Battle between the 21st century monitors and the USS Virginia

During the American Civil War, the United States Navy launched the first of a new breed of littoral combatants.

The USS Monitor was a small stealthy ship with advanced armament and was armored to face the close in battles of the littorals.

The ship was successful at operating in a hostile littoral area and kept the CSS Virginia bottled up.

The 21st century equivalent to the USS Monitor is the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and lots of people in the media seem to believe it will do battle with the USS Virginia class of submarines for budget dollars.

Submarine fleet seen as shrinking in near term, Providence Journal, July 7, 2004

Third, submarines are not among the programs that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his chief of naval operations, Adm. Vern Clark, have identified as top spending priorities. Higher on the wish list, for example, is the development of the new "littoral combat ship," a small, fast, relatively cheap vessel that can fight near shore.

The LCS and the Virginia seem to be in competition for the same role. They both use stealth to close in on the enemy shore so they can deploy unmanned vehicles and sensors.

And yet the two classes are entirely complementary.

The USS Virginia as a submarine has a higher level of stealth than any surface ship, but it cannot operate surface or air craft and is restricted from doing missions such as boarding specious ships and while the LCS can travel in much shallower water, it lacks the Virginia's long range firepower in cruise missiles and torpedoes.

A squadron of three LCS backed by a single Virginia class submarine can do things that neither could apart. The LCS can act as the eyes and hands on the surface using their speed and air assets to strike and withdraw while the submarine lurks ready to apply decisive force.

If the 21st century monitors team up with the Virginias then the US Navy will be the clear winner.

-HJC