Navy Light Amphibious Warship (LAW)
July 20, 2021
Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Ronald O'Rourke
The Navy’s new Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) program envisions procuring a class of 24 to
Specialist in Naval Affairs
35 new amphibious ships to support the Marine Corps, particularly in implementing a new

Marine Corps operational concept called Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO). (A
June 17, 2021, long-range Navy shipbuilding document envisions procuring a total of 24 to 35

LAWs, while other Navy documents refer to a requirement for 35 LAWs.) The Navy envisions
the first LAW being procured in FY2023. The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget requests $13.2 million in research and
development funding for the program.
The EABO concept was developed with an eye toward potential conflict scenarios with China in the Western Pacific. Under
the concept, the Marine Corps envisions, among other things, having reinforced-platoon-sized Marine Corps units maneuver
around the theater, moving from island to island, to fire anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and perform other missions so as
to contribute, alongside Navy and other U.S. military forces, to U.S. operations to counter and deny sea control to Chinese
forces. The LAW ships would be instrumental to these operations, with LAWs embarking, transporting, landing, and
subsequently reembarking these small Marine Corps units.
As conceived by the Navy and Marine Corps, LAWs would be much smaller and individually much less expensive to procure
and operate than the Navy’s current amphibious ships. The Navy estimates that the first LAW would cost about $156 million
to procure, and that subsequent LAWs would cost about $130 million each to procure.
The LAW as outlined by the Navy is small enough that it could be built by any of several U.S. shipyards. The Navy’s
baseline preference is to have a single shipyard build all the ships, but the Navy is open to having them built in multiple yards
to the same design if doing so could permit the program to be implemented more quickly and/or less expensively. The Navy
plans to release the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the detail design and construction (DD&C) contract for the LAW
program in the second quarter of FY2022, and to award the contract in the first quester of FY2023.
The LAW program poses a number of potential oversight matters for Congress, including the merits of the EABO concept,
how LAWs would fit into the Navy’s future fleet architecture, the Navy’s preliminary unit procurement cost target for the
ship, and the industrial-base implications of the program.
The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy’s annual funding requests and envisioned
acquisition strategy for the program. Congress’s decisions regarding the program could affect Navy and Marine Corps
capabilities and funding requirements and the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base.
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Appendixes
Appendix. Proposed Change in Amphibious-Ship Force Architecture and EABO.................... 24

Contacts
Author Information ....................................................................................................... 28

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Navy Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) Program: Background and Issues for Congress

Introduction
This report provides background information and issues for Congress on the Navy’s new Light
Amphibious Warship (LAW) program, which envisions procuring a class of 24 to 35 new
amphibious ships to support the Marine Corps, particularly in implementing a new Marine Corps
operational concept cal ed Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO). The Navy
envisions the first LAW being procured in FY2023. The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget
requests $13.2 mil ion in research and development funding for the program.
The LAW program poses a number of potential oversight matters for Congress. The issue for
Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Navy’s annual funding requests and
envisioned acquisition strategy for the program. Congress’s decisions regarding the program
could affect Navy and Marine Corps capabilities and funding requirements and the U.S.
shipbuilding industrial base.
A separate CRS report discusses the Navy’s programs for building much-larger LPD-17 Flight II
and LHA-class amphibious ships.1 Other CRS reports provide an overview of new Navy and
Marine Corps operational concepts, including EABO, the overal strategic and budgetary context
in which amphibious ship and other Navy shipbuilding programs may be considered, and the
Marine Corps’ plans for redesigning Marine Corps units and their equipment.2
Background
U.S. Navy Amphibious Ships in General
Roles and Missions
Navy amphibious ships are operated by the Navy, with crews consisting of Navy personnel. They
are battle force ships, meaning ships that count toward the quoted size of the Navy. The primary
function of Navy amphibious ships is to lift (i.e., transport) embarked U.S. Marines and their
weapons, equipment, and supplies to distant operating areas, and enable Marines to conduct
expeditionary operations ashore in those areas. Although amphibious ships can be used to support
Marine landings against opposing military forces, they are also used for operations in permissive
or benign situations where there are no opposing forces. Due to their large storage spaces and
their ability to use helicopters and landing craft to transfer people, equipment, and supplies from
ship to shore without need for port facilities,3 amphibious ships are potential y useful for a range
of combat and noncombat operations.4

1 CRS Report R43543, Navy LPD-17 Flight II and LHA Amphibious Ship Programs: Background and Issues for
Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
2 CRS Report RL32665, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, by
Ronald O'Rourke; and CRS Insight IN11281, New U.S. Marine Corps Force Design Initiatives, by Andrew Feickert .
3 Amphibious ships have berthing spaces for Marines; storage space for their wheeled vehicles, their other combat
equipment, and their supplies; flight decks and hangar decks for their helicopters and vertical take-off and landing
(VT OL) fixed-wing aircraft ; and in many cases well decks for storing and launching their landing craft . (A well deck is
a large, garage-like space in the stern of the ship. It can be flooded with water so that landing craft can leave or return
to the ship. Access to the well deck is protected by a large stern gate that is somewhat like a garage door. )
4 Amphibious ships and their embarked Marine forces can be used for launching and conducting humanitarian -
assistance and disaster-response (HA/DR) operations; peacetime engagement and partnership -building activities, such
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On any given day, some of the Navy’s amphibious ships, like some of the Navy’s other ships, are
forward-deployed to various overseas operating areas in multiship formations cal ed amphibious
groups (ARGs). Amphibious ships are also sometimes forward-deployed on an individual basis,
particularly for conducting peacetime engagement activities with foreign countries or for
responding to smal er-scale or noncombat contingencies.
Current Types of Amphibious Ships
The Navy’s current amphibious-ship force consists entirely of large amphibious ships, including
the so-cal ed “big-deck” amphibious assault ships, designated LHA and LHD, which look like
medium-sized aircraft carriers, and the smal er (but stil quite sizeable) amphibious ships,
designated LPD or LSD, which are sometimes cal ed “smal -deck” amphibious ships.5 As
mentioned earlier, a separate CRS report discusses the Navy’s current programs for procuring
new LHA- and LPD-type ships.6 The LAWs discussed in this CRS report would be much smal er
than the Navy’s current amphibious ships.
Amphibious Ship Force Level at End of FY2020
The Navy’s force of amphibious ships at the end of FY2020 included 33 ships, including 10
amphibious assault ships (2 LHAs and 8 LHDs), 11 LPD-17 Flight I ships, and 12 older LSD-
41/49 class ships. The LSD-41/49 class ships are to be replaced by new LPD-17 Flight II class
ships.
One of the Navy’s LHDs—Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)—was extensively damaged by a fire in
July 2020. It was decommissioned on April 15, 2021, and wil be scrapped.7 Excluding LHD-6,

