New Force Structure Review to be Released Soon

The Naval Operations Concept 2008 (NOC), to be released later this month, is going to dominate the Navy discussion this fall. Zachary M. Peterson reports for Inside the Navy, and in a recent subscription only article 313-Ship Fleet Re-Examined, Navy Undergoing A New Force Structure Review Due This Fall, we begin to learn some early details of what will be associated with the NOC.

The Navy is conducting a force structure review that could change the number of ships the service needs in the 2020 time frame to maintain sea control and support the maritime strategy issued last year, the Navy’s top programmer told Inside the Navy in an exclusive interview last week.

“The 313 plan, as it’s known, was based on a force-structure analysis done in 2005 and it has served us very well,” Vice Adm. Barry McCullough, deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources, said Sept. 24. “But as we look at the changes in the security environment in the newly published maritime strategy, we felt it was appropriate to work through a similar methodology that we did in 2005 to make sure that we have our force structure correct.”

The new force structure review should be complete in conjunction with the release of the 2008 Naval Operations Concept, which will outline how the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard will operate in accordance to the triservice maritime strategy published last October.

It will be very difficult to discuss anything else as the details get pored over. A new shipbuilding plan, and the basis for which the new plan is developed. This topic will clearly dominate the discussion for days, which raises the question, will the Navy participate in that discussion?

We are already seeing one change to expect with the new shipbuilding plan.

“As I said in testimony, the proposed Navy plan with DDG-51s is to buy one in FY-10, two in FY-11, one in FY-12, two in FY-13, one in FY-14 and one in FY-15,” the three-star admiral said.

Ultimately, the service wants 12 additional DDG-51s, he added.

If we assume the Navy builds 2 DDG-51s in FY-16 and 2 in FY17, which is possible if the goal is twelve total, and those destroyers serve a full 35 years, the DDG-51 class will span well over 65 years, more than the Iowa class battleships. Does anyone truly believe the DDG-51s will still be relevant after 2050? How effective were those "four piper's" early in WWII?

Just asking...