m sure there were numerous China-hawks that rolled their eyes and said why on earth is the Navy buying more amphibs when they should be building subs, destroyers or aircraft.
I get that concern, but I think it’s important to look at this decision through several different lenses.
The obvious pluses associated with this decision are its helps narrow our amphibious warship gap, the multiship-buy saves taxpayers money and it provides greater predictability to the shipbuilding industry writ-large…as many of these same vendors not only build and supply the amphibs, but many of the other ships built around the country, including submarines.
Finally, I love this decision because to me these ships represent opportunity. Yes, today they have set missions and requirements, but in my eyes an amphib is nothing more than a big truck that can be stuffed with varying payloads and capabilities.
In a July 2012 Proceedings article then CNO Admiral Jonathon Greenert made this exact point arguing that the Navy and Marine Corps should stop chasing the exquisite and start thinking of Payloads over Platforms.
In fact the sub-headline of the article captured the sentiment perfectly, reading
“We need to move from ‘luxury-car’ platforms—with their built-in capabilities—toward dependable ‘trucks’ that can handle a changing payload selection.”
I won’t summarize the entire article because I would encourage our listeners to google it and reread it for themselves, but CNO Greenert and team were absolutely on to something.
We need to view every current and future platform we build as a truck that can be stuffed with ever changing weapons systems and sensors to keep our enemies guessing.
So before you poo-poo the purchase of amphibs or quip that the Marines won again…expand your mind and start thinking “hey, what can we add to those ships today or in the future to drive the Chinese and Russians crazy.
