File photo - A Landing Craft Air Cushion approaches the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kaitlyn E. Eads/Released)
FOX News/Warrior Maven: Navy pushes for more amphibious assault ships
Congressional decision-makers are working with the Navy to explore massively speeding up construction of its emerging fleet of new amphibious assault ships --- as part of an urgent push to expand the overall fleet faster and address an enormous deficit of available amphibs.
A July 3 Congressional Research Service report, titled " Navy LPD-17 Flight II (LX[R]) Amphibious Ship Program: Background and Issues for Congress," says the currently proposed Navy plan to buy the second LPD-17 Flight II Amphib in 2020 may need to be accelerated to fall within the services' 2019 budget.
The Navy currently has slightly more than 30 amphibious assault ships the fleet, and plans to reach 38 in coming years; However, the current plan still falls short of meeting the global requirements of combatant commanders, Navy leaders say.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: One cannot help but feel that it is because of China that there is now a rush to build these type of vessels for the U.S. Navy.
