The USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20), a Blue Ridge-class command and control ship, arrived in Souda Bay, Greece, on March 10, 2025, for a scheduled port visit, reinforcing the strong partnership between the United States and Greece, according to a U.S. Navy press release.
During the visit, the ship’s crew will participate in volunteer activities, engage with the local community, and experience Greek culture, highlighting the U.S. Navy’s commitment to regional stability and strengthening alliances in the Mediterranean.
“Team 20 is thrilled to be back in Greece, a vital partner for our ship and a cornerstone of our regional presence,” said Capt. Colin Price, commanding officer of USS Mount Whitney. “Working together with our Greek allies is essential for maintaining a strong and ready force, committed to maritime security in the region.”
The visit will provide opportunities for U.S. sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners aboard the Mount Whitney to take part in community relations events, further deepening the bonds between the U.S. Navy and the Greek community.
The USS Mount Whitney is currently operating within the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, where its crew and embarked staff work alongside allies and partners in support of maritime security operations, naval diplomacy, and regional cooperation.
As the U.S. 6th Fleet flagship, the Mount Whitney plays a key role in supporting naval operations and fostering international partnerships. The ship, which is forward deployed to Gaeta, Italy, operates with a combined crew of U.S. sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners, supporting U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.
The U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, is responsible for conducting the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often coordinating with allied and interagency partners to promote security and stability in Europe and Africa.
The fact is the US sticks to same old, same old for way to long, there is a point where the law of diminishing returns vs a clean sheet new system should kick in. And I don’t know if it’s the Pork Belly Political system (keep the jobs in my constituency or lose my vote) or the revolving door of recruitment between the Military and Defence contractors.
But there is an ex USAFE Gent who may have an opinion.
NAVY still building ABs, so many failed projects and Billion flushed down the Loo they struggle to fund replacements !
Army entire AFV fleet is stuck in the 70’s, SPG is a 1961 design and out of date.
Airforce The A10, B1, B52, F16, F15 are all old designs and cost a fortune to update and maintain. But just keep on rolling all that money into them rather than develop new designs. IMHO the biggest issue is the US is incapable of accepting the idea of openly inviting foreign designs to compete with any hope of success.
USMC Hope at last, they are used to working on a lower budget but think outside of the box, divesting themselves of armour, legacy systems and really embracing distributed war fighting.
Missiles Where do you start ? Standard missile is just about maxed out let’s face it it’s the developed front end of the Terrier RIM-2 first tested in 1953 from the test Battleship Mississippi.
And on the other hand we have us in Europe. We dispense with designs and go to clean sheet designs way too often and pay for them by gapping the actual capability’s.
Does anyone disagree that still having an upgraded Tornado in service for SEAD and as a long range missile carrying strike aircraft wouldn’t be a very handy capability to still have in service. Same for C130 !
But no we get rid, lose the capability and never seem to be able to adequately replace them.
And we are effectively doing the same right now with the Typhoon to pay for GCAP or F35.
For me I think the USN have a good handle on these particular ships. Two in class based on the hull of the Iwo Jima class. Receive regular maintenance in various yards and have a planned out of service date of 2039.
If that was the UK it would take years to design a new hull and 10 committees at least. One would be sold of in the first ten years or parked up.
For these two ships the major upgrades will be ongoing and in the business end for them electronics.
Actually, Uncle Sugar’s current procurement methodology could probably be characterized rather simply: Specifically, USAF management is appalled by new systems development and acquisition costs. Examples: B-21 @ $700+Mn/ac and NGAD @ $300+Mn/ac. Evidently, refurbishment of B-52s, and acquisition of F-15EX and potentially F-16V becomes significantly more appealing on an interim basis. Although perhaps difficult to comprehend from an ENATO perspective, a 3.5% of GDP defense budget is forcing significant compromises. Then, of course, there are the self-inflicted wounds (e.g., Little Crappy Ships (LCS), Consternation Class, etc.). 🤔😳😱
I would suggest that procuring new F15 et al is a pragmatic way to maintain mass and lets be honest here the latest F15, and Typhoon for that matter, are no slouches. Chuck in F35 with the apparent role out of the reworked Blk 4 starting and I would suggest a pretty good mix of capabilities is starting to emerge. There are hints that the UK may be about to join other eNATO countries in buying Tranche 4 Typhoon which will be welcomed by many so Typhoon as a capable provider of mass and F35 to prize open the defences.
Although, A10 on the modern battlefield..? Hmm! Not seeing really.
As for self inflicted wounds T23 designed with an 18year life and then faffing with the Global Combat Ship / T26 for the best part of 30 years…
Defence procurement is full of horror stories everywhere you look. Problem is no one has a crystal ball, so everyone is guessing… and too few bother to learn the lessons of history.
Best piece of procurement, Chain Home radar stations late 1930’s. Sir Robert Watson-Watt leader of the team said, “Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, the best never comes.” When he needed an oscillator to synchronise the radar pulses rather than develop a new device he simply used the 50Hz national power grid frequency. A German zeppelin flew the length of the UK eats coast on an electronic recce mission. They couldn’t make out what the 50Hz pulses on their screens were and decided they were too low a frequency to be radar (because their radars were much higher frequency) so it must be sparking on the national grid. That was a few days before Germany invaded Poland. So Germany went into the war unaware that we had a radar controlled integrated air defence system… Third best , eh.
