carr wrote:I've sat out this thread, so far, because it's an appealing topic that possibly lacks an operational/tactical foundation.
Welcome to the fray! Indeed I have an idea but I've been reticent to share it for Navy reasons. I have to remain kind of vague about it, because it's going to be part of an official proposal.
carr wrote:1. I assume this RIS is for war. In peacetime, it doesn't matter what ships/aircraft one chooses because we've made it clear that we won't take any actions. Trump may change that but it remains to be seen. So, the RIS must be built for war.
It's 2 fold: Peace Time and War Time. The reason why I named it "Regional Influence Squadron" was, because it would be influencing a region. That's mainly a non-combat role that carries the threat of a heavy punch if combat operations commenced. Most of the time, it would be a large number of vessels that would be an aggravating thorn in an adversary's side while providing aid, comfort, and confidence in allies' minds. For instance PC(R)s and Mk6s providing presence in and around the contested islands in the ECS and SCS. Indigenous to the group surveillance and air support in the form of H-60s or AH-1s and Shadow and Scan Eagle respectively would be available from the LSD/AFSB, FF/FFG, or LCS operating within a reasonable range. The threat there would be 76mm gun and ASCMs with the ability to chew up the island facilities and hit any ships within the respective weapons' ranges.
War Time:
The threat would then be realized with the employment of those weapons. The group would then need to be reinforced by or rendezvous with AAW and ASW combatants and rearm. They would likely have to rearm some where like Yokosuka if the facility was relatively undamaged in the attack.
A mix of the PC(R)s, likely as fitted when the attack happened or refitted in Japan or Guam, could then operate in ASuW, ASW, operations or PDS AAW escort. The description of the mixes of fits (ASCM, ASW dog-house with Mk32 SVTT and a yet-identified towed array, and swapping of the Phalanx CIWS with SeaRAM is described in the other PC(R) threads.
carr wrote:2. I assume the premise behind the RIS is that it is a lower priority force, meaning no supercarriers.
Indeed. Most air power would come off the assigned LSD/AFSB, FF/FFG, or LCS.
carr wrote:3. David stated that the relevant theater is the first island chain. This, in turn, limits the degree of surveillance that can be provided by the ships, themselves, and suggests the need for a heavy UAV presence to provide the wide-ranging surveillance that a "regional" force would need. Thus, a RIS requires a UAV-carrier with a large UAV inventory because the UAV attrition will be substantial.
This would be true in both peace and war time. UAVs are lost quite often. The group's elements would have access to other C4I assets as long as they were in the area as well.
As a brief wrap up, again this is not meant to be a Regional Fight and Win A War By Itself (RFWABI) force. Its main function and use would be to pose a threat (ASuW, ASW, and short to medium range AAW) to aggressive power. If it came time to snap-shot an assault, a large number of ASCMs could be fired from deck mounted launchers, Mk54 torpedoes could be fired at submerged targets that were being tracked, and RAM reinforced with SeaRAM could throw a great number of RAM at an incoming ASCM threat as the force consolidates and forms up with the more expensive and more capable combatants as a larger theater-wide strategy was initiated.
[quote="carr"]I've sat out this thread, so far, because it's an appealing topic that possibly lacks an operational/tactical foundation. [/quote]Welcome to the fray! Indeed I have an idea but I've been reticent to share it for Navy reasons. I have to remain kind of vague about it, because it's going to be part of an official proposal.
[quote="carr"]1. I assume this RIS is for war. In peacetime, it doesn't matter what ships/aircraft one chooses because we've made it clear that we won't take any actions. Trump may change that but it remains to be seen. So, the RIS must be built for war.[/quote]It's 2 fold: Peace Time and War Time. The reason why I named it "Regional Influence Squadron" was, because it would be influencing a region. That's mainly a non-combat role that carries the threat of a heavy punch if combat operations commenced. Most of the time, it would be a large number of vessels that would be an aggravating thorn in an adversary's side while providing aid, comfort, and confidence in allies' minds. For instance PC(R)s and Mk6s providing presence in and around the contested islands in the ECS and SCS. Indigenous to the group surveillance and air support in the form of H-60s or AH-1s and Shadow and Scan Eagle respectively would be available from the LSD/AFSB, FF/FFG, or LCS operating within a reasonable range. The threat there would be 76mm gun and ASCMs with the ability to chew up the island facilities and hit any ships within the respective weapons' ranges.
War Time:
The threat would then be realized with the employment of those weapons. The group would then need to be reinforced by or rendezvous with AAW and ASW combatants and rearm. They would likely have to rearm some where like Yokosuka if the facility was relatively undamaged in the attack.
A mix of the PC(R)s, likely as fitted when the attack happened or refitted in Japan or Guam, could then operate in ASuW, ASW, operations or PDS AAW escort. The description of the mixes of fits (ASCM, ASW dog-house with Mk32 SVTT and a yet-identified towed array, and swapping of the Phalanx CIWS with SeaRAM is described in the other PC(R) threads.
[quote="carr"]2. I assume the premise behind the RIS is that it is a lower priority force, meaning no supercarriers.[/quote]Indeed. Most air power would come off the assigned LSD/AFSB, FF/FFG, or LCS.
[quote="carr"]3. David stated that the relevant theater is the first island chain. This, in turn, limits the degree of surveillance that can be provided by the ships, themselves, and suggests the need for a heavy UAV presence to provide the wide-ranging surveillance that a "regional" force would need. Thus, a RIS requires a UAV-carrier with a large UAV inventory because the UAV attrition will be substantial.[/quote]This would be true in both peace and war time. UAVs are lost quite often. The group's elements would have access to other C4I assets as long as they were in the area as well.
As a brief wrap up, again this is not meant to be a Regional Fight and Win A War By Itself (RFWABI) force. Its main function and use would be to pose a threat (ASuW, ASW, and short to medium range AAW) to aggressive power. If it came time to snap-shot an assault, a large number of ASCMs could be fired from deck mounted launchers, Mk54 torpedoes could be fired at submerged targets that were being tracked, and RAM reinforced with SeaRAM could throw a great number of RAM at an incoming ASCM threat as the force consolidates and forms up with the more expensive and more capable combatants as a larger theater-wide strategy was initiated.