USS America Will Allow Japan-Based Marines to Bring More MV-22 Ospreys to Sea - USNI News

The Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is already considering how next year’s arrival of new amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6) will affect operations in the forward-deployed amphibious force.

An early look indicates America’s larger flight deck may make up for the ship’s lack of a well deck, 31st MEU Commanding Officer Col. Robert Brodie said this week – but partly because the 31st MEU emphasizes light, maneuverable gear and does not operate tanks in its ground force.

Brodie, speaking to the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies on April 23, said the new ship will still accommodate the full complement of people and gear the MEU wants to bring with it to sea but that leadership will have to be a bit imaginative to work through what those operations look like without a well deck on the amphibious assault ship. The current big-deck the MEU uses, USS Wasp (LHD-1), has room for three landing craft air cushions (LCACs) or two landing craft utilities (LCUs), and swapping Wasp for America next year will take away that ability to move people, vehicles and supplies ashore by surface connector.

“What that means for us is that we will have the America-class ship that is coming out, and that does not have a well deck. So we’re right now not ready to talk about what that means, but we’re thinking through conceptually how we’re going to configure our force to be able to maintain our crisis response capabilities out there,” Brodie said.

31st MEU was the first to go to sea with the new F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, which is larger than the AV-8B Harrier it replaces. While the MEU is looking at how to integrate the new plane into its operating concepts, it’s also looking at more basic things like “working through deck space issues, so I’m right now kind of building some knowledge base with the Navy in how to spot aircraft.”