US Navy swaps speed for firepower as focus shifts from nimble pirates to heavyweights, China and Russia

The US Navy spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to fulfil its need for speed with a new class of fast and agile warships capable of zipping along at highway speeds. But it turns out speed is overrated.

The Navy has learned lessons from the light-and-speedy littoral combat ships: Upcoming ships will trade some speed in favour of more weapons and heavier armour, as the strategic focus shift from unconventional challenges such as piracy to the increasingly assertive giants China and Russia.

Rear Admiral Peter Fanta, director of surface warfare, said the goal is to increase the offensive punch of all warships from the biggest to the smallest. For the littoral combat ship, that’ll begin with the installation of over-the-horizon missiles this summer.

“Each ship that I now have — I have to make more lethal because I cannot build ships fast enough, or enough of them,” Fanta said.

Two versions of the warships were sped into production to meet the Navy’s goal of an affordable, fast ship to operate in shallow coastal — or littoral — waters.

The ships, which are capable of topping 80km/h, utilise steerable waterjets instead of propellers and rudders to operate in shallow water.