as exercises; other nation-building operations, such as reconstruction operations; operations to train, advise, and assist
foreign military forces; peace-enforcement operations; noncombatant evacuation operations (NEOs); maritime -security
operations, such as anti-piracy operations; smaller-scale strike and counter-terrorism operations; and larger-scale
ground combat operations. Amphibious ships and their embarked Marine forces can also be used for maintaining
forward-deployed naval presence for purposes of deterrence, reassurance, and maintaining regional stability.
5 U.S. Navy amphibious ships have designations starting with the letter L, as in amphibious landing. LHA can be
translated as landing ship, helicopter-capable, assault; LHD can be translated as landing ship, helicopter -capable, well
deck; LPD can be translated as landing ship, helicopter platform, well deck; and LSD can be translated as landing ship,
well deck. Whether noted in the designation or not, almost all these ships have well decks. T he exceptions are LHAs 6
and 7, which do not have well decks and instead have ex panded aviation support capabilities. For an explanation of
well decks, see footnote 3. T he terms “ large-deck” and “ small-deck” refer to the size of the ship’s flight deck.
6 CRS Report R43543, Navy LPD-17 Flight II and LHA Amphibious Ship Programs: Background and Issues for
Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
7 T he four-day (some sources say five-day) fire on LHD-6 began on July 12, 2020, while the ship was at pier in San
Diego. At the time of the fire, the ship was 22 years old and had thus expended about 50% of its expected service life of
40 to 45 years. Following the fire, the Navy spent months assessing condition of the ship and examining options for
repairing it and returning it to service in some capacity. On November 30, 2020, the Navy announced that due to the
estimated cost and time to repair the ship and return it to service, the Navy had decided to decommission the ship and
scrap it. T he Navy stated that about 60% of the ship was ruined and would need to be rebuilt or replaced. Repairing the
ship and returning it to service as an LHD, the Navy estimated, would cost between $2.5 billion and $3.2 billion and
take about five to seven years to complete. (By then, portions of the ship would be 27 to 29 years old.) By comparison,
the Navy said, a new replacement LHA-type ship would cost an estimated $4.1 billion to procure and take about six
years to build. (T he Navy’s estimated repair cost for LHD-6 equates to about 61% to 78% of the Navy’s estimated
procurement cost for a replacement LHA. A new-built LHA would have a full 40- to 45-year expected service life.)
Repairing LHD-6 and reconfiguring it for use as either a hospital ship or a tender (i.e., a ship used to repair, maintain,
or otherwise support other Navy ships), the Navy estimated, would cost more than $1 billion, and also take five to
seven years to complete. T he Navy stated that designing and building a new hospital ship or tender would cost less than
repairing LHD-6 and converting it into a hospital ship or tender. T he Navy estimated that decommissioning the ship,
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the Navy’s force of amphibious ships at the end of FY2020 included 32 ships, including 9
LHA/LHD-type amphibious assault ships.
Amphibious Ship Force-Level Goal
Current Force-Level Goal
The Navy’s current force-level goal, released in December 2016, cal s for achieving and
maintaining a 355-ship fleet that includes 38 amphibious ships—12 LHA/LHD-type ships, 13
LPD-17 Flight I class ships, and 13 LPD-17 Flight II class ships (12+13+13).8 This 38-ship force-
level goal predates the initiation of the LAW program and consequently includes no LAWs.
Potential New Force-Level Goal
Overview
The Navy and DOD since 2019 have been working to develop a new force-level goal to replace
the Navy’s current 355-ship force-level goal. This new force-level goal is expected to introduce a
once-in-a-generation change in fleet architecture, meaning basic the types of ships that make up
the Navy and how these ships are used in combination with one another to perform Navy
missions. This new fleet architecture is expected to be more distributed than the fleet architecture
reflected in the 355-ship goal or previous Navy force-level goals. In particular, the new fleet
architecture is expected to feature
 a smal er proportion of larger ships (such as large-deck aircraft carriers, cruisers,
destroyers, large amphibious ships, and large resupply ships);
 a larger proportion of smal er ships (such as frigates, corvettes, smal er
amphibious ships, smal er resupply ships, and perhaps smal er aircraft carriers);
and
 a new third tier of surface vessels about as large as corvettes or large patrol craft
that wil be either lightly manned, optional y manned, or unmanned, as wel as
large unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).
Navy and DOD leaders believe that shifting to a more distributed fleet architecture is
 operationally necessary, to respond effectively to the improving maritime anti-
access/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities of other countries, particularly China;9

salvaging usable parts of it for use on other Navy ships (which began in September 2020), towing the ship to its
scrapping site, and scrapping the ship would cost about $30 million. (See Megan Eckstein, “UPDAT ED: Navy Will
Scrap USS Bonhomme Richard,” USNI News, November 30, 2020; Geoff Ziezulewicz, “Navy Will Scrap Fire-
Ravaged Bonhomme Richard,” Navy Times, November 20, 2020; Nancy A. Youssef, “Navy Will Decommission Ship
Damaged in Five-Day Blaze,” Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2020; Andrew Dyer, “ Ravaged by Fire, USS
Bonhomme Richard Bound for Scrapyard, Navy Says,” San Diego Union-Tribune, November 30, 2020.)
8 For more on the Navy’s 355-ship force-level goal, see CRS Report RL32665, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding
Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke. For a more detailed review of the 38-ship force
structure requirements, see Appendix A of archived CRS Report RL34476, Navy LPD-17 Am phibious Ship
Procurem ent: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
9 See, for example, David B. Larter, “With China Gunning for Aircraft Carriers, US Navy Says It Must Change How It
Fights,” Defense News, December 6, 2019; Arthur H. Barber, “Redesign the Fleet,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings,
January 2019. Some observers have long urged the Navy to shift to a more distributed fleet architecture, on the grounds
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 technically feasible as a result of advances in technologies for UVs and for
networking widely distributed maritime forces that include significant numbers
of UVs; and
 affordable—no more expensive, and possibly less expensive, than the current
fleet architecture, so as to fit within expected future Navy budgets.10
Operational Rationale
To improve their ability to perform various missions in coming years, including a potential
mission of countering Chinese forces in a possible conflict in the Western Pacific, the Navy and
Marine Corps want to implement a new operational concept cal ed Distributed Maritime
Operations (DMO).11 DMO cal s for U.S. naval forces (meaning the Navy and Marine Corps)12 to
operate at sea in a less concentrated, more distributed manner, so as to complicate an adversary’s
task of detecting, identifying, tracking, and targeting U.S. naval forces, while stil being able to
bring lethal force to bear against adversary forces. To support the implementation of DMO, the
Navy wants to shift to the new and more distributed fleet architecture outlined above.
In paral el with DMO, and with an eye toward potential conflict scenarios in the Western Pacific
against Chinese forces, the Marine Corps has developed two supporting operational concepts,
cal ed Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE) and Expeditionary Advanced
Base Operations (EABO). Under the EABO concept, the Marine Corps envisions, among other
things, having reinforced-platoon-sized Marine Corps units maneuver around the theater, moving
from island to island, to fire anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and perform other missions so as

that the Navy’s current architecture—which concentrates much of the fleet’s capability into a relatively limited number
of individually larger and more expensive surface ships—is increasingly vulnerable to attack by the improving A2/AD
capabilities (particularly anti-ship missiles and their supporting detection and targeting systems) of pot ential
adversaries, particularly China. Shifting to a more distributed architecture, these observers have argued, would
•
complicate an adversary’s targeting challenge by presenting the adversary with a larger number of Navy units
to detect, identify, and track;
•
reduce the loss in aggregate Navy capability that would result from the destruction of an individual Navy
platform;
•
give U.S. leaders the option of deploying USVs and UUVs in wartime to sea locations that would be
tactically advantageous but too risky for manned ships; and
•
increase the modularity and reconfigurability of the fleet for adapting to changing mission needs.
For more on China’s maritime A2/AD capabilities, see CRS Report RL33153, China Naval Modernization:
Im plications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
10 For additional discussion, see CRS Report RL32665, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and
Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
11 For additional discussion, see CRS Report RL32665, Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and
Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke, and CRS Report RL33153, China Naval Modernization: Im plications for
U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
12 Although the term naval is often used to refer specifically to the Navy, it more properly refers to both the Navy and
Marine Corps, because both the Navy and Marine Corps are naval services. Even though the Marine Corps sometimes
operates for extended periods as a land fighting force (as it has done in recent years, for example, in Afghanistan and
Iraq), and is often thought of as the country’s second land army, it nevertheless is, by law, a naval service. 10 U.S.C.
§8001(a)(3) states, “ The term ‘member of the naval service’ mean s a person appointed or enlisted in, or inducted or
conscripted into, the Navy or the Marine Corps.” DON officials sometimes refer to the two services as the Navy -
Marine Corps team. For additional discussion, see CRS In Focus IF10484, Defense Prim er: Departm ent of the Navy,
by Ronald O'Rourke.
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to contribute, alongside Navy and other U.S. military forces, to U.S. operations to counter and
deny sea control to Chinese forces.
More specifical y, the Marine Corps states that the EABO concept includes, among other things,
establishing and operating “multiple platoon-reinforced-size expeditionary advance base sites that
can host and enable a variety of missions such as long-range anti-ship fires, forward arming and
refueling of aircraft, intel igence, surveil ance, and reconnaissance of key maritime terrain, and
air-defense and early warning,”13 The use of Marine Corps units to contribute to U.S. sea-denial
operations against an opposing navy by shooting ASCMs would represent a new mission for the
Marine Corps.14
Light Amphibious Warships (LAWs) would be instrumental to these operations, with LAWs
embarking, transporting, landing, and subsequently reembarking these smal Marine Corps units.
An August 27, 2020, press report states, “Maj. Gen. Tracy King, the director of expeditionary
warfare on the chief of naval operations’ staff (OPNAV N95), said today that LAW was perhaps
the most important investment the Marine Corps was making to optimize itself for expeditionary
advance base operations (EABO).”15 The December 9, 2020, shipbuilding document submitted by
the Trump Administration stated that the Marine Corps
is reducing a number of legacy systems to reinvest in development of more NDS [National
Defense Strategy]-relevant capabilities such as Marine Littoral Regiments (MLRs), as
outlined in the Commandant’s Planning Guidance and Force Design. The FNFS [Future
Naval Force Study] highlights the important contributions MLRs provide to Sea Denial
and Sea Control missions. This approach requires a new mix of amphibious warships
including the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW), which is critical to MLR mobility and
sustainability. The overall number of amphibious warships grows to support the more
distributed expeditionary force design, with an increased number of LAW complementing
fewer legacy amphibious warships.16
A February 2021 Marine Corps tentative manual on EABO states
Littoral maneuver will rely heavily on surface platforms such as the light amphibious
warship (LAW) and a range of surface connectors, as well as aviation assets. The LAW is
envisioned as the principal littoral maneuver vessel of the littoral force.…

