The other day I read some article which was talking about a Navy frigate. I wondered...what is the difference between a frigate and a destroyer? Then I got to wondering about naval ship sizes in general. The gist of the one article I was reading was how a Navy frigate outgrew its utility. Now, I've talked about this theme related to the military (in general) here before. The theme is, the military just can't do anything small; everything they do has to be huge. Never was this theme more true when talking about US Navy ships. I'll cut to the chase here and describe what I'm talking about, then circle back to this part.
As part of my research, I looked at modern day ships as well has ship sizes throughout naval history. Almost without exception, the following progression happens every single time. ...
The Navy will build a small(er), highly efficient, and very effective ship, and then they will "improve" them. The "new and improved" ship will be bigger, less efficient and less effective. Over time, the same type of ship will grow so large and become so inefficient that it can no longer even be called that class of ship any longer and has to be re-classified as the next larger class above it. So, frigates grow, and grow, and get heavier and slower, until they can no longer be called "frigates" anymore and have be called "destroyers". Destroyers will grow, and grow, until they can no longer be called destroyers and have to be called "cruisers". And so on, and so on. If you look at the history of the Navy, this happens every time. The problem becomes when a frigate (for example) becomes too large to be called a frigate, and now has to be called a destroyer, it is not effective as a frigate and it is not effective as a destroyer. They're just not effective at anything. Same for destroyers, and cruisers.
Where I got off on this tangent was thinking about how the US Navy doesn't really have any good brown/green water ships; they're all so big they have to be blue water boats. So, what happens when a brown/green water threat shows up? (the most likely threat, btw). The Littoral Combat Ship (designed to address this issue) has been a catastrophic failure. They will be retired before they ever see service (they're THAT bad)! There is a huge gap right now between a 'coastal patrol boat' and a frigate (the next larger ship). Yet, every other navy on the planet is bristling with patrol boats. Yes, this is the US Coast Guard's area of responsibility but the USCG is not set up to fight a war, unlike the Navy.
Destroyers too are the same way. The primary function of a destroyer is to protect the fleet. But destroyers today have become so big they're now called missile cruisers, and while they might be capable of defending the fleet against other ships (sort of), they're very little deterrent to aircraft, particularly swarmed aircraft like say drones.
Yes, if you look, you will still see names like 'frigate' and 'destroyer', but if you look at the evolution of these ships over time, they have all gotten progressively bigger to the point they no longer serve their intended role. A missile cruiser, for example, is most effective against land based targets which doesn't have anything to do with protecting the fleet. And then I suppose we have to ask, what is a "fleet" today? Well, predominantly aircraft carriers now. So, now aircraft carriers are pretty much left to defend themselves.
I really wonder what would happen if we were to get into a full blown war with another large naval power? I fear we wouldn't fare as well as our military brass is telling Congress (when requesting funding). If the mix of ships in the Navy is wrong, then naval power of the nation is at risk. All great big, expensive, floating targets.
Lastly, remember it wasn't some awesome superpower with a great big, expensive, technically advanced military which toppled the twin WTC towers on 9-11. No, it was a handful of guys with box cutters and (4) unarmed airliners. The point here being, it's not the great big, expensive, enemy who does the most damage; it's the little guy you don't see coming. Just ask Putin, the guy who just lost 1/3 of his entire nuclear capable air force to less than a half dozen well timed strikes with weapons which you can buy at Best-Buy for a few hundred bucks. Oh, and it wasn't some super massive force which just about sank the entire US Navy on Dec. 7th 1941 either.
But hey, we have drones right?? Heh, yeah, great big, expensive, ones which are too big to be called drones, so they're called UAV's. (I've been saying this for years, but it doesn't appear anyone is listening).
We're fighting a war against an adversary who doesn't exist anymore. A ghost.
As part of my research, I looked at modern day ships as well has ship sizes throughout naval history. Almost without exception, the following progression happens every single time. ...
The Navy will build a small(er), highly efficient, and very effective ship, and then they will "improve" them. The "new and improved" ship will be bigger, less efficient and less effective. Over time, the same type of ship will grow so large and become so inefficient that it can no longer even be called that class of ship any longer and has to be re-classified as the next larger class above it. So, frigates grow, and grow, and get heavier and slower, until they can no longer be called "frigates" anymore and have be called "destroyers". Destroyers will grow, and grow, until they can no longer be called destroyers and have to be called "cruisers". And so on, and so on. If you look at the history of the Navy, this happens every time. The problem becomes when a frigate (for example) becomes too large to be called a frigate, and now has to be called a destroyer, it is not effective as a frigate and it is not effective as a destroyer. They're just not effective at anything. Same for destroyers, and cruisers.
Where I got off on this tangent was thinking about how the US Navy doesn't really have any good brown/green water ships; they're all so big they have to be blue water boats. So, what happens when a brown/green water threat shows up? (the most likely threat, btw). The Littoral Combat Ship (designed to address this issue) has been a catastrophic failure. They will be retired before they ever see service (they're THAT bad)! There is a huge gap right now between a 'coastal patrol boat' and a frigate (the next larger ship). Yet, every other navy on the planet is bristling with patrol boats. Yes, this is the US Coast Guard's area of responsibility but the USCG is not set up to fight a war, unlike the Navy.
Destroyers too are the same way. The primary function of a destroyer is to protect the fleet. But destroyers today have become so big they're now called missile cruisers, and while they might be capable of defending the fleet against other ships (sort of), they're very little deterrent to aircraft, particularly swarmed aircraft like say drones.
Yes, if you look, you will still see names like 'frigate' and 'destroyer', but if you look at the evolution of these ships over time, they have all gotten progressively bigger to the point they no longer serve their intended role. A missile cruiser, for example, is most effective against land based targets which doesn't have anything to do with protecting the fleet. And then I suppose we have to ask, what is a "fleet" today? Well, predominantly aircraft carriers now. So, now aircraft carriers are pretty much left to defend themselves.
I really wonder what would happen if we were to get into a full blown war with another large naval power? I fear we wouldn't fare as well as our military brass is telling Congress (when requesting funding). If the mix of ships in the Navy is wrong, then naval power of the nation is at risk. All great big, expensive, floating targets.
Lastly, remember it wasn't some awesome superpower with a great big, expensive, technically advanced military which toppled the twin WTC towers on 9-11. No, it was a handful of guys with box cutters and (4) unarmed airliners. The point here being, it's not the great big, expensive, enemy who does the most damage; it's the little guy you don't see coming. Just ask Putin, the guy who just lost 1/3 of his entire nuclear capable air force to less than a half dozen well timed strikes with weapons which you can buy at Best-Buy for a few hundred bucks. Oh, and it wasn't some super massive force which just about sank the entire US Navy on Dec. 7th 1941 either.
But hey, we have drones right?? Heh, yeah, great big, expensive, ones which are too big to be called drones, so they're called UAV's. (I've been saying this for years, but it doesn't appear anyone is listening).
We're fighting a war against an adversary who doesn't exist anymore. A ghost.
