US Amphibious Ship Tests New 'Carrier' Mode in Drills With Philippines

[Sherman A1]

The American military vessel was earlier spotted passing through the disputed waters of the South China Sea despite numerous demands from China, who has a significant military presence in the region, calling for the US to stop such "provocations".

The US Marine Corps have been testing a concept of a so-called "Lightning Carrier" during joint drills with the Philippines military, Business Insider reported. The idea of this concept is to load an America-class amphibious assault ship, such as the USS Wasp currently participating in these drills, with 10 or even more F-35 Lightning II jets – twice the amount normally loaded on such vessels.

"The experiments led to the realization that this is an option […] I think the Marine Corps may be realizing that this is the best use of their large amphibious assault ships. I think you are going to see more and more deployments like that", Bryan Clark, a naval affairs expert told the media outlet.

US Marines are planning to use such "Lightning Carriers" as a supplement for big navy carriers. According to a Marines Corps spokesman, they will take full advantage of the amphibious assault ship as a sea base, but at the same time will provide a significant air force with strike capabilities.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2019/04/mil-190413-sputnik04.htm

[machI]

1. The Navy rediscovers the 'Jeep" Carrier

Jeep carrier crews, who joked that "CVE" (the Navy's designation for this type of ship) really stood for "Combustible, Vulnerable and Expendable," became experts at hunting, finding and killing U-boats in both ocean theaters. Jeeps and their crews also provided fighter and close air support for amphibious landings, and served as aircraft transports as the tempo of the carrier war in the Pacific mounted to a crescendo.

[Sherman A1]

2. Yup

Seems to be the case. The navy goes through the we need small carriers every so often.

[JayhawkSD]

3. The Wasp is actually LHD-1, Landing Helicopter Dock

The statement that the plan is "is to load an America-class amphibious assault ship, such as the USS Wasp currently participating in these drills, with 10 or even more F-35 Lightning II jets – twice the amount normally loaded on such vessels," is pretty odd in several respects.

USS Wasp is number one in her class, and is the first of the "Wasp class" ships, so is not an America class ship, which is actually the successor to the Wasp class of ships. Only one America class ship is in service, America, one is finished but not yet in service, and a third is under construction, so reference to the use of this class of ships in the plural is erroneous.

Further, the idea that "10 or even more F-35 Lightning II jets" is twice the usual complement of these ships is erroneous to the point of being bizarre. The normal complement of USS Wasp is:

Standard ops: 6 Harriers or F-35s, plus 12 MV22 Ospreys, plus 8 helicopters.
Assault ops: 22 MV22 Ospreys
Sea Control: 20 Harriers or F-35s plus 8 helicopters.

Don't have the normal complement of the America class, but the ship is slightly larger than Wasp, so it would be more aircraft rather than fewer.

Pretty clear that Global Security has no idea what it is talking about.