13 Emailed statement from Marine Corps as quoted in Shawn Snow, “ New Marine Littoral Regiment, Designed to Fight
in Contested Maritime Environment, Coming to Hawaii,” Marine Tim es, May 14, 2020. See also David H. Berger,
“Preparing for the Future, Marine Corps Support to Joint Operations in Contested Littorals,” Military Review, April
2021, 8 pp.
14 For press articles discussing these envisioned operations, see, for ex ample, Bill Gertz, “ Marine Commandant Reveals
New Mission Preparing for China Conflict ,” Washington T imes, April 21, 2021; Megan Eckstein, “ CMC Berger
Outlines How Marines Could Fight Submarines in the Future,” USNI News, December 8, 2020; David Axe, “ Meet
Your New Island-Hopping, Missile-Slinging U.S. Marine Corps,” Forbes, May 14, 2020; Shawn Snow, “ New Marine
Littoral Regiment, Designed to Fight in Contested Maritime Environment, Coming to Hawaii,” Marine Tim es, May 14,
2020; William Cole (Honolulu Star-Advertiser), “ T he Marine Corps Is Forming a First -of-its-Kind Regiment in
Hawaii,” Military.com , May 12, 2020; Joseph T revithick, “ Marines T o Radically Remodel Force, Cutting T anks,
Howitzers In Favor Of Drones, Missiles,” The Drive, March 23, 2020; Chris “Ox” Harmer, “ Marine Boss’s Audacious
Plan T o T ransform The Corps By Giving Up Big Amphibious Ships,” The Drive, September 5, 2019.
15 Megan Eckstein, “ Marines Already In Industry Studies for Light Amphibious Warship, In Bid to Field T hem
ASAP,” USNI News, August 27 (updated August 28), 2020. See also Paul McLeary, “ ‘If It Floats, It Fights:’ Navy’s
New Small Ship Strategy,” Breaking Defense, August 28, 2020.
16 U.S. Navy, Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels, December 9,
2020, p. 11.
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The LAW supports the day-to-day maneuver of stand-in forces operating in the LOA
[littoral operations area]. It complements L-class amphibious ships17 and other surface
connectors. Utilizing the LAW to transport forces of the surface reduces the impacts of
tactical vehicles on the road network, increases deception, and allows for the sustainment
of forces during embarkation. The range, endurance, and austere access of LAWs enable
the littoral force to deliver personnel, equipment, and sustainment across a widely
distributed area. Shallow draft and beaching capability are keys to providing the volume
and agility to maneuver the required capabilities to key maritime terrain.
LAW employment requires reconnaissance and prior planning relating to the bathymetry
of the littoral environment. Effective LAW employment relies on knowledge of the beach
makeup, slope, currents, tidal effects, and other environment factors.
As envisioned and when properly postured, LAWs possess the range, endurance, speed,
sea-keeping, and C4ISR capabilities to support and conduct complementary operations
with, but not as part of, US Navy tactical groups, including an expeditionary strike group
(ESG) or amphibious ready group (ARG). Forward-positioned LAWs may augment the
capabilities of deploying ARG/MEUs during regional engagement and response to crises
or contingencies.
The LAW with embarked forces, generates and/or enables the following effects:
 Rapidly maneuver forces from shore-to-shore in a contested environment
 Sustain a combat-credible force ashore
 Conduct enduring operations
 Enable persistent joint-force operations and power projection
 Provide increased and capable forward presence18
The survivability of the LAW ships would come from their ability to hide among islands and
other sea traffic, from defensive support they would receive from other U.S. Navy forces, and
from the ability of their associated Marine Corps units to fire missiles at Chinese ships and
aircraft that could attack them with their own missiles (which can be viewed as an application of
the notion that the best defense is a good offense).
For additional background information on the proposed change in the amphibious-ship force
architecture and the EABO-related operational rationale behind it, see the Appendix.
December 9, 2020, Shipbuilding Document
On December 9, 2020, the Trump Administration released a long-range Navy shipbuilding
document that cal ed for a Navy with a more distributed fleet architecture, including 382 to 446
manned ships and 143 to 242 large unmanned surface and underwater vehicles (UVs). Within the
total of 382 to 446 manned ships, the document cal ed for an amphibious fleet of 61 to 67
amphibious ships, including 9 to 10 LHA/LHD-type ships and a combined total of 52 to 57 LPD-
type ships and LAWs. The December 9, 2020, document did not break down the above figure of
52 to 57 amphibious ships into separate figures for LPD-type ships and LAWs.

17 T he term L-class amphibious ships refers to the Navy’s LHA/LHD- and LPD-type amphibious ships, whose
designation begins with the letter L in reference to amphibious landing.
18 Department of the Navy, Headquarters, United States Marine Corps, Tentative Manual for Expeditionary Advanced
Base Operations, February 2021, pp. 7-9 to 7-10.
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June 17, 2021, Department of the Navy Testimony
At a June 17, 2021, hearing before the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the
House Armed Services Committee on seapower programs in the Department of the Navy’s
proposed FY2022 budget, Department of the Navy officials provided figures that appear similar
to those in the December 9, 2020, long-range Navy shipbuilding document. A June 21, 2021,
press report about the June 17, 20201, hearing states (emphasis added):
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have finessed their requirement for amphibious ships
and are now asking for 28 to 31 traditional [i.e,. LHA/LHD-type and LPD-type]
amphibious ships that could flow in to support other expeditionary forces already
operating during a conflict….
Now, the Marines are looking at a one-MEB [Marine Expeditionary Brigade] lift
requirement to move in Marines that would augment and back up those already deployed
and operating in a given region, Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Combat
Development and Integration Lt. Gen. Eric Smith explained during a June 17 House Armed
Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing.
“The requirement, based on a study that [Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for
Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities Vice Adm. Jim Kilby], my friend Jim, and I
did together was you need 31 traditional amphibious ships in the appropriate mix,
which is 10 big decks, LHA/LHD, and 21 LSD/LPD,” Smith said, with the LHAs and
LHDs being the America-class and Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, respectively,
supplemented by San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks (LPD-17s) and their Flight
II variant that will replace the aging Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships (LSD-41/49).
“The low end of that study is 28, and the difference in those three is that there’s additional
risk in arrival times,” he continued. “And that’s based on a single MEB, Marine
Expeditionary Brigade, forcible entry, and our expeditionary units that are out always, and
our forward-deployed naval force in Japan.”
In the past, having just one MEB to flow in behind any deployed or forward -deployed
Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) would not be enough —but now, those deployed
MEUs will be supplemented by 35 Light Amphibious Warships ….19
June 17, 2021, Shipbuilding Document
On the evening of June 17, 2021, following conclusion of the hearing discussed above, the Biden
Administration released a long-range Navy shipbuilding document that cal s for a Navy with a
more distributed fleet architecture, including 321 to 372 manned ships and 77 to 140 large
unmanned surface and underwater UVs. Within the total of 321 to 372 manned ships, the
document cal s for an amphibious fleet of 48 to 63 amphibious ships, including 8 to 9 LHA/LHD-
type ships, 16 to 19 LPD-type ships, and 24 to 35 LAWs.
Current and Potential New Amphibious Ship Force-Level Goals
Table 1 compares the force-level goal for amphibious ships within the Navy’s 355-ship plan to
the emerging force-level goals for amphibious ships in the December 9, 2020, long-range Navy
shipbuilding document, the Department of the Navy’s June 17, 2021, testimony, and the June 17,
2021, long-range Navy shipbuilding document.

