Congress quashed Navy plans to retire the 28-year-old amphibious dock landing ship Carter Hall, shown here practicing an amphibious assault off Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Congress quashed Navy plans to retire the 28-year-old amphibious dock landing ship Carter Hall, shown here practicing an amphibious assault off Camp Lejeune, N.C. U.S. Marine Corps / 1st Lt. Mark Andries

Marines Issue Warning on Amphib Fleet

The assistant commandant says 31 large amphibious warfare ships are needed to avoid risk.

The U.S. takes on more risk when it doesn’t keep a fleet of 31 large amphibious warships, the Marine Corps’ No. 2 officer said Tuesday. The Navy had plans to cut the fleet to as few as 24 until Congress intervened last fall.

“Every time that number dips below 31, that is increased risk passed to a combatant commander, passed to a junior commander, passed to a lance corporal, passed to a seaman. So 31 is the answer and we can't accept less. And when it does, we just have to highlight that there's increased risk now for us, for those American citizens waiting to be evacuated for humanitarian assistance disaster relief operations,” Gen. Eric Smith, the Marines’ assistant commandant, said in a keynote speech at WEST 2023 in San Diego.

Smith noted that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday and Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger see eye to eye on the need for 10 big-deck amphibious assault ships and 21 amphibious transport dock ships. Both leaders testified as much last May during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

But the Navy, which has called new ballistic missile submarines its top acquisition priority, planned to let the large-amphib fleet slip to as few as 24 ships next year before returning it to 31 in 2030.

Congress said no to that plan, writing the requirement for 31 larger amphibs into the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. In the 2023 omnibus bill, lawmakers restored funding for four dock landing ships, or LSDs, that the Navy had sought to retire. 

Smith said the LSDs “are getting old and need to be decommissioned. But they have to be replaced. The original plan, as you know, was to replace them with an LPD as the LSDs aged out.”

“We're not in disagreement about what we need. It's a funding question. And what we don't do is own the Navy [Program Objective Memorandum]. The Navy has lots of issues to pay for,” he said. “We're always going to have a discussion about [the] use of resources.”

Smith said the Marines don’t disagree with the Navy’s emphasis on the Columbia-class submarines, which will replace the decades-old Ohios.

“If you live underneath the protection of a nuclear umbrella, which we all do, you want to fund Columbia, and take the pressure off everything else in the shipbuilding account,” he said. 

A minimum of 31 amphibs is needed to ensure sufficient training for Marines and sailors, Smith said.

“A young lance corporal moving their [amphibious combat vehicle] into a wet well, and [a] pitching and rolling deck and two or three footers. They shouldn't be doing that at night on the way to a war, they should be doing it today, over and over and over again until it's just rote,” he said. 

Can the Marines expect more than the minimum for amphibious ships? The answer may lie in the classified Amphibious Force Requirements Study that was sent to the Congressional defense committees on Dec. 28. The study, which the Navy has said will not be publicly released, is expected to help shape “an ongoing battle force ship assessment that will be published later this year,” Lt. Gabrielle Dimaapi, a spokeswoman for the Navy secretary, said in a January email.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.