For some time now, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) has been complaining about the inadequate availability rates of amphibious ships in the U.S. Navy. Last year, these rates stood at only 41 percent, while additional operations in the Caribbean against drug trafficking and Venezuela were added. This led to a five-month delay in deploying the Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU) at sea. Now, according to USMC Commander General Eric Smith, both services are jointly working to improve the fleet’s readiness.
To this end, the maintenance plans for the 32 existing ships are to be optimized. In addition, there will be life-extension measures for those in the best physical and mechanical condition. Finally, leaders intend to press, together with the U.S. Congress, for the procurement of new and more capable ships. The draft 2027 defense budget at a record size of $1.5 trillion represents a substantial ‘down payment’ for this, but only the beginning, according to General Smith.
USMC Currently Under Heavy Strain
Currently, the U.S. Navy still operates seven Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, after the USS Bonhomme Richard was decommissioned and scrapped following a fire during a shipyard stay in 2021. Of the eleven planned successors to the America-class, two are already in service and two more are under construction. Of the planned 26 San Antonio-class dock landing ships, half are now in service and three of the second production batch are under construction. In addition, there are six older ships of the Whidbey Island-class and four of the Harpers Ferry-class.
In December, the Navy and Marine Corps also selected the LST-100 design from the Dutch Damen Shipyards for a future medium landing ship. Under this designation, not used by U.S. forces since World War II, 18 to 35 ships will be procured, forming part of the 2020 Reform Force Design 2030 initiated by then-USMC Commander General David H. Berger. They are intended to rapidly and directly relocate units of the USMC’s Littoral Regiments stationed in the Pacific region between deployment locations.
Currently, the United States’ amphibious units are under particularly heavy demand. The task force around the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit remains deployed in the Caribbean. The group around the USS Tripoli with the 31st MEU was redeployed from Japan to the Middle East due to the Iran War and was reinforced by the group around the USS Boxer with the 11th MEU, which had been sent to operations early from California. Typically, only two amphibious task groups are at sea at any one time, each comprising one amphibious assault ship, two dock landing ships, and various escort units.
