The Ukraine and Iran Wars Are a Wake Up Call

The two wars have both demonstrated the importance of unmanned systems in war and demolished the myths that have driven U.S. National Security polices for the last 25 years.

The late former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld created the most damaging myth by replacing traditional military threat planning with the delusion that pirates and terrorists would be America’s primary future threats. He rejected any concerns about a near peer opponent. That and Rumsfeld’s faith in promised new technologies, led to acquisition decisions that saddled the U.S. Navy with trouble-plagued warships that cannot be deployed safely into a combat zone. That is, the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS’s) and Zumwalt-class stealth “guided missile” destroyers (DDGs). Reportedly designed for “Littoral Warfare” like the U.S. Navy is currently fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, they are in fact not suitable for either “littoral” or broad ocean area warfare.

Ostensibly built for a variety of missions by carrying mission-tailored weapons modules, LCSs are completely helpless in anything but a pirates-in-small boats environment. The LCS is limited to its mine countermeasures role in the Iran conflict but it must be escorted by Arleigh Burke-class DDGs whose less innovative design dates back to the 80s. Yet the constantly upgraded Burkes are combat capable while this century’s vaunted “innovative” designs are not. LCS advocates promised it was flexible and cost-effective. It would accommodate rapidly installed threat modules tailored to meet any emerging mission requirement from Anti-Submarine, Air Defense, Anti-Surface, Amphibious and Mine Warfare.

The problem is that construction started before any of the modules had even been prototyped and there was no effective coordination between the ship and module builders. The Mine Countermeasures (MCM) and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Modules were not operationally certified for installation until after 2020. The first MCM modules were installed last year. The Air Defense module has never been built, leaving the LCS possessing little capability against any level of air or drone attack. Its 57mm gun lacks the range and fire power to engage anything larger than the smallest surface fast attack craft, manned or unmanned.