![]() Unlike a Carrier Strike Group or Navy SAG, they are less likely to be tracked by an adversary. Coast Guard ships enjoy a relatively low profile. It is exactly the type of work appropriate for Coast Guard cutters. This is not the kind of work we want DDGs doing. Otherwise they might lay mines, scout for or resupply submarines, put agents ashore, or even launch cruise missiles from containers. In the initial phase of a conflict, there will be a need to round-up all the adversaries’ merchant ships and keep them from doing mischief. Navy surface warships home based north of the Chesapeake Bay in the Atlantic, none between San Diego and Puget Sound in the Pacific, and none in the Gulf of Mexico with the exception of mine warfare ships. vessels operating with the Fourth Fleet are Coast Guard. There are also no U.S. Because of their extremely long range, cutters can operate for extended periods in remote theaters where there are few or even no underway replenishment assets. The Coast Guard also operates in places the USN does not. For example, how often do Navy surface ships go into the Arctic? The Coast Guard operates there routinely. Virtually all U.S. The ships have common equipment and their crews share common training. ![]() (USCG Photo)Ĭoast Guard vessels routinely operate with U.S. Coast Guard 82 foot patrol boats interdicted coastal traffic off South Vietnam. The current modernization program of record will provide at least 33 large cutters, and 58 patrol craft of 353 tons, in addition to 73 patrol boats of 91 tons currently in the fleet, a total of 164 units. Very few of our allies have a fleet of similar size. Count all the Navy CGs, DDGs, LCSs, PCs and PBs and other patrol boats and it totals a little over a hundred. The Coast Guard currently has over 40 patrol ships over 1,000 tons and over 110 patrol craft. The Navy has quality, but it does not have numbers. We may be fighting another world war, against a coalition, perhaps both China and Russia, with possible side shows in Africa, the Near East, South Asia, and/or Latin America. A more capable Coast Guard will also be better able to defend the nation from asymmetrical threats.Ī future conflict may not be limited to a single adversary. The Navy should consider investing high-end warfighting capability in the Coast Guard to augment existing force structure and provide a force multiplier in times of conflict. But so far there has been little or no discussion of extending this initiative to include the Coast Guard. The Navy has been talking a lot about distributed lethality lately, and “if it floats, it fights.” There is even talk of mounting cruise missiles on Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships, even though it might compromise their primary mission. ![]() Alternative Naval Force Structure Topic Week
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