Small surface combatants = airplanes

ARMED FORCES JOURNAL – Think small – July 2008

The U.S. Navy already has a fleet of thousands of small surface combatants that can carry surface to surface missiles or antisubmarine weapons. These small surface combatants are fast, flexible, and all-weather-capable. They are called aircraft.

The Navy needs a credible force of multipurpose corvettes plus a modest number of missile combat craft to effectively bridge the existing gap in its surface warfare capabilities in the littoral waters. As many as 32 multipurpose corvettes organized in eight squadrons of four ships each should be acquired. They should be forward-deployed in similar manner as are surface MCM ships. In addition, a force of perhaps 12 missile combat craft could be deployed within a striking distance of selected choke points. The most critical deployment areas are the Persian Gulf/Strait of Hormuz, Horn of Africa/Bab-el Mandeb Strait, the Strait of Malacca and the Caribbean.

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