19 Megan Eckstein, “ Marines Explain Vision for Fewer T raditional Amphibious Warships,” Defense News, June 21,
2021.
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Table 1. Current and Potential New Amphibious Ship Force-Level Goals
Emerging force-
Department
Emerging force-
level goal in
of Navy
level goal in
Trump
testimony at
Biden
355-
Administration
June 17,
Administration
ship
December 9,
2021,
June 17, 2021,
Ship type
goal
2020, document
hearing
document
Large-deck (LHA/LHD)
12
9 to 10
Up to 10
8 to 9
LPD-type
26
n/a
Up to 21
16 to 19
Subtotal larger ships (LHA/LHD-
38
n/a
28 to 31
24 to 28
type and LPD-type)
Light Amphibious Warships (LAWs)
0
n/a
35
24 to 35
LPD-type and LAWs combined
26
52 to 57
Up to 56
40 to 54
TOTAL all types
38
61 to 67
63 to 66
48 to 63
Source: Table prepared by CRS based on U.S. Navy data.
Note: N/a means not available.
Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) Program20
Overview
As shown in Table 1, the June 17, 2021, long-range Navy shipbuilding document envisions
procuring a total of 24 to 35 LAWs. Other Navy documents refer to a requirement for 35 LAWs.
The figure of 35 LAWs includes nine operational LAWs for each of three envisioned Marine
Littoral Regiments (MLRs), plus eight additional LAWs to account for factors such as a certain
number of LAWs being in maintenance at any given moment. LAWs would be much smal er and
individual y much less expensive to procure and operate than the Navy’s current amphibious
ships. The Navy envisions the first LAW being procured in FY2023. The Navy’s proposed
FY2022 budget requests $13.2 mil ion in research and development funding for the program.
Ship Design
The Navy wants LAWs to be a relatively simple and relatively inexpensive ships with the
following features, among others:
 a length of 200 feet to 400 feet;21

20 Unless otherwise stated, information in this section about the LAW is taken from Navy briefing slides and Navy
answers to industry questions from LAW program industry days that were held on March 4 and April 9, 2020, and
posted on March 20, May 5, and May 7, 2020, at “ RFI: US Navy Light Amphibious Warship (LAW),”
https://beta.sam.gov/opp/90a9ece86ade48089e9f6d57d2969d23/view, accessed by CRS on May 15, 2020.
For press articles about the LAW, see Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Researching New Class of Medium Amphibious Ship,
New Logistics Ships,” USNI News, February 20, 2020. See also Rich Abott, “ FY 2021 Request Starts Work on Future
Amphibs and Logistics Ships,” Defense Daily, February 20, 2020; David Axe, “T his Weird Little Ship Could Be the
Future of Amphibious Warfare,” National Interest, February 24, 2020; Mallory Shellbourne, “ Navy begins pursuit of
Light Amphibious Warship,” Inside Defense, March 26, 2020; Joseph T revithick, “ Navy Wants T o Buy 30 New Light
Amphibious Warships T o Support Radical Shift In Marine Ops,” The Drive, May 5, 2020; Megan Eckstein, “ Navy
Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News, November 19, 2020.
21 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
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 a maximum draft of 12 feet;
 a displacement of up to 4,000 tons;22
 a ship’s crew of no more than 40 Navy sailors;23
 an ability to embark at least 75 Marines;
 4,000 to 8,000 square feet of cargo area for the Marines’ weapons, equipment,
and supplies;24
 a stern or bow landing ramp for moving the Marines and their weapons,
equipment, and supplies the ship to shore (and vice versa) across a beach;
 a modest suite of C4I equipment;25
 a 25mm or 30mm gun system and .50 caliber machine guns for self-defense;
 a transit speed of at least 14 knots, and preferably 15 knots;26
 a minimum unrefueled transit range of 3,500 nautical miles;27
 a “Tier 2+” plus level of survivability (i.e., ruggedness for withstanding battle
damage)—a level, broadly comparable to that of a smal er U.S. Navy surface
combatant (i.e., a corvette or frigate), that would permit the ship to absorb a hit
from an enemy weapon and keep the crew safe until they and their equipment
and supplies can be transferred to another LAW;28

November 19, 2020.
22 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
November 19, 2020.
23 A draft circular of requirements (CoR) attached to a request for information (RFI) on the Law program that Navy
released on October 16, 2020, states that “ The ship shall be capable of at least 11 day missions without replenishment
for 40 crew and 50 embarked personnel.” (“ Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) Circular of Requirements (CoR), Draft
for Preliminary Design RFI, Ver 0.12, 10-13-20, PDF page 6 of 19, attachment to “ RFI: DRAFT US Navy Light
Amphibious Warship Preliminary Design/Contract Design Statemen t of Work,” Beta.sam.gov, accessed November 23,
2020, at https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c1c8a3900504442fa5ad3bac48cec001/view?index=opp.)
24 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
November 19, 2020. A draft circular of requirements (CoR) attached to a request for information (RFI) on the Law
program that Navy released on October 16, 2020, states that the “ ship shall have a cargo deck capable of carrying 648
ST [short tons] and a minimum deck area of 8000” square feet. (“ Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) Circular of
Requirements (CoR), Draft for Preliminary Design RFI, Ver 0.12, 10 -13-20, PDF page 5 of 19, attachment to “ RFI:
DRAFT US Navy Light Amphibious Warship Preliminary Design/Contract Design Statement of Work ,” Beta.sam.gov,
accessed November 23, 2020, at https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c1c8a3900504442fa5ad3bac48cec001/view?index=opp.)
25 C4I is command and control, communications, computers, and intelligence.
26 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
November 19, 2020. A draft circular of requirements (CoR) attached to a request for information (RFI) on the Law
program that Navy released on October 16, 2020, states that the “ ship shall be capable of a minimum transit speed of
14 knots in Sea State three (SS3) at the ship’s full load condition….” (“ Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) Circular of
Requirements (CoR), Draft for Preliminary Design RFI, Ver 0.12, 10 -13-20, PDF page 6 of 19, attachment to “ RFI:
DRAFT US Navy Light Amphibious Warship Preliminary Design/Contract Design Statement of Work,” Beta.sam.gov,
accessed November 23, 2020, at https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c1c8a3900504442fa5ad3bac48cec001/view?index=opp.)
27 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
November 19, 2020. A draft circular of requirements (CoR) attached to a request for information (RFI) on the Law
program that Navy released on October 16, 2020, states that T he ship shall be capable of 3500 nautical miles endurance
at 14 knots without refueling at the ship’s full load condition….” (“ Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) Circular of
Requirements (CoR), Draft for Preliminary Design RFI, Ver 0.12, 10 -13-20, PDF page 6 of 19, attachment to “ RFI:
DRAFT US Navy Light Amphibious Warship Preliminary Design/Contract Design Statement of Work,” Beta. sam.gov,
accessed November 23, 2020, at https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c1c8a3900504442fa5ad3bac48cec001/view?index=opp.)
28 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
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 an ability to operate within fleet groups or deploy independently; and
 a 20-year expected service life.29
In addition to the above points, the Navy states that the LAW’s design can be based on a
commercial-ship design.
A ship fitting the requirements listed above would be only a fraction as large as the Navy’s
current amphibious ships. The Navy’s LHA/LHD-type ships are 844 to 855 feet long and have a
full load displacements between 40,000 and 45,000 tons, while its and LPD-17 class ships are 684
feet long and have a full load displacement of 24,900 tons. As noted in the third bullet point
above, the LAW is to have a displacement of up to 4,000 tons—about 1/10th or 1/11th the
displacement of an LHA/LHD-type ship, and about 1/6th the displacement of an LPD-17 class
ships.
The LAW’s maximum draft of 12 feet is intended to permit the ship to transit shal ow waters on
its way to and from landing beaches. The Navy prefers that the ship’s cargo space be in the form
of open deck storage. Unlike most of the Navy’s current amphibious ships, the LAW would not
have a wel deck.30 A transit speed of about 15 knots would be less than the approximate 22-knot
maximum sustained speed of larger U.S. Navy amphibious ships, but it is a relatively fuel-
efficient speed for moving ships through water,31 which would permit the ship to be equipped
with a less powerful and consequently less expensive propulsion plant. The 20-year expected
service life is less than the 30- to 45-year expected service lives of larger U.S. Navy amphibious
ships—a difference that could reduce the LAW’s construction cost for a ship of its type and
size—and closer to the 25-year expected service life of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships
(LCSs).32
Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, and Figure 5 show published artist’s renderings of one
firm’s notional design for a LAW-like ship. The notional design shown has a length of about 70
meters (i.e., about 230 feet), a draft of less than 12 feet, and 600 square meters (i.e., about 6,458
square feet) of deck space.33 The Navy’s eventual preferred design for the LAW might or might
not look like this design.

