Navy to Commission Amphib Designed for F-35s and No Well Deck

Saturday will mark the formal commissioning of the Navy's newest amphibious assault ship, the USS America-- a big-deck amphib designed to more fully leverage the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and the ability to air-drop Marines behind enemy lines.

Unlike previous Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, the America will not have a well-deck to launch connector vehicles that transport Marines and equipment from ship to shore over water. Instead, the America is specifically engineered for aviation. Compared with prior amphibs, the America has a larger deck space and hangar area for aircraft.

"We are changing the way we look at amphibious warfare. During D-Day you had amphibious assault vehicles go ashore with an assault on the beach. Now, we are looking more at Marine Corps aviation and how can we use those Corps assets we have on-board the ship to bring the fight inland. I think that this ship in particular gives us a tremendous capability to do that," said Lt. Dawn Stankus, a USS America spokeswoman.

In total, the America is configured to house up to 31 aircraft including as many as 12 MV-22 Ospreys and the CH-53 Super Stallion, AH-1Z Super Cobra, UH-1Y Huey, F-35 B Short-take-off-and-landing Joint Strike Fighter and MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter, Stankus explained.

The America -- the first of as many of 11 planned America-class amphibs -- was built at a Huntington Ingalls Industries facility in Pascagoula, Miss.

The ship can transport up to 3,000 sailors and Marines, including elements of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, or MEU, designed for amphibious warfare. Amphibious technology on board the ship can include up to 60 HMMWs, Light Armored Vehicles, mortars, artillery and smaller Internally Transportable Vehicles, or ITVs, configured to drive into the back of an Osprey, Navy and Marine Corps officials described.

The concept behind the aviation-focus of the USS America is described, at least in part, in terms of what Navy and Marine Corps officials refer to as "vertical maneuver" -- an ability to move amphibious assets, gear, Marines, weapons and equipment inland using aircraft such as the Osprey. The idea is to air-drop forces behind potential adversaries' fortifications or front-line defenses.

"Maneuver warfare involves moving around the enemy instead of confronting them directly where they may have bunkers and all kinds of fortifications. Instead of just strong-arming through we can fly around them where they don't expect us," Cpl. Victor Shugart , 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, told Military.com

This kind of tactic could be coupled with a traditional frontal beach landing or amphibious assault so as to isolate an enemy force in between two approaching offensive combat forces, Shugart added.

"We can fly in behind enemy lines and survive for three days with supplies. We can do any kind of raid or assault that infantry might need using the aircraft on this boat," he said.

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Navy to Commission Amphib Designed for F-35s and No Well Deck