How The U.S. Navy’s Aging Sealift Fleet Could Lose America’s Next War In Eurasia

Share to twitterFor much of U.S. history, the vast oceans separating America from Europe and Asia protected the nation against attack by foreign enemies. Today, those oceans are as much a hindrance as an advantage. America’s military has repeatedly been called upon to defeat overseas adversaries, and getting to the fight has been a huge logistical challenge.

The Navy, working with the Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration, maintains a fleet of several dozen vessels to accomplish the sealift mission. The most useful such vessels are roll-on/roll-off ships, known as “RO/ROs,” that allow tanks, fighting vehicles, mobile artillery and missile batteries to be driven directly onto the vessel rather than needing to be disassembled and lifted on board.... [+]Unfortunately, the 65 RO/ROs in the organic federal fleet are getting old.

The organic fleet of U.S.-based “surge” ships is pivotal to this plan, because they will be available sooner than ships from the nation’s modest commercial fleet. Military planners figure they need about 15 million square feet of usable space on RO/ROs to sustain a major sealift effort in wartime, and two-thirds of that resides in the surge fleet. The other third is on prepositioned ships abroad.

Whether this is accomplished in a timely fashion remains to be seen. The Navy’s shipbuilding budget is over-subscribed due to the need for a new generation of ballistic missile submarines, and defense budgets are not expected to increase materially in the years ahead. The sealift community will have to compete for funds against more powerful naval interests, and meanwhile the Marine Corps has signaled uncertainty as to what its lift requirements will be going forward.

The issue is worse than just the surge fleet. The decline of the US merchant marine means that we may have a hard time even sustaining our forces currently overseas, let alone those that are deployed.

Anyone reading this$%$,, dont you ever believe it. Dont entice the u.s. into creating carnage,, we hate it but can be extremely proficient!!!

Why does America feel the need to have another war anywhere?

A trillion a year isnt enough? For real?

Maybe the Navy should join the Air Force? That way they could actually get some funding for new stuff.

If US goes to war against EURASIA it will not win. It is simply a numbers game at that point.

Excuse me? War with Eurasia? When? Never.

Can't even secure southern borders - doesn't help that the Demorats are holding the gates open.

Blame Trump.

Wen will America stop fighting the world! It’s not cool

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