November 19, 2020.
29 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
November 19, 2020.
30 As noted in footnote 3, a well deck is a large, covered, garage-like space in the stern of the ship. It can be flooded
with water so that landing craft can leave or return to the ship. Access to the well deck is protected by a large stern gate
that is somewhat like a garage door.
31 Due to the density of water, fuel consumption for moving monohull ships through the water tends to increase steeply
for speeds above 14 to 16 knots.
32 For more on the LCS program, see CRS Report RL33741, Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background
and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
33 Source: “ Stern Landing Vessel (SLV) vs Conventional Landing Craft ” (video), posted on YouT ube January 10,
2018, by Sea T ransport Solutions, a naval architecture, consulting, surveying, and project -management firm, and
accessed May 15, 2020, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uUSJx-8fSc. See also “ Stern Landing Vessel (SLV) vs
Conventional Landing Craft – Updated” (video), posted on YouT ube on April 28, 2019, by Sea T ransport Solutions,
and accessed May 15, 2020, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnfVxP67w_Y.
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Figure 1. Notional Design for a LAW-Like Ship
Artist’s rendering

Source: Il ustration accompanying Megan Eckstein, “Navy Researching New Class of Medium Amphibious Ship,
New Logistics Ships,” USNI News, February 20, 2020. The article credits the image to Sea Transport Solutions, a
naval architecture, consulting, surveying, and project-management firm.
Figure 2. Notional Design for a LAW-Like Ship
Artist’s rendering

Source: Il ustration accompanying David Axe, “This Weird Little Ship Could Be the Future of Amphibious
Warfare,” National Interest, February 24, 2020. The article credits the image to Sea Transport Solutions, a naval
architecture, consulting, surveying, and project-management firm.
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Figure 3. Notional Design for a LAW-Like Ship
Artist’s rendering

Source: Il ustration accompanying Joseph Trevithick, “Navy Wants To Buy 30 New Light Amphibious Warships
To Support Radical Shift In Marine Ops,” The Drive, May 5, 2020.
Figure 4. Notional Design for a LAW-Like Ship
Artist’s rendering

Source: Il ustration accompanying Megan Eckstein, “Hudson Recommends 581 Ships, New Class of Corvette as
Part of Input to Pentagon Fleet Plan,” USNI News, September 30, 2020. The caption to the il ustration credits it
to Sea Transport Solutions, a naval architecture, consulting, surveying, and project-management firm.
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Figure 5. Notional Design for a LAW-Like Ship
Artist’s rendering

Source: Cropped version of il ustration accompanying Caleb Larson, “New Light Amphibious Warship Wil be
the U.S. Marine Corps’ Workhorse,” National Interest, December 10, 2020. The article credits the il ustration to
Sea Transport Solutions.
Procurement Schedule
Navy plans cal for the first LAW to be procured in FY2023. The December 9, 2020, long-range
Navy shipbuilding document submitted by the Trump Administration showed the first LAW as
scheduled for procurement in FY2022 rather than FY2023, and the first 10 LAWs as being
scheduled for procurement in FY2022-FY2026 in annual quantities of 1-1-2-3-3. A June 21,
2021, press report stated:
In its recent fiscal 2022 budget request, the Navy did not ask for money to begin
procurement in FY22, though. Navy spokesman Capt. Clay Doss told Defense News the
program would begin acquisition in FY23 if Congress funds the Navy’s request for just
research and development funds in FY22 to prepare for acquisition in FY23. He said the
decision to slow the program down was a fiscal one, not a sign of engineering or other
challenges.34
Procurement Cost
The Navy estimates that the first LAW would cost about $156 mil ion to procure, and that
subsequent LAWs would cost about $130 mil ion each to procure.35

34 Megan Eckstein, “ Marines Explain Vision for Fewer T raditional Amphibious Warships,” Defense News, June 21,
2021. See also Megan Eckstein, “ US Navy’s Light Amphibious Warship No Longer on T rack for 2022 Contract
Award,” Defense News, June 10, 2021.
35 Source: Navy briefing on LAW program for CRS and CBO, July 19, 2021.
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By way of comparison, the Navy’s most recently procured LHA-type amphibious ship, which
was procured in FY2017, has an estimated unit procurement cost in the Navy’s FY2022 budget
submission of about $3.8 bil ion, and LPD-17 Flight II amphibious ships being procured by the
Navy have unit procurement costs of about $2.0 bil ion.
As additional comparisons, the Navy’s Ship-to-Shore Connectors (SSCs)—its new air-cushioned
landing craft—are about 92 feet long and have a unit procurement cost of roughly $65 mil ion,
the Coast Guard’s new Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) are 154 feet long and have a unit
procurement cost of about $65 mil ion, and the Navy’s new TATS towing, salvage, and rescue
ships are 263 feet long and have a unit procurement cost of about $80 mil ion.
Potential Builders
The LAW as outlined by the Navy is smal enough that it could be built by any of several U.S.
shipyards.
Acquisition Strategy
Overview
The Navy’s baseline preference is to have a single shipyard build al 24 to 35 ships, but the Navy
is open to having them built in multiple yards to the same design if doing so could permit the
program to be implemented more quickly and/or less expensively.36
The Navy plans to release the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the detail design and construction
(DD&C) contract for the LAW program in the second quarter of FY2022, and to award the
contract in the first quester of FY2023.
Reported July 2020 Contract Awards
An October 6, 2020, press report stated that the Navy in July 2020 awarded contracts for LAW
concept design studies to 15 firms, with the studies due in November 2020. According to the
press report, the 15 companies awarded contracts included Austal USE, BMT Designers,
Bollinger Shipyards, Crescere Marine Engineering, Damen, Hyak Marine, Independent Maritime
Assessment Associates, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Sea Transport, Serco, St John
Shipbuilding, Swiftships, Technology Associates, Thoma-Sea, and VT Halter Marine. The studies

