Landing Craft Utility as a Force Multiplier in the Littorals

Abstract

As defense budgets tighten with each passing year, the Navy is presently building or planning to build a small number of large and high-cost ships. The manufacturing cost and declining numbers of these vessels essentially makes every one of them a capital ship. In order to protect them from danger during future littoral missions, this paper will forward the proposal that a small amphibious landing craft the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) can be used as a more cost-effective alternative to close exposure to enemy attack. This paper will briefly trace the history of modern landing craft and will look at non-traditional missions for them. It will explore the range of operations currently required of Navy landing craft and examine ways to make more effective use of scarce assets in the areas the Navy/Marine Corps team is most likely to conduct future operations- the littorals.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA401240

Entities

People

  • Jay D. Bottelson

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amphibious Operations
  • Boats
  • Civil War
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Landing Craft
  • Marine Transportation
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Vessels (Combatant)
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Second World War
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Weapons Effects

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
  • Strategic Security Studies