Cheers CR
CR,
Agree, although it controverts ac design orthodoxy, that gen 4+ ac will have a viable role at the FEBA for a significant timeframe. Bring modern stand-off munitions and defensive aids to the party, and reap favorable results. Avoid the ChiComs and their proxies, and the tech could remain viable even longer.
BTW, thoroughly enjoyed vignette on Chain Home and Sir Robert Watson-Watt. 😊👍 Have been taught by OJT that a sufficient sol’n is very often preferable to a perfect one.
Leandrr class frigates
Hi M8 I thought you’d chip in fairly quickly, I trust you are hail and hearty. I’d add two fiascos to your list not buying the F22 in bulk would have negated the need for more F15’s given the US Air superiority in mass and pushed the need for the next generation back a bit. And who knows what a further developed version would have done.
Second one was not going for the Super Tomcat (ST21) and just buying more F18 instead, it just crippled the range of US CAG, massive mistake.
As for the US budget, I’m actually going to shock you ! I can’t stand Trump, he’d sell his Grandmother if he could. But even a broken clocks is right twice a day and on Europe is pretty well on the money.
A population of 580 million people with 20 times the GDP of Russia has been taking the P out of the US since 1990, same goes for Canada, they are even worse (but very very nice).
If we all paid just 2.5% in ENATO the US could just withdraw, save some money and spend it on something else.
But I do think the B52 and A10 are just a wasted drain on the budget.
ABCRodney,
Greetings! It is a definite sign that one has contributed to the discussion too frequently, when others can reliably predict one’s response. 🤔😳😱😉 Nevertheless, intrepidly sallying forth…
1.) Believe F-22 production decision was a relatively rare mis-step by then SECDEF Robert Gates, constrained by budgetary pressure from other issues–principally manifold issues as a result of participation in the Sandbox.
2.) Unfamiliar w/ Super Tomcat (ST21) saga. Need to research topic before engaging keyboard.
3.) Vacillating opinion re BUFFs: By any objective measure, BMAC produced a helluva fine bomber, as evidenced by a 60+ yes. track record. Very substantial investment to upgrade residual fleet? Close call, probably driven by the sticker shock of B-21 acquisition. Perhaps, as a stand-off wrap carrier…🤞🤞
4.) Agree that Providence, or History, sometimes records improbable accomplishments by improbable actors. Increasing NATO defence budgets, by whatever manner and means, is a necessary and desirable outcome. Hope that 2.5% of GDP is sufficient, concerned it will not prove to be adequate. 🤞🤞
Wow, autocorrect strikes again… 60+ yr…weap…🙄
Save money by not starting BS wars like Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Ukraine.
Agree in principle, but not every example cited. Vietnam was a result of US hubris in not learning the lesson from the decisive French defeat at Dien Bien Phu during the First Indochina War. Second Iraq conflict definitely a self-inflicted disaster, courtesy of Bush the Lesser & his Merry Band of NeoCons. Really can’t claim sole credit for Syria, Libya or Ukraine.
Didn’t forget Afghanistan: Principal mistake was to not confine response to a USAF strategic bombing campaign to reduce Al-Qaeda/Taliban territory to a pre-Stone Age level of existence. Job done, meet at the O’Club for beer. Simples.
Vietnam intervention was I think also heavily inspired by the Korean War. Commie North invades non-commie south. Simples. Unfortunately Vietnam was different to Korea in ither aspects that the US simplt didn’t recignise ( ie North Vietnam govts nationalist popularity in South – bolstered by telling southerners what they wanted to hear – reality turned out post war to be completely different of course).
Probably a fair point. 🤔👍
USAF combat aircraft fleet now has an average age of 32 years, the oldest ever. As a result, availability is falling well short of target at @ 50% .Even the enormous US defence budget is insufficient to maintain force numbers of ever more complex new platforms.
55 years old and still seaworthy.
And we are scrapping frigates just over 30 years old. It just shows what is possible if you plan the longer term and spend the money on a build quality.
I’m sorry to burst your bubble but you do realise that these ships spend most of their time tied up in various ports as they are command ships. The T23 was designed as an ASW Frigate for the North Atlantic so massive stress, wear and tear on just about everything. So basically you’re comparing a Race Horse and a Cart Horse and complaining about its strength and life span.
The T23 were designed for a hull life of just 18 years as they were supposed to be replaced by new builds, that would avoid the costs of the massive and costly updates to previous classes such the Leanders. Which was actually a very sensible and well thought out idea as the eventual T23 refits cost way more than the new build price. Unfortunately the replacements didn’t get ordered in time.
Any idea of planned hull life of T26, or T45 fir that matter? Just asking.
I take your points, but what is Chile doing to keep their 23s seaworthy?
The South Pacific seas can be rough too.
we sold them:
Norfolk F230 (35 years old)
Marlborough F233 (34 years old)
Grafton F80 (28 years old)
How much time to the Chilean 23’s spend at sea?
(Also the South Pacific can be rough,but my understanding is that the weather in the North Atlantic is considerably worse).
The Mount Whitney is currently commanded by Farva Price of Twitter fame, who had previously been the “Big XO” of USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) during her recent deployment to the Red Sea. I think it ticks a box as a deep draft command, as a step to commanding his own carrier.
Hostile forces
Holy crap! I remember the MW.,when I was on the RustyB. 😲. I feel really ancient. ⁉️🔙🔜🚁🙃🕳️Btth.