WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Navy’s top uniformed officer wants to persuade commanders to use smaller, newer ships and other assets for missions instead of constantly turning to giant aircraft carriers — as now seen in U.S. military builds off Venezuela and Iran.
Daryl Caudle’s vision — what he calls “Battle Instructions” — calls for the Navy to deploy more customized groups of ships and equipment that give the maritime service more flexibility to respond to crises as they develop.
Caudle spoke to The Associated Press ahead of the release of the new strategy, which comes as the Trump administration has moved aircraft carriers and other ships to regions around the world to address emerging concerns. This has disrupted standing deployment plans, blocked ships from sailing thousands of miles and put increasing pressure on ships and equipment already facing maintenance problems.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, was rerouted late last year from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean Sea, where the crew ultimately supported last month’s operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. And two weeks ago, the USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the Middle East as tensions with Iran rise, being pulled out of the South China Sea.
In an interview, Caudle said his strategy would make the Navy’s presence in regions like the Caribbean much leaner and better suited to deal with real threats.
He said he has already spoken to the commander of the US Southern Command, which includes the Caribbean and Venezuela, “and we’re in negotiations about what his set of problems are — I want to be able to convey to him that I can handle that with a customized package there.”
The admiral sees a smaller contingent in the Caribbean in the future
Speaking broadly, Caudle said he envisions the Caribbean mission focusing more on interdictions and keeping an eye on commercial shipping.
The US military has already seized several suspicious and false-flag tankers connected to Venezuela, which were part of a global shadow fleet of merchant vessels that help governments evade sanctions.
“That doesn’t really require a carrier strike group to do that,” Caudle said, adding that he believes the mission could be accomplished with smaller littoral combat ships, Navy helicopters and close coordination with the Coast Guard.
The Navy has had 11 ships, including the Ford and several amphibious assault ships carrying thousands of Marines, in South American waters for months. It’s a big change for a region that has seen the deployment of one or two smaller naval vessels in the past.
“I don’t want them running a bunch of destroyers out there just to actually operate the radar to get awareness of motor ships and other tankers coming out of the harbor,” Caudle said. “It’s really not a match for that mission.”
Returning to drones or robotic systems
To compensate, Caudle aims to lean more heavily on drones or other robotic systems to give military commanders the same capabilities but with less investment from Navy ships. He admits it won’t be an easy sell.
Caudle said that even if a commander knows about a new capability, the staff “may not know how to ask for it, integrate it and know how to use it in an effective way to bring this new niche capability.”
“This requires a bit of an education campaign here,” he added later.
President Donald Trump has favored big and bold responses from the Navy and leaned heavily toward shows of firepower.
Trump referred to the aircraft carriers and the destroyers that accompany them as navies and fleets. He also revived the historic battleship title for a planned type of ship that would have hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles, cannons and high-powered lasers.
If built, the proposed “Trump-class battleship” would be longer and larger than the World War II-era Iowa-class battleships, though the Navy has not only struggled to implement some of the technologies Trump says will be on board, but has had difficulty building even smaller, less sophisticated ships on time and on budget.
With that trend in mind, Caudle said that if Lincoln’s recent redeployment to the Middle East were to happen under his new plan, he would discuss with the Indo-Pacific commander how to compensate for the loss.
“So when the Abraham Lincoln goes out, I have a group of three ships that will offset that,” Caudle suggested as an example.
Caudle claims his vision is already in place and has been working in Europe and North America “for the last four or five years”.
He said this could soon apply in the Bering Strait, which separates Russia from Alaska, noting that “the importance of the Arctic continues to become more widespread” as China, Russia and the US prioritize the region.
Trump has cited the threat from China and Russia in his demands to take over Greenland, the Arctic island overseen by NATO ally Denmark.
Caudle said he knows he needs to give commanders in that region “more solutions” and “custom force packages would be a way to get after that.”