Posted on 09/20/2017 8:16:18 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
On its mission to field a 355 ship fleet, the US Navy has been looking at what it has in storage to help make that goal a reality. Even the carrier USS Kitty Hawk has been put forward as a possible candidate for regeneration, although the reality of what it would take to truly make such an endeavor successful puts it firmly in the unlikely category. But the seven Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates now sitting in mothballs tell another story. Now Secretary of Navy Richard Spencer is saying these ships could be regenerated very cheaply and without any major upgrades at all, but their mission set would be very limited.
Many of the Navy's retired Perry class frigates were sold to friendly countries all over the globe. Many of those navies have drastically upgraded the stoutly built ships with modern systems, including vertical launch cells and RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM). If the Navy were to go down a similar path with the seven Perry class frigates it still has its hands on, these ships could serve in higher threat environments than their Littoral Combat Ship replacements. In addition, foreign operators of the Perry class plan on sailing the ships for decades to comes, so there really isn't any reason why the US Navy couldn't do the same.
But under the plan that SECNAV Spencer is talking about, these ships wouldn't get any combat system upgrades at all. Instead they would be seaworthy and navigation ready only. USNI News reports Spencer mentioned that other navies have gotten retired Perry class frigates back out to sea for as little as $35,000, which is about one sixth the price of a full tank of gas for the type.
USN
Independence class LCS and the Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate.
With no combat system upgrades, a reintroduced Perry class would primarily be tasked with supporting the highly controversial war on drugs—sailing in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico to interdict contraband shipments. Basically they would work as counter-narcotics platforms for operations in very low threat environments. In doing so, the plan would relieve higher-end assets of the mission, including Arleigh Burke class destroyers and Littoral Combat Ships.
Spencer stated the following regarding bringing back what's left of the Perry class:
“Is a DDG the thing to put for drug interdictions down in the Caribbean? I don’t think so... Do we actually have something in the portfolio right now? One of the things we might look at is bringing the Perry-class to do a limited drug interdiction mode... No combat systems, but sea-ready, navigation ready, radar ready out the door... That’s a pretty inexpensive proven platform right there...Can you arm it up with Tomahawks? No.”
USN
Foreign allies have received dozens of second-hand Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates, many of which have been upgraded with modern systems, including vertical launch cells and larger hangar decks. Here is Turkey's G class alongside an USN Arleigh Burke class destroyer.
I know what you're asking yourself—why not just fund the Coast Guard to operate these ships and get the Navy out of the drug interdiction game altogether? Good question, one that I am not fully prepared to answer definitively on, but it likely has to do with petty budget squabbling, the fact that the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security, and fear of mission and budget loss on behalf of the Navy. And remember, it's all about claiming a 355 ship fleet, and Coast Guard vessels don't factor into that goal.
Let's be clear, the DoD gives a lot to the war on drugs—including many absurdly mismatched capabilities like hunting for drug boats with heavy bombers. So the fact that US Navy surface combatants continue to support these operations isn't surprising. But in an era of overworked crews and hardware, and a growing number of priorities to satisfy with limited budgets, maybe rethinking how the DoD contributes to this mission is necessary before committing what will be largely single role assets to it.
By reviewing the roles of the other federal agencies that primarily deal with drug interdiction on a daily basis, along with coming up with a list of what gear they would need to execute the mission without the DoD's help, we could get a better idea of if getting the Navy—and possibly the other services as well—out of this mission makes sense or not. We would also get a better idea of what the mission truly costs to sustain.
With tightening land borders, the sea will only become a more prevalent drug smuggling medium, so more advanced maritime assets will be needed in the future to accomplish the mission proficiently, not the other way around. Maybe a smaller commercial grade vessel with more advanced sensors could be built and operated over time for far less than the aging Perry class. Going that route could also offer more capability to confront future smuggling threats.
So what I am saying here is there are alternatives to using a destroyer or LCS to hunt for drug smugglers, and even the Perry class may be better used as an upgraded surface combatant capable of operating in medium to higher threat scenarios or even for lower intensity operations in troubled regions than as a stripped-down drug interdiction platform.
On the other hand, maybe they are suited for this mission, but in the hands of the Coast Guard not the Navy. And if the Coast Guard is given a bump in budget to field these seven frigates instead of the Navy, the Navy would then lower their 355 ship goal to 348 ships right?
Don't count on it.
Maybe the paint and grease for these ships.
Aw, Gee, I was hoping to buy one to convert into a bass boat on a guberment surplus auction for $39.
The Aussies upgraded their frigates to fire the SM-2 from the MK-13 launcher, in addition to installing an eight-cell MK 41 VLS for the ESSM.
http://www.defence.gov.au/Publications/NewsPapers/Navy/editions/5301/5301.pdf
http://www.nepeannaval.org.au/Museum/Frigates/Adelaide-Class-Frigates.html
There are some interesting Israeli, European and Australian radar systems that would be light enough for a frigate like this.
Screw the cost. The Navy needs more ships NOW!
Arm the little bastards and let them take on the Iranian mosquito boats. That would be quite a show.
Most of that stuff would have been removed prior to laying them up. So much of the cost of bringing those ships back to life would be re-installing that weaponry/sensors on their mounts and testing. Not sure what state the engineering plants would be in.
$35 K wouldn’t cover fresh paint.
Served on one in the early 90s as CIC officer. Ship has more capabilities then they are leading on here. Yes it didn’t have the longer range SAMs, but they still had standard missile capability, Harpoons, torpedoes, could hold 2 helos (though usually only had 1) and our biggest asset was the passive sonar capability. Standard defense suite for the time: chaff, could mount 50 cals, CIWS. The SLQ32 was nice for electronic monitoring - though could be pretty finicky at times.
They also have a very sweet 75mm gun with a fairly rapid rate of fire.
We sent a sub back to the docks once because they had an issue they weren’t aware of and we pounced on em for 2 days straight.
They’re good little ships that can do a lot. Yes they are limited, but still..can work in battle groups or alone. Interdiction, patrols, show the flag, ASW, basic anti-surface.
they had a late SM-2 upgrade, but it still didn’t get to SM-1 capability. I’d recommend exactly what you’re saying and replace the 1-arm with VLS. Would get a greater capability out of it.
There’s plenty of billboard space to configure an AEGIS if they wanted, but I wouldn’t put that amount of money into it. Just upgrade the fire control for the VLS and leave it at that.
Other option would be to strip the flight deck and put a launcher there ... but again for the money it would be a waste. plush you would lose the ASW capability they were best suited for.
They are LM2500 Gas turbines. If absolutely needed you just drop a new one down the the stack pretty much. Watched one of our Des-squadron mates replace one in 3 days. across the pier from us.
Last time the Perry-class frigates tangled with the Iranians, it went badly for the camel jockeys.
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