Light carriers aren't the answer for Marines...we need to fix the aviation centric LPD/LSD by replacing them with Mistrals!

via USNI News.

The Navy’s director of amphibious warfare warned that pursuing a light aircraft carrier option in lieu of amphibious assault ships would limit the Marines’ options for responding to operational commanders’ needs, and instead urged faster shipbuilding and experimenting with new ship groupings to increase operational flexibility.

Maj. Gen. David Coffman (OPNAV N95) said Thursday at the National Defense Industrial Association’s annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference that “there is a threat from above – ‘threat’ being Pentagon-speak – of the light carrier coming down into Marine trade space and affecting us.”

The most recent iteration of the light carrier concept was raised in a trio of future fleet architecture studies released earlier this year, with proponents advocating something similar to the America-class amphibious assault ship or potentially something that looks more like a conventionally powered aircraft carrier with a catapult to launch planes. Amphibious assault ships USS America (LHA-6) and the future Tripoli (LHA-7) are aviation-optimized ships that trade a well deck in order for added aviation maintenance space and jet fuel storage.

Story here. 

Read the whole story but I consider this talk of building a light carrier to be missing the real problem.

The America Class LHAs fill that role nicely. 

The problem isn't with the LHA/LHDs.  The problem is with the San Antonio class and the upcoming LSD replacement.

Those ships are built to accommodate the traditional USMC, not the aviation centric bastardization that they're pushing today.

So why don't they build ships that could better fit the concepts they're pushing?  Why don't they build Mistrals that would fill the bill perfectly?

I have no idea.

Perhaps its a lack of conviction.  Maybe they think that they can fool the tribe into believing that they aren't seeking a completely different Marine Corps for the future by continuing to buy ship shells that look familiar while trying to flex them into this new role.

Again I have no idea why, but light carriers aren't the solution to the Marine Corps problems.  The solution will be figuring out whether or not we need modern day LPD/LSD that are by form and function designed to support surface assault while leadership is pushing aviation.

The Marine Corps needs Mistrals...especially if they stay the course with the aviation heavy Corps.