36 T he Q&A document from the Navy’s April 9, 2020, industry day on the LAW program (se e footnote 20) states
Q [from industry]: Once [the industry] studies are done, what is the likelihood of [the Navy
making] multiple [contract] awards [for the next stage]?
A [from Navy]: When the [industry] studies are done, there will be multiple [contract] awards for
preliminary design [work]. T hen [the Navy will] down select for a [preferred] prototype. [There is]
No plan for [building the ships at] multiple [ship]yards and [building them to multiple] designs like
[the] LCS [Littoral Combat Ship program]. It’s too hard of a logistics tail [to provide lifecycle
support for ships built to multiple designs]. But options are open if it is cheaper/faster.
Q [from industry]: Do you envision something similar to LCS variance [sic: variants]? Multiple
yards and designs?
A [from Navy]: No, it involves too much logistics and O&S [operation and support costs]. T his
drives overall costs initially [i.e., locks higher life-cycle support costs into the program from the
outset of the program] and we’re not trying to go down that path. As we’ve said before, if studies
tell us we are wrong, if it’s affordable and fields faster, then we won’t ignore it. T he data and cost
drivers will help us decide. T he Government wants to field [the ships] as rapidly as possible, and
we believe that using multiple yards is not the best and most affordable path.
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reportedly were intended to help inform concepts of operation, technical risk, and cost estimates
for the LAW program, in support of a planned lead-ship contract award in FY2022. An August
27, 2020, press report states:
The Navy and Marine Corps’ new Light Amphibious Warship program is already in
industry studies, with the service pushing ahead as quickly as possible in an
acknowledgement that they’re already behind in their transformation of the force.
Maj. Gen. Tracy King, the director of expeditionary warfare on the chief of naval
operations’ staff (OPNAV N95), said today that LAW was perhaps the most important
investment the Marine Corps was making to optimize itself for expeditionary advance base
operations (EABO).
“Having these LAWs out there as an extension of the fleet, under the watchful eye of our
Navy, engaging with our partners and allies, building partner capacity, is what I think we
need to be doing right now. I think we’re late to need with building the Light Amphibious
Warship, which is why we’re trying to go so quickly,” he said, saying that N95 was copying
the surface warfare directorate’s playbook from the frigate program, which moved quickly
from requirements-development to design to getting under contract thanks to the use of
mature technology and designs from industry.37
October 2020 Request for Information (RFI)
On October 16, 2020, the Navy released a request for information (RFI) to solicit industry input
on draft versions of documents relating to an eventual solicitation for conducting design work on
the ship.38
November 2020 Press Report About Concept Designs
A November 9, 2020, press report stated that, as part of its LAW industry studies, the Navy had
received nine LAW concept designs from 16 design firms and shipyards, some of which have
paired into teams. The report quoted a Navy official as stating that the following firms were
participating in the industry studies: Austal USA, BMT Designers, Bollinger Shipyards, Crescere
Marine Engineering, Damen, Hyak Marine, Independent Maritime Assessment Associates,
Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Sea Transport, Serco, St. John Shipbuilding, Swiftships,
Technology Associates Inc., Thoma-Sea, VT Halter Marine and Fincantieri.39 A November 19,
2020, press report stated that “about six industry teams are working with the sea services [i.e., the
Navy and Marine Corps] after two industry days and industry studies over the summer.40
A January 11, 2021, press report stated:

37 Megan Eckstein, “ Marines Already In Industry Studies for Light Amphibious Warship, In Bid to Field T hem
ASAP,” USNI News, August 27 (updated August 28), 2020. See also Rich Abott, “ Marine Corps In Industry Studies
For Light Amphibious Warship, T rying T o Move Quickly ,” Defense Daily, August 28, 2020.
38 See “RFI: DRAFT US Navy Light Amphibious Warship Preliminary Design/Contract Design Statement of Work ,”
Beta.sam.gov, accessed November 23, 2020, at https://beta.sam.gov/opp/c1c8a3900504442fa5ad3bac48cec001/view?
index=opp. See also Rich Abott, “ Navy Issues RFI For Light Amphibious Warship Preliminary Design ,” Defense
Daily, October 19, 2020; Aidan Quigley, “ Navy Solicits Light Amphibious Warship Preliminary Designs,” Inside
Defense, October 19, 2020.
39 Aidan Quigley, “ Nine Concept Designs Submitted for LAW Industry Studies,” Inside Defense, November 9, 2020.
40 Megan Eckstein, “ Navy Officials Reveal Details of New $100M Light Amphibious Warship Concept ,” USNI News,
November 19, 2020.
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The Navy and Marine Corps are quickly seeking new ideas that allow Marines to support
the Navy in sea control and other maritime missions, including the rapid acquisition of a
light amphibious ship and a movement toward using Marine weapons while at sea.
Maj. Gen. Tracy King, the director of expeditionary warfare on the chief of naval
operations’ staff (OPNAV N95), told USNI News during a Jan. 8 media call that the
services are moving quickly to buy their first light amphibious warship (LAW) in Fiscal
Year 2022, as outlined in the recent long-range shipbuilding plan.
“We’re moving out at flank speed; I got a chance to brief the CNO and the commandant
recently, and they told me to maintain course and heading,” he said during the media cal
ahead of the annual Surface Navy Association symposium.
“We’re going through the formal JCIDS (Joint Capabilities Integration and Development
System) process right now. [Naval Sea Systems Command] has completed its second
industry studies, and we’re working on all those documents.”
For now, 10 or 11 industry teams remain involved in the NAVSEA competition, which
recently held a second round of industry studies. NAVSEA is working with those teams to
help iterate what King called “novel” designs, to ensure they were the right size and could
achieve cost and performance requirements. Mid next year, he said, NAVSEA would
downselect to three teams for full design, and then would downselect to just one to build
the first LAW in late FY2022.
“My suspicion is that we’ll begin [research, development, test and evaluation] next year,
and then we are aiming at lead ship construction in FY ’22, it’s going to be late in FY ’22
,but I still consider that pretty fast,” King said.
“We’re just going to build one, get that out and start playing with it. We’ll probably build
one the next year because we’ve got to get the doctrine right. The [Marine Littoral
Regiments] are going to start coming online at about the same time – first one’s in Hawaii,
we’ll get it out there and let them play with it. And then we’ll go into a build profile of, I
don’t know, probably four or five a year or something like that is what we’re going to aim
for.”41
June 2021 Contract Awards
A June 17, 2021, press report states:
The Navy this week issued “concept design” contracts to five companies for the Light
Amphibious Warship ahead of the Fiscal Year 2023 design selection, a service spokesman
confirmed to USNI News.
Fincantieri, Austal USA, VT Halter Marine, Bollinger and TAI Engineers were selected
for the contracts, Naval Sea Systems Command spokesman Alan Baribeau said.
“A Concept Studies (CS) contract has been awarded to five offerors with a follow-on
option for Preliminary Design (PD),” Baribeau said in a statement. “The CS/PD efforts
include engineering analyses, tradeoff studies, and development of engineering and design
documentation defining concepts studies/preliminary designs.”

41 Megan Eckstein, “ Marines, Navy Moving Quickly on Light Amphib, Anti-Ship Missiles to Create More Warfighting
Options,” USNI News, January 11, 2021. Material in brackets as in original. See also Rich Abott, “ Kilby Outlines
Factors Leading T o Faster New Light Amphib Development ,” Defense Daily, February 5, 2021.
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The Navy did not disclose the amount of money each company received to perform the
work, but Baribeau confirmed to USNI News that the total combined amount of the
contracts was less than $7.5 million.42
RFP and Award of Detail Design and Construction (DD&C) Contract
As mentioned earlier, the Navy plans to release the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the detail design
and construction (DD&C) contract for the LAW program in the second quarter of FY2022, and to
award the contract in the first quester of FY2023.
FY2022 Funding Request
The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget requests $13.2 mil ion in research and development
funding for the program. The funding is requested in Project 4044 (Next Generation Medium
Amphibious Ship) of PE (Program Element) 0603563N (Ship Concept Advanced Design), which
is line number 46 in the Navy’s FY2022 research and development account.
Issues for Congress
The LAW program poses a number of potential oversight matters for Congress, including those
discussed briefly in the sections below.
Future Amphibious Ship Force-Level Goal
One issue for Congress concerns the future amphibious ship force-level goal, which could affect
future procurement quantities for LHA-type ships, LPD-17 Flight II class ships, and LAWs. In
connection with this issue, one potential oversight question for Congress concerns the difference
between the emerging force-level goal for amphibious ships in the Biden Administration’s June
17, 2021, long-range Navy shipbuilding document and the emerging force-level goal for
amphibious ships in the Trump Administration’s December 9, 2020, long-range Navy
shipbuilding document. Using the figures shown in Table 1, the Trump Administration’s
emerging force-level goal for amphibious ships includes about 6%-27% more amphibious ships
in total than the Biden Administration’s emerging force-level goal for amphibious ships. A
potential oversight question is to what degree this difference between the two emerging force-
level goals is due to differences between the two Administrations regarding one or more of the
following factors:
 U.S. national security strategy and U.S. national defense strategy;
 projections of future capabilities of potential adversaries such as China and
Russia;
 consequent requirements, from the two factors above, for day-to-day forward-
deployed Navy capacity and capability and Navy warfighting capacity and
capability;
 assumptions about the capabilities of future U.S. Navy manned and unmanned
ships;
 Navy homeporting arrangements and operational cycles;

