Marines' Landing Ship Delayed and Over Budget: Navy Faces Costly Challenges

 The development of a crucial vessel for the Marine Corps, intended for potential conflicts in island regions such as the Pacific, is experiencing significant delays and cost overruns. Originally planned for delivery in 2023, the Navy's landing ship medium program will now award its design and construction contract in fiscal year 2025, two years later than expected, according to the Government Accountability Office’s Annual Weapons Systems Assessment.

Initiated in 2020 to procure 35 stern landing vessels, the project aims to create ships that blend commercial design elements to reduce detectability and enhance maneuverability for Marine littoral regiments. Currently, testing is being conducted using a modified commercial watercraft capable of direct beach landings.

Assistant Commandant Gen. Christopher Mahoney explained the ship's role: "It is a shore-to-shore logistics connector to transport heavy items that can't be flown in or brought by larger ships, allowing maneuvering and sustaining positions."

Key features of the landing ship medium include:

• Length: 200 to 400 feet
• Draft: 12 feet
• Crew: Approximately 70 sailors
• Capacity: 50 Marines and 648 short tons of equipment
• Deck cargo space: 8,000 square feet
• Speed: 14 knots with a cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles
• Beach landing capability: Roll-on/roll-off for 1:40 grade beaches
• Helicopter pad
• Armament: Two 30 mm guns and six .50-caliber guns
• Service life: 20 years

The first of three planned regiments became operational in 2023. However, the Navy is devising a bridging strategy as it continues to experiment with modified commercial vessels. These interim solutions require significant modifications, each costing around $115 million.

A Congressional Research Services report updated in April suggested that Congress could consider adapting the Army's existing fleet of logistics support vessels to meet some Marine requirements. The Army, with over 100 such vessels, has shifted its logistics focus to the Pacific, aligning with Marine needs.

The Navy plans to award the construction contract in March 2025, with the first ship expected by January 2029. Operational testing is slated for completion by July 2030, with initial capability projected for December 2034.

The program's costs have escalated significantly. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the initial 18-ship program to cost between $6.2 billion and $7.8 billion, or $340 million to $430 million per ship. This is nearly triple the original estimate of $2.6 billion, or $150 million per ship. Should the Navy procure the full fleet of 35 landing ships, the total cost could reach between $11.9 billion and $15 billion.