03/26/2011 – Second Line of Defense is visiting the Ingalls Shipyards for the christening of LPD-24, the latest in the new LPD 17 series.
As “Ozzie” Osborn, the former 15th MEU commander explained in a recent SLD interview, to be posted soon:
We haven’t bought the amphibious and aviation comms needed to do this. That’s the biggest limitation we’ve got right now. Overall amphibious coms is one of the biggest limiting factors. Compared with what I have aboard the big deck, if I go ashore with my command element, I have more connectivity and capability with my command element ashore. I actually have more with my organic ground based assets, than all three ships added together.
The LPD 17 will go a long way to solve the C2 problem. The C2 capabilities of the new LPD 17 will enable the ARG to operate in a distributed and disaggregated approach significantly enhanced its flexibility, modularity and overall capability.
And as a senior USMC commander put it recently about the impact of the LPD-17:
With the LPD-17, I’ve got command and control, and I’ve also got a flight deck where I can take some of the bigger airplanes aboard and go operate. It is absolutely key to have the LPD-17 in numbers.
Ed Timperlake of SLD explains the importance of the LPD 17 and amphibious fleet modernization in the video below. Ed is standing in front of the new ship the day before it is christened on March 26, 2011.