HUDSON INSTITUTE THE US NAVY’S ACCUMULATING CHALLENGES
1
The US Navy’s Accumulating
Challenges
BY SETH CROPSEY
Senior Fellow & Director, Center for American Seapower
October 2020
The Look Ahead Series is a collection of policy memos examining the challenges that political, military, and business leaders
must contend with today to ensure a secure, free, and prosperous world tomorrow.
The American news cycle moves so quickly that only the most
jarring events break through into popular consciousness.
Notwithstanding, the United States faces complex social and
political problems that require long-term solutions.
But certain events encapsulate the broader policy difculties
the nation faces. Indeed, the USS Bonhomme Richard re and
its aftermath is one such event. It demonstrates the specic
stresses the US Navy faces, both externally and internally, and
highlights the perils to US national security from poor funding
and unclear strategy.
A massive re began on the Bonhomme Richard in mid-July,
continuously burning for ve days. The Navy has yet to release
a formal damage assessment for the ship, but there is a broad
consensus that parts of it must be “re-fabricated”—military-
speak for wholly replaced. Considering the location and
duration of the re, this may entail rebuilding nearly all of the
ship’s operational ight and hangar deck, with a cost of around
$1.5 billion. This, of course, assumes that the “Bonnie Dick”
experienced no structural hull damage. If it did, the ship may
be unsalvageable.
The Bonnie Dick, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship,
plays a critical role in US maritime strategy. Aircraft carriers
and submarines provide the eet with most of its combat
power, while large surface combatants—the Navy’s modern
destroyer and cruiser force—defend the carrier from aerial and
subsurface attack with their suite of anti-air missiles and anti-
submarine sensors. But amphibious assault ships like those
in the Wasp class have a small ight deck and a well deck,
making them capable of deploying helicopters, various aircraft,
and amphibious forces.
Historically, platforms like the Bonnie Dick have spearheaded
the Navy’s amphibious assault forces, a role they will likely
continue to play. But while the combination of a well
deck and a ight deck provides less combat capability
POLICY MEMO
LOOK AHEAD SERIES
