The US Navy has deployed the Independence-class littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Gabrielle Giffords
to the Indo-Pacific region.
Importantly it is carrying the fifth-generation over-the-horizon Naval Strike Missile (NSM)
and MQ-8B Fire Scout helicopter drone, which is used to lookout for targets.
USS Gabrielle Giffords left San Diego earlier in September.
The presence of USS Gabrielle Giffords carrying Naval Strike Missile is expected to bolster
American forces in the region where China is trying to establish its dominance.
Timothy Heath, a Rand Corp. senior defense analyst said,
“The Pentagon is building a military force that can operate on a more sustainable basis
and has a better chance of fighting and surviving within the [Chinese’] deadly anti-access,
area denial envelope,”
Cmdr.
John Fage, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy’s 3rd Fleet stated that the Naval Strike Missile
will help increase the firepower of already strong naval force in the region.
In this video Defense Updates reports on Naval Strike Missiles armed USS Gabrielle Giffords
deployment in the South China Sea Let’s get started.
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China claims most of the South China Sea.
It said that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the area.
Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have disputed these claims.
The route is significant as about $5 trillion in trade through shipping passes each year.
Countries like the U.S, Japan, U.K, and India have no claims in the area and want ‘Freedom
of Navigation’ as per international maritime laws.
China has tried imposing a unilateral decision as per which all ships & aircraft navigating
in the area need to identify itself to the Chinese Navy.
Viewers may note that The Philippines approached international tribunal for arbitration and
argued that Chinese activity in the region was violating international law.
On July 12, 2016, Judges at Hague tribunal completely rejected China’s claims over
the waters and stated that China’s claim that it enjoyed historical rights over the
South China Sea is incorrect.
China has built military features like reenforced aircraft hangers and deployed Surface To Air
and Anti Ship missiles in several man-made outposts in the South China Sea.
This buitup are designed to create an Anti Access Area Denial envelope.
The littoral combat ship (LCS) is a set of two classes the Independence and Freedom.
Construction of the Freedom-class is spearheaded by Lockheed Martin at Fincantieri Marinette
Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, while that of Independence-class ships is led by Austal
USA in Alabama.
These are relatively small surface vessels and basically designed for operations near
shore.
During the late 1990s, the U.S. Navy understood that cruisers and destroyers would be vulnerable
to attacks in shallow coastal waters.
Large warships like cruisers and destroyers are designed for open-ocean warfare and not
for shallow water where these can be targeted by high-speed boats, missile-firing fast-attack
craft, small submarines, sea mines, and land and air-launched anti-ship missiles.
The idea behind the littoral combat ship, as described by former Secretary of the Navy
Gordon R. England, is to “create a small, fast, maneuverable and relatively inexpensive
member of the DD(X) family of ships.”
If required these ships will absorb an attack and protect the much more expensive cruiser
or destroyers.
The LCS is envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating
anti-access and asymmetric threats in coastal waters.
Interestingly, the LCS has a modular design.
The vessels can be configured with different modules for specific roles that include anti-submarine
warfare, mine countermeasures, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,
homeland defense, maritime intercept, special operations, and logistics.
In the long run, the LCSs are expected to replace slower and specialized ships such
as minesweepers and amphibious assault ships.
USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship and the first one to
be deployed with Naval Strike Missiles It was commissioned in June 2017.
The LCS is named after former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
It has a length of 127.4 m (418 ft ) and displacement of 3,104 tonnes when full loaded.
The ship uses two gas turbine and two diesel engines to power four steerable waterjets
.
The USS Gabrielle Giffords has speed of 40 kn + (46 mph; 74 km/h) and has a range of
4,300 nmi (8,000 km; 4,900 mi)
It accommodates 40 core crew plus up to 35 mission crew.
USS Gabrielle Giffords can carry up to two Fire Scout.
The Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout is an unmanned autonomous helicopter developed by
Northrop Grumman for use by the United States Armed Forces.
The Fire Scout is designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness, aerial fire support
and precision targeting support for ground, air and sea forces.
Fire Scout's surveillance and targeting capability is expected to further enhance the LCS’
improved lethality
Currently U.S Navy mostly uses the Boeing RGM-84 Harpoon Block II and the French-designed
MBDA Exocet Anti Ship Missile.These are relatively outdate and don’t fit into the modern landscape.
The Naval Strike Missiles or NSM is the upgrade of Kongsberg’s Penguin short-to-medium range
anti-ship guided missile.
The missile has range of 100 miles or 185 km.
NSM is capable of high subsonic speeds.
It has sea skim mode by which it travel very close to the surface , making it hard to detect
and intercept.
It is also designed to maneuver to avoid enemy defenses.
It is equipped with a 276 ponds or 125 kg multi-purpose blast/fragmentation warhead.
NSM features an imaging IR-seeker which is complimented by inertial/GPS navigation.
The missile also has built-in database of representative ship types to distinguish between
intended targets and other objects.
Importantly it can be used as an anti ship missile as a for taking out land targets.
NSM will be placed on the decks of LCSs through a proprietary canister launchers.
A LCS will be capable of carrying up to 8 NSMs in deck-mounted canisters.
According to Raytheon, NSM launchers, the missile and supporting component will be manufactured
the United States.
Notably, U.S Navy is has chosen NSM for future FFG(X) frigates also.
China has built up its conventional as well as nuclear weapons.
On Aug 9, Rear Admiral Michael Brookes, director of intelligence for Stratcom stated China
has doubled its nuclear arsenal in last decade, and it will again in the next.
The Chinese Navy has received marked attention and its upgradation plans are especially aggressively.
Wang Yunfei, a retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) destroyer naval officer, had states
earlier that four of the carriers will work on the front line.
He said, “China’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers
with [electromagnetic aircraft catapult systems] are expected to join the navy by 2035, bringing
the total number of carriers to at least six – although only four will work at the front
line”
Deployment of USS Gabrielle Giffords armed with Naval Strike Missiles indicates that
U.S. Navy is slowly increasing its power and presence in the Pacific Ocean.
Naval Strike Missiles equipped USS Gabrielle Giffords will pose a unique challenge to the
Chinese Navy as the relatively small , stealthy and agile warship will be hard to target but
will have the ability to take out much larger warships of Chinese Navy.
It is fair to say that the combo will add a new dimension tot he U.S Navy’s capability
in the South China Sea region.