Naval Story
Little Ships, Big Jobs: Small combatants and patrol vessels have a large role in global maritime security
By Edward H. Lundquist in Naval under Print Edition with no comments
No matter how you count them, there are a lot more corvettes, offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), and small combatants in the world’s navies and coast guards today than aircraft carriers. When seeking partners to provide for maritime security, nations that cannot operate cruisers can make a contribution with corvettes. As nations work together to ensure global maritime security, it will be the smaller ships that will contribute a major share.
The “Thousand-ship Navy” concept espoused by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen underscored the value of having many more vessels to provide for collective stability than the U.S. Navy could provide by itself. “I’m after that proverbial Thousand-ship Navy – a fleet-in-being, if you will – comprised of all freedom-loving nations, standing watch over the seas, standing watch over each other. Because I believe, with every fiber of my being, that we are all united by more than just fear,” Mullen said to students and faculty of the Naval War College in August 2005.
With the demise of the Cold War, the NATO allies have expanded their focus from an open ocean confrontation with the Soviet navy to an asymmetric threat in the 
littorals. Even the U.S. Navy, with its fleet of aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines, has learned that its diminutive Patrol Coastal boats (PCs) have become indispensable in meeting the challenges of the post-September 11 maritime environment. Just a few years ago, the Navy was preparing to divest itself of the PCs, but now finds itself planning to modernize them. With 11 supercarriers and more on the way, the Navy is also committed to build 55 Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) at the same time. As the “Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower” calls for a visible presence and engagement around the world, the fast and versatile LCS helps the U.S. Navy be in many places at the same time.
Although many of these ships are smaller than American naval combatants, they are often better suited for operations in their local environments than a large, multipurpose warship.
“Beyond the 15 or so largest navies in the world, what you really have is a coast guard,” said Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Thad W. Allen. “They might call themselves a navy, but they perform coast guard or coast guard-like missions.”
There are a handful of nations with the resources to operate large ships such as carriers, cruisers, or large-deck amphibious assault ships. But virtually every navy in the world operates small combatants – from small destroyers, frigates, and corvettes to offshore patrol vessels. This common need for small combatants is where the similarities end, because nations own and operate small combatants for different purposes in different environments…
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July 30th, 2010
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