thedrifter
04-30-07, 07:46 AM
No carrier, but Hawaii may land amphibious group
By William Cole - Gannett News Service
Posted : May 07, 2007
Hawaii didn’t get the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group, but planning is underway that could bring a smaller cousin — an amphibious assault ship and its escort ships — to Pearl Harbor, officials said.
An amphibious group “is almost as good as getting an aircraft carrier,” said Loren Thompson, a defense expert with the Lexington Institute in Virginia. “It’s fewer personnel, but it’s an entire war-fighting package of ships and aircraft.”
Such a ship grouping typically has at its core a carrierlike assault ship with helicopters and AV-8B Harrier jump jets, a transport dock ship and a dock landing ship.
More than 2,000 Marines can be carried on the three main ships in the amphibious group, which also can be bulked up with cruisers, destroyers and submarines.
The three ships would bring about 1,900 sailors, new jobs and more ship repair work. The downside includes more children in local schools, more cars on the roads and some jet and helicopter noise.
When Hawaii could get an amphibious group and which ships are being considered are unclear, but one official said planning is at the midway point in the process.
Jim Tollefson, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, said the possibility of the ship grouping for Hawaii “definitely has been brought up before at high levels.”
In addition to the strategic value, Tollefson said, “I definitely see it as a positive economic impact.”
An amphibious group represents “an excellent alternative” to a carrier, he said, because it fits the Navy’s need for a forward-based force but represents less of a problem in accommodating a carrier’s larger number of personnel, totaling about 5,700 with the air wing. There’s also less jet noise.
An 844-foot Wasp-class assault ship, the centerpiece of the amphibious group, has a crew of 1,108, about two dozen helicopters and six Harrier attack aircraft, according to Navy information.
Pacific Fleet released a statement saying the Navy is “always examining where to best home port and position our forces. No decisions have been announced about moving any amphibious assault ships to Pearl Harbor.”
Daniel Dinell, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which has oversight for the redevelopment of the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station, now called Kalaeloa, recently said he, too, was aware of talk of an amphibious assault ship for Pearl Harbor.
Relocation costs doomed Hawaii’s chances for the aircraft carrier Vinson, which the Navy recently announced will go to San Diego after an East Coast overhaul.
The Vinson was previously based in Bremerton, Wash.
But the same reason Hawaii was attractive for a carrier — a shorter sailing time to potential hot spots — makes it just as attractive as a home port for the amphibious group, experts said.
“It’s hard to overstate the military advantage of going off to war in the Pacific from Hawaii rather than having to go all the way from the West Coast of the United States,” Thompson said. “It can really make the difference between winning and losing.”
Ellie
By William Cole - Gannett News Service
Posted : May 07, 2007
Hawaii didn’t get the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group, but planning is underway that could bring a smaller cousin — an amphibious assault ship and its escort ships — to Pearl Harbor, officials said.
An amphibious group “is almost as good as getting an aircraft carrier,” said Loren Thompson, a defense expert with the Lexington Institute in Virginia. “It’s fewer personnel, but it’s an entire war-fighting package of ships and aircraft.”
Such a ship grouping typically has at its core a carrierlike assault ship with helicopters and AV-8B Harrier jump jets, a transport dock ship and a dock landing ship.
More than 2,000 Marines can be carried on the three main ships in the amphibious group, which also can be bulked up with cruisers, destroyers and submarines.
The three ships would bring about 1,900 sailors, new jobs and more ship repair work. The downside includes more children in local schools, more cars on the roads and some jet and helicopter noise.
When Hawaii could get an amphibious group and which ships are being considered are unclear, but one official said planning is at the midway point in the process.
Jim Tollefson, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, said the possibility of the ship grouping for Hawaii “definitely has been brought up before at high levels.”
In addition to the strategic value, Tollefson said, “I definitely see it as a positive economic impact.”
An amphibious group represents “an excellent alternative” to a carrier, he said, because it fits the Navy’s need for a forward-based force but represents less of a problem in accommodating a carrier’s larger number of personnel, totaling about 5,700 with the air wing. There’s also less jet noise.
An 844-foot Wasp-class assault ship, the centerpiece of the amphibious group, has a crew of 1,108, about two dozen helicopters and six Harrier attack aircraft, according to Navy information.
Pacific Fleet released a statement saying the Navy is “always examining where to best home port and position our forces. No decisions have been announced about moving any amphibious assault ships to Pearl Harbor.”
Daniel Dinell, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which has oversight for the redevelopment of the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station, now called Kalaeloa, recently said he, too, was aware of talk of an amphibious assault ship for Pearl Harbor.
Relocation costs doomed Hawaii’s chances for the aircraft carrier Vinson, which the Navy recently announced will go to San Diego after an East Coast overhaul.
The Vinson was previously based in Bremerton, Wash.
But the same reason Hawaii was attractive for a carrier — a shorter sailing time to potential hot spots — makes it just as attractive as a home port for the amphibious group, experts said.
“It’s hard to overstate the military advantage of going off to war in the Pacific from Hawaii rather than having to go all the way from the West Coast of the United States,” Thompson said. “It can really make the difference between winning and losing.”
Ellie