via Sikorsky History Blog.
Sikorsky won a U. S. Navy contract to build a prototype ASPB (Assault Support Patrol Boat) boat. Sikorsky designed the ASPB for its environment, the ASPB warship was in reality a floating tank, and much more. It was approximately 50 feet long and 20 feet wide and powered by three Pratt & Whitney PT-6 turbine engines connected to three water-jet pumps. On smooth river water the ASPB could reach speeds of 50 miles per hour and maneuver in only water 4 feet deep. Also this type of drive system allowed the ASPB to turn rapidly, maneuverability was critical because of limited space within the delta rivers.The United States Navy was involved in protracted warfare in the Deltas of Vietnam and along its coasts.
It had a central turret with a 105 millimeter howitzer and two 20 millimeter automatic cannons. The howitzer was the most command artillery piece in the Army's inventory and parts and ammunition was readily available. The howitzer is capable of firing directly at an enemy or indirectly at high angles over obstacles in support of our ground troops. The 20 millimeter cannons were rapid fire machine guns for short range attacks and also they were used to defend the ASPB. Both weapons allowed the ASPB to lay down fire outside the range of the Viet Cong's 300 meter range of their rocket propelled grenades. Also a small machine gun was installed in the bow of the ASPB for quick reaction defense in case of an ambush.
A unique armor system was designed for the ASPB called "bar armor". It is a light steel bar grill mounted 3 to 4 feet away from the hull and superstructure. This armor defeated the Viet Cong's rocket grenade by exploding the grenades armor piercing warhead against the "bars" before it reached the ASPB. The use of this armor allowed the ASPB to be designed with a lighter armored hull reducing the ASPB's overall weight.
The ASPB was delivered to the U. S. Navy at the end of 1969, but never saw operational use because the war ended. However the ASPB was used by the Special Forces to train for riverine warfare until 1980 when it was taken out of service.
In reaction to that fight they developed small boats that mounted 105mm Howitzers, 20mm Cannons and a 50 cal machine gun.
Fast forward to today and the US Navy expects to be engaged in battle along coastlines in what it now calls the littoral zone. Its answer to that fight now is to develop a ship that mounts a 57mm cannon, two 30mm cannons weighs over 1500 tons and has a flight deck.
Who is right? The Navy of the past or the Navy of today?
Looks more like a tank than a boat.
ReplyDeleteyeah it does...but thats what over ten years of operating off the coasts, rivers and deltas of Vietnam told the Navy it needed to be able to survive in a COIN environment.
Deletecompare this boat with what the Navy is about to put into service and the question of who is right and who is wrong becomes telling.
Actually, now I'm starting to wonder what a boat of this design would look like with modern tank armor and weapons. Take a boat of this size and add about four Javelin missile tubes, the 25mm chain gun from the LAV-25, two .50 cal machine guns, some reactive armor, slat armor, and you've got yourself a pretty intimidation piece of hardware for killing things in the COIN environment.
Deletedefinitely more survivable than what we have now. the assumption that the Riverines and SWCC use is that enemy fire (which will more than likely ambush the boats) will be ineffective or that they will be able to overcome the enemy by sheer VOLUME of return fire.
Deletei find that thinking flawed. a well planned ambush on a restricted section of waterway will make mince meat out of the boats we have in service now. it might look cool to zoom down waterways at 50 mph but you've got to be able to take a punch and right now a RPG on any of the boats that SWCC and Riverines use will send them to the bottom and they'll probably sustain a bunch of casualties in the process.
i think our approach to coastal combat and in particular the fight in inland waterways is seriously flawed...all because we don't study our history.
What really bugs me about this is that a solution to the littoral combat scene would be really cheap and easy to make. A modernized tankish-boat would be far from complex and far from expensive. In fact, I would be willing to bet that a small private company could make one very cheaply if they could get a hold of the materials and it would better satisfy the needs of the Navy compared to the LCS. The US Navy and the other services have had their budgets hollowed out by these super-tech complex programs that don't even work and are only held up by a lot of nice promises that have yet to materialize. What's even worse is that if an independent company made a ship perfect for the Navy's littoral needs the Navy wouldn't be able to by it without approval from congressmen that are getting paid campaign funds from defense contractors that make those super-tech programs. I thought sequestration would kill at least the LCS and one of the F-35 variants, but it seems like the Pentagon is seriously considering hollowing out the ranks of the armed forces. Looks like the next military conflict we get in will have some considerable manpower shortages.
Deletegee kind of conflated the Mobile Riverine Force boats (monitors, tangos, etc) for which the above was ONE proposed design; and the Operation Gamewarden of the RIver Patrol Force (PBRs etc) and the offshore patrol boats and ships of Operation Market Time - didn't ya?
ReplyDeleteAnyway the ASPB was intended to the be the destroyer of the rivers and performed missions of patrol, insertion, fire support, and a modifed to be a mine sweep also. They were aluminimum with bar armor and flak blankets.
See the boat page on Warboats.org http://www.warboats.org/aspb.htm then goto Rivervet site, and on to MRFA website
BTW I seriously doubt that SWCCs would agree with you assertion about the capability of their warboats and the sailors who drive them. You EVER been in a riverine ambush? Also brownwater ops are NOT the same a green water aka coastal combat.
i'm conflating nothing. no i have never been in a riverine ambush but what does that have to do with anything! additionally i'm not talking about SWCCs i'm talking about the riverines of today. totally different mission.
Deletesave your righteous indignation for when its needed. this time you're just blowing smoke.