t68
Well-Known Member
What I would really like to see, once shipbuilding is moving at a sustainable takt (takt time-the average unit production time needed to meet customer demand) is the development of a DDH to, as an absolute minimum, embark a flight of AEW helicopters and additional naval combat helicopters (MH-60R) and VTOL UCAV. Such a ship could be substantially cheaper than an AWD or new generation frigate and could actually be significantly smaller (think Chakri Naruebet) but ideally would share common systems with the destroyers / frigates, including propulsion, but potentially also combat system, including sensors and some weapon systems.
I am not saying these ships should be built immediately but rather, once the continual build strategy has settled down, that the surface combatant force be supplemented with DDHs which would make up between a fifth and an third of the major combatant fleet. Basically they should be built instead of three destroyers / frigates or in addition to them, i.e. replacing existing majors 3 DDH and 9 DDG, 4 DDH and 8 DDG, or if numbers are increased 3 DDH and 12 DDG, or my preferred 5 DDH and 10 DDG. I have used DDG because logically the new frigates should be at least as capable as the AWDs. They would be ideal for deploying new generation UCAVs as well as the more obvious Romeos, Sierras, Crowsnest and F-35Bs.
The next step would be to progressively evolve the OPV into OCV / LCS or light frigates, improving each generation as experience building, maintaining and operating the type increases confidence and highlights areas the type could expand to fill.
Remember technology is continually improving, propulsion systems providing more power for lower fuel burn and greater reliability, smaller crews, improved sensors, all for lower comparative cost. Just look at the capability ASMD delivers the ANZACs it is not difficult to imagine this could be exceeded by a system on a 2000t combatant within 20 years.
I do like we're your going on this and have for quite a while. I was actually looking into the Chakri Naruebet the other day and thinking it should be quite doable to build here in Australia, with a mix of fixed wing and rotary assets, but then I remembered sometime ago someone said that F35 was not compatible with her, but as a stand alone helicopter carrier she would be good, only addition I would like to make is make her multi spot V22 compatible for future AEW variant