Marine Corps Wants More LPDs, Does Not Support Early Decommissioning of LSDs

The Commandant of the Marine Corps’ desire to continue building San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs) as well as opposing the early decommissioning of LSD dock landing ships are non-negotiable, according to Marine Corps officials.

Speaking during the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference on Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Steven Lightfoot, Director for the Capabilities Development Directorate, Combat Development & Integration, displayed a slide with the commandant’s non-negotiable points. This included a minimum of 31 amphibious warships, ongoing building of LPDs with no curtailment, not supporting early decommissioning of LSDs, and not accepting fewer than three ships in an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG).

“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 (POM)]. The Navy has lots of issues to pay for. I don’t have to worry about carriers and submarines,” Smith said Feb. 14 during the annual WEST Conference in San Diego, sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute.

Navy officials repeatedly maintain the service’s top priority is building the Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine, replacing the Ohio-class vessels. However, these major ship shipbuilding costs on top of efforts to procure two Virginia-class attack submarines and two to three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers per year are squeezing funding.

Smith downplayed the disagreement as more a discussion about resources within the Department of the Navy. However, he warned if the amphibious warship count drops 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…we can’t accept less. And when it does, we just have to highlight that there is an increased risk now for us, those American citizens waiting to be evacuated for humanitarian assistance, disaster relief operations, but we’re in agreement on the 31.”

Also speaking during WEST conference, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said he is confident once the newest Battle Force Ship Assessment and Requirements study is completed this year, “we will also see a continuing need to build more LPD-like ships well into the future to support of Marine Corps and support Force Design 2030.”

That assessment is also known as the Navy’s force structure assessment.

On Wednesday, Lightfoot said the 32 amphibious ship force is key with LPD-type ships, partially because the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) today includes F-35Bs and MV-22 Ospreys, which are larger and require more fuel than AV-8B Harriers and CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters previously used.

Given the new larger aircraft hosted on LHAs, other capabilities are displaced to the LPDs.

Compared to the late 1990s, that was “something that we were able to kind of do before but we didn’t have to. Now it’s more of a mandate–you have got to do that. Where are your [CH-53Ks] going to go? And again, all the supporting gear that goes with that. So you need those three ships, or you’re not gonna be able to put everything that’s on a current MEU.”

Also speaking at the NDIA conference on Wednesday, Rear Adm. James Pitts, Director for Warfare Integration, N9I at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, said his understanding is the Navy is on a strategic pause in producing new LPD-like ships while it sorts through the new assessment, as Del Toro said.

“Because we have the 2022 new National Defense Strategy, we are required by law to update the force structure assessment. So that work is ongoing, and it will inform how we move forward on the LPDs and the remainder of our ship force structure.”

Previously, Congress gave the Navy authority to buy three LPDs and one America-class amphibious assault ship (LHA) at one time from HII [HII] to save money. The San Antonio-class Flight II LPD, starting with the future USS Harrisburg (LPD-30), were designed to replace the aging Whidbey Island/Harpers Ferry-class LSDs.

However, in 2021 the Navy decided to pause the LPD buying process as it decided on a new force structure assessment and amphibious force studies.

In June 2021, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN-RDA) Jay Stefany said the service planned to decline and defer using the congressional authority to procure three LPDs and one LHA until the administration worked on the FY ‘23 budget cycle and finished a new force structure assessment (Defense Daily, June 9, 2021).

Last year, Stefany told reporters the Navy planned to buy LPD-32 in FY ‘23 as previously planned, but the lag between LPD-32 and when LPD-33 would need to be procured would buy time for the force structure assessment and amphibious force studies to be completed, with both informing POM ‘24 and ‘25. He said the final decision could call for continuing the Flight II ships, a modified LPD Flight III-style ship or new hull (Defense Daily, April 22, 2022). 

“If you look at the building profile, there would not need to be another LPD or some other amphib bought until ‘25 because we do have the ‘23 ship in the budget,” Stefany said.

Last month, Kari Wilkinson, executive vice president and HII and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, confirmed an ideal pace for peak shipyard efficiency would be two years between procuring LPDs and about four years between LHAs (Defense Daily, Jan. 13).

While the Navy did not request any funds to start the process of buying LPD-33 in the FY ‘23 budget request, Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger’s FY ‘23 unfunded priorities list made $250 million in advanced procurement of LPD-33 the top priority (Defense Daily, April 1, 2022).

Not only did Congress agree with the Marine Corps and funded the $250 million toward LPD-33, the final FY ‘23 defense authorization act said the Commandant was now “specifically responsible” for developing amphibious warfare ship requirements and it set the amphibious warship floor at 31 ships, not counting the planned Landing Ship Medium (LSM) vessels, formerly called the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) (Defense Daily, Dec. 9).

The slide of the commandant’s non-negotiable points for the amphibious force was one of the first looks at his amphibious warship requirements since the legislation passed, other than maintaining the 31-ship minimum. 

In the final FY ‘23 defense appropriations law, Congress also rejected the Navy’s plans to retire four older Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships (LSDs). The Navy’s FY ‘23 long-term shipbuilding plan projected retiring 10 Whidbey Island/Harpers Ferry-class LSDs three to 14 years earlier than planned due to high maintenance costs.