42 Mallory Shelbourne, “Navy Awards 5 Companies Light Amphibious Warship ‘Concept Design’ Contracts,” USNI
News, June 17, 2021.
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 projections about future Navy budgets, including future Navy shipbuilding
budgets; and
 the degree of operational risk deemed acceptable regarding the ability of the
Navy to successfully perform its various day-to-day and warfighting missions.
A related potential oversight issue for Congress concerns how the LAW would fit into the Navy’s
overal future fleet architecture. Potential oversight questions for Congress include the following:
 What is the analytical basis for the envisioned procurement quantity of 24 to 35
LAWs?
 How wel can the cost-effectiveness of a force of 24 to 35 LAWs be assessed if
the remainder of the Navy’s amphibious ship fleet architecture is not yet fully
known?
EABO Operational Concept
Another potential oversight issue for Congress concerns the merits of the EABO operational
concept that the LAW is intended to help Marine Corps implement. Debate on the merits of the
EABO concept concerns issues such as
 whether the concept is focused too exclusively on potential conflict scenarios
with China at the expense of other kinds of potential Marine Corps missions;
 the ability of Marine forces to gain access to the islands from which they would
operate;
 the ability to resupply Marine forces that are operating on the islands;43
 the survivability of Marine forces on the islands and in surrounding waters;44
 how much of a contribution the envisioned operations by Marine forces would
make in contributing to overal U.S. sea-denial operations; and
 potential alternative ways of using the funding and personnel that would be
needed to implement EABO.45

43 See, for example, John M. Doyle, “ Berger Says Supporting a Widely Distributed Maritime Force Will Be a
Challenge,” Seapower, May 14, 2021.
44 See, for example, Yasmin T adjdeh, “Light Amphibious Warships Face Survivability Questions,” National Defense,
April 23, 2021.
45 For a CRS report on the proposed redesign of the Marine Corps to support new operational concepts such as EABO,
see CRS Insight IN11281, New U.S. Marine Corps Force Design Initiatives, by Andrew Feickert .
For Marine Corps statements about the redesign of the Marine Co rps and EABO, see U.S. Marine Corps,
Commandant’s Planning Guidance, 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps, undated, released July 2019, 23 pp.; U.S.
Marine Corps, Force Design 2030, March 2020, 13 pp.; David H. Berger, “ T he Case for Change,” Marine Corps
Gazette, June 2020: 8-12. See also Megan Eckstein, “ Marines T esting Regiment at Heart of Emerging Island-Hopping
Future,” USNI News, June 4 (updated June 12), 2020; Megan Eckstein, “ Marines Look to T wo New Ship Classes to
Define Future of Amphibious Operations,” USNI News, June 4 (updated June 12), 202; David Berger, “ Marines Will
Help Fight Submarines,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, November 2020.
For press articles discussing the proposed redesign of the Marine Corps to support new operational concepts such as
EABO, see Philip Athey, “ Marines vs. China―the Corps Just Put T hese T actics to the T est,” Marine Corps Times,
October 19, 2020; Mark Perry, “ The Marines Corps Is Rolling Out a ‘Subversive’ New Strategy to T ake on China,”
Business Insider, October 15, 2020; David B. Larter, “ Are the US Army and US Marine Corps Competing for Missions
in the Pacific?” Defense News, October 14, 2020; Michael Fabey, “ T emplate For Change: Marine Corps’ New Vision
Sets A Headmark For U.S. Navy T ransformation ,” Jane’s Navy International, September 9, 2020; Chris “ Junior”
Cannon, “ T he Commandant Needs Our Help: Accelerating Marine Corps Force Development ,” Center for International
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Potential oversight questions for Congress include the following:
 What are the potential benefits, costs, and risks of the EABO concept?
 What work have the Navy and Marine Corps done in terms of analyses and war
games to develop and test the concept?
 Would EABO be more cost effective to implement than other potential uses of
the funding and personnel?
Preliminary Cost Target
Another potential oversight issue for Congress concerns the Navy’s preliminary procurement cost
target for the LAW. Potential oversight questions for Congress include the following:
 Is the Navy’s estimated unit procurement cost reasonable, given the features the
Navy wants the ship to have?
 As the LAW program proceeds, wil the operational requirements (and thus cost)
of the LAW increase?
In connection questions such as these, a September 21, 2020, press report states
The U.S. Marine Corps is moving as fast as it can to field a new class of light amphibious
warship, but it remains unclear what it will do, where it will be based or what capabilities
it will bring to the fight.
The idea behind the ship is to take a commercial design or adapt a historic design to make
a vessel capable of accommodating up to 40 sailors and at least 75 Marines to transport
Marine kit over a range of about 3,500 nautical miles, according to a recent industry day
presentation.
While the presentation noted that the ship should have few tailored Navy requirements,
that also creates a problem: If the Navy is going to pay tens of millions to develop, build,
crew and operate them, should it not provide some additional value to the fleet [beyond its
currently envisioned role]?
Analysts, experts and sources with knowledge of internal discussions who spoke to
Defense News say the answer to that question is a source of friction inside the Pentagon….

Maritime Security (CIMSEC), August 25, 2020; Mallory Shelbourne, “ Panel: New Focus on China Fight Could Rob
Marine Corps of Versatility,” USNI News, July 30, 2020; T anner Greer, “ T he T ip of the American Military Spear Is
Being Blunted,” Foreign Policy, July 6, 2020; Ben Wan Beng Ho, “ Shortfalls in the Marine Corps’ EABO Concept ,”
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, July 2020; J. Noel Williams, “ Force Design,” Marine Corps Gazette, July 2020;
Dakota Wood, “ T he Marines: T o Boldly Go Where the Corps Has Gone Before,” Washington Times, June 24, 2020;
Paul McLeary, “ In War, Chinese Shipyards Could Outpace US in Replacing Losses; Marine Commandant ,” Breaking
Defense, June 17, 2020; Dakota Wood, The U.S. Marine Corps: A Service in Transition , Heritage Foundation, June
216, 2020, 18 pp.; David B. Larter, “ In His Fight to Change the Corps, America’s T op Marine T akes Friendly Fire,”
Defense News, June 11, 2020; Gina Harkins, “ Marine 3-Star Hits Back at Claims that Corps’ Future Design Is T oo
China-Focused,” Military.com , June 2, 2020; Frank G. Hoffman, “ Still First to Fight?” Marine Corps Gazette, June
2020; Gary Anderson, “ Addressing the Chinese T hreat in the Indo-Pacific Area,” Washington Tim es, May 25, 2020;
Matthew Fay and Michael A. Hunzeker, “No Sure Victory: T he Marines New Force Design Plan and the Politics of
Implementation,” War on the Rocks, May 14, 2020; Jim Webb, “T he Future of the U.S. Marine Corps,” National
Interest, May 8, 2020; Grant Newsham, “ US Marines Revamp Amid China’s Growing T hreat,” Asia Tim es, May 7,
2020; Jeff Cummings, Scott Cuomo, Olivia A. Garard, and Noah Spataro, “ Getting the Context of Marine Corps
Reform Right,” War on the Rocks, May 1, 2020; Benjamin Jensen, “ T he Rest of the Story: Evaluating the U.S. Marine
Corps Force Design 2030,” War on the Rocks, April 27, 2020; T . X. Hammes, “ Building a Marine Corps for Every
Contingency, Clime, and Place,” War on the Rocks, April 15, 2020; Mark F. Cancian, “ T he Marine Corps’ Radical
Shift toward China,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), March 25, 2020.
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When asked whether the ship should contribute to a more distributed sensor architecture to
align with the Navy’s desire to be more spread out over a large area during a fight, [he
chief of naval operations’ director of expeditionary warfare, Maj. Gen. Tracy King]
answered in the affirmative.
“[But] I really see it benefiting from [that architecture] more,” he said. “We need to build
an affordable ship that can get after the ability to do maritime campaig ning in the littorals.”
The unstated implication appeared to be that if the ship is loaded up with sensors and
requirements, it will slow down the process and increase the cost. Analysts who spoke to
Defense News agreed with that, saying the Navy is likely trying to put more systems on
the platform that will make it more complex and more expensive….
“The hardest part is going to be appetite suppression, especially on the part of the Navy,”
said Dakota Wood, a retired Marine officer and analyst with The Heritage Foundation.
“This is what we saw in the littoral combat ship LCS]:46 It started out as a very light, near-
shore, small and inexpensive street fighter. And then people started adding on
requirements. You had ballooning costs, increasing complexity of th e platform, and you
get into all kinds of problems ….
[Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and analyst with the Telemus Group] acknowledged
that the Navy has good reason to want the light amphibious warship to have more
capability, but added that the Corps is more interested in something simple than something
costly and elaborate.
“What that does,” Hendrix said, “is drive up unit cost and drive down the numbers that can
be purchased.”47
Potential Alternative of Adapting Existing Army LSVs
Another potential issue for Congress is whether at least some portion of the operational
requirements for the LAW program could be met cost effectively met by adapting existing U.S.
military ships rather than building new LAWs. Some observers, for example, argue that at least
some portion of the operational requirements for the LAW program could be met more cost-
effectively by transferring existing Army watercraft known as Logistics Support Vessels (LSVs)
(Figure 6) to the Navy and adapting these LSVs to the LAW mission.
A June 22, 2020, opinion piece discussing this idea states
The Navy intends to acquire up to 30 new light amphibious warships, or LAW, to support
new Marine Corps requirements.… Rather than accepting a new amphibious design built
from the ground up, however, decision-makers should take advantage of the fact that many
key requirements of the new vessels are very similar to the capabilities of vessels operated
by U.S. Army Transportation Command.
The Navy and Marine Corps should delay any new construction and immediately acquire
some of these existing vessels to drive experimentation and better inform their
requirements for the LAW program….
U.S. Army Transportation Command has over 100 vessels, and dozens have similar
capabilities to those required of the LAW. The Army’s LCU-2000s, also called the
Runnymede-class large landing crafts, are smaller, with roughly half of the cargo space
designed for the LAW and slightly slower, but they boast nearly double the range. The

