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Anybody ever read 'Debt of Honor' by Tom Clancy? There's a whole lot of potential in the Pacific and IO for future problems that are not LIC.

Carriers and amphibious capability (also something they're thinking about slowing the new development of) are force projection elements of a nation's strategic tool box, be it for diplomatic or military regions.

Attack subs give you a sea lane control capability that no other platform can. Downsizing this imprudently can limit your ability to both close down an adversary's maritime choke points in the event of a conflict or a crisis as well as limiting your ability to keep your own choke points free for your use.

The Chinese have figured this out. So has Japan.

Dittos. As Clancy stated in the intro to his informational book "Submarine" a sub has limited abilities, however it can deny the enemy the ability to do ANYTHING. Plus the psychological advantage of the enemy knowing that the oceans are "shark infested" but never knowing just where.

But has technology made the attack sub obsolete? Current and upcoming generations of cruise missiles are eliminating the old requirement that a physical crew be present to target and destroy enemy shipping. Telepresence and hunter/killer missiles will give us the ability to selectively destroy targets from hundreds of miles away even without having their exact coordinates at the time of launch.

If your concern lies in taking out enemy submarines, aerial-dropped anti-sub torpedoes already do a reasonable job of that, and it's only a matter of time until someone applies the long-range launch concept to them as well. Imagine an anti-sub torpedo that can fly hundreds of miles, circle on station for hours above an area suspected of having enemy subs, and then be dropped into the sea below when one is detected. We have ALL of the knowhow to do that today, and by 2030 it will probably be considered fairly humdrum technology.

The military of the future will have fewer people, more technology, and a far higher kill ratio than todays. Many modern naval vessels, including the attack sub and aircraft carrier, are doomed to go the way of the battleship in the next 50 years.