46 For more on the LCS program, see CRS Report RL33741, Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background
and Issues for Congress, by Ronald O'Rourke.
47 David B. Larter, “ US Marines Wants to Move Fast on a Light Amphibious Warship. But What is It?” Defense News,
September 21, 2020.
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Runnymede-class vessels have nearly 4,000 square feet of cargo space and can travel 6,500
miles when loaded and at 12 knots; and they can unload at the beach with their bow ramp.
The Army’s General Frank S. Besson-class logistics support vessels are larger than the
future LAW, at 273 feet in length but can claim 10,500 square feet of cargo space and a
6,500-mile range loaded to match the LCU-2000. These vessels also have both a bow and
stern ramp for roll-on/roll-off capability at the beach or ship-to-ship docking at sea. The
version built for the Phillipine military also has a helipad.
Army Transportation Command has 32 Runnymede-class and eight General Frank S.
Besson-class vessels in service. Mostly built in the 1990s, both classes of vessel have many
years left in their life expectancy and more than meet the Navy’s 10-year life expectancy
for the LAW.
These vessels are operable today and could be transferred from the Army to th e Navy or
Marine Corps tomorrow. In fact, the Army was attempting to divest itself of these
watercraft less than a year ago, which underscores the importance of this opportunity even
further. Congress is firmly set against the Army getting rid of valuable, seaworthy vessels
and has quashed all of the Army’s efforts to do so thus far, but transferring this equipment
to the Navy is a reasonable course of action that should satisfy all parties involved….
By acquiring a watercraft that meets most of their requirements from the Army, the Navy
and Marine Corps simultaneously fill current capability gaps and obtain an invaluable
series of assets they can use to support the evaluation and experimentation of new designs
and concepts. This will allow Navy and Marine leaders to give their units the maximum
amount of time to evaluate and experiment with new designs to get a better idea of what
they need both in future amphibious craft as well as operational and support equipment….
Often overlooked, the availability of surplus vessels is absolutely critical to the process of
developing new technologies, developing the tactics to employ them, conducting training,
and providing decision-makers the requisite capacity to remain flexible in the face of
unexpected challenges….
[The Navy and Marine Corps have] long been in need of a boost in their amphibious
capabilities so as to be better positioned to meet the demands of today and prepare for the
challenges of tomorrow, and taking possession of the Army’s Runnymede- and Frank S.
Benson-class vessels is a solution on a silver platter.48
Potential questions for Congress include the following:
 How many of these watercraft would be available for transfer to the Navy for use
in meeting the operational requirements of the LAW program?
 How do the capabilities of these watercraft compare with those required for the
LAW?
 How much remaining service life do these watercraft have?
 Given the number of these watercraft that would be available for transfer to the
Navy, their operational capabilities, and their remaining service life, what portion
of the LAW program’s operational requirements could transferred watercraft
meet? How many LAWs, if any, would stil need to be built to fully or
substantial y meet the LAW program’s operational requirements?
 How do the acquisition and operation and support (O&S) costs of these
watercraft compare to the estimated acquisition and O&S costs of the LAWs they
would replace?

48 Walker D. Mills and Joseph Hanacek, “T he US Navy and Marine Corps Should Acquire Army Watercraft,” Defense
News, June 22, 2020.
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 Taking into account capabilities, acquisition costs, and O&S costs, how does the
cost effectiveness of an approach involving the transfer of these watercraft
compare to that of the Navy’s baseline approach of meeting the LAW program’s
requirements through the acquisition of 24 to 35 new LAWs?
 What would be the potential industrial-base implications of using transferred
watercraft to meet at least some portion of the LAW program’s operational
needs?
Figure 6. Besson-Class Logistics Support Vessel (LSV)

Source: Cropped version of photograph accompanying Walker D. Mil s and Joseph Hanacek, “The US Navy and
Marine Corps Should Acquire Army Watercraft,” Defense News, June 22, 2020. The caption to the photograph
credits the photograph to the U.S. Navy and states, “U.S. Navy sailors conduct a simulated disaster relief supply
offload from a General Frank S. Besson-class logistics support vessel at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on July
10, 2016.”
Industrial-Base Implications
Another potential oversight issue for Congress concerns the potential industrial-base implications
of the LAW program. In recent years, al Navy amphibious ships have been built by the Ingal s
shipyard of Pascagoula, MS, a part of Huntington Ingal s Industries (HII/Ingal s). As noted
earlier, LAWs could be built by multiple U.S. shipyards.49 Potential oversight questions for
Congress include, What implications might the LAW program have for the distribution of Navy
shipbuilding work among U.S. shipyards? How many jobs would the LAW program create at the

49 10 U.S.C. §8679 requires that, subject to a presidential waiver for the national security interest, “no vessel to be
constructed for any of the armed forces, and no major component of the hull or superstructure of any such vessel, may
be constructed in a foreign shipyard.” In addition, the paragraph in the annual DOD appropriations act that makes
appropriations for the Navy’s shipbuilding account (the Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy account) typically contains
these provisos: “ … Provided further, T hat none of the funds provided under this heading for the construction or
conversion of any naval vessel t o be constructed in shipyards in the United States shall be expended in foreign facilities
for the construction of major components of such vessel: Provided further, T hat none of the funds provided under this
heading shall be used for the construction of any naval vessel in foreign shipyards….”
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shipyard that builds the ships, at associated supplier firms, and indirectly in surrounding
communities? In a situation of finite defense resources, what impact, if any, would funding the
procurement of LAWs have on funding available for procuring other types of amphibious ships,
and thus on workloads and employment levels at HII/Ingal s, its associated supplier firms, and
their surrounding communities?50
Legislative Activity for FY2022
Summary of Congressional Action on FY2022 Funding Request
Table 2 summarizes congressional action on the FY2022 procurement funding request for the
LAW program.
Table 2. Congressional Action on FY2022 Procurement Funding Request
Mil ions of dol ars, rounded to nearest tenth

Authorization
Appropriation

Request
HASC
SASC
Conf.
HAC
SAC
Conf.
Research and development
13.2

Source: Table prepared by CRS based on Navy’s FY2022 budget submission, committee and conference
reports, and explanatory statements on FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act and FY2022 DOD
Appropriations Act. The funding is requested in Project 4044 (Next Generation Medium Amphibious Ship) of PE
(Program Element) 0603563N (Ship Concept Advanced Design), which is line number 4 6 in the Navy‘s FY2022
research and development account.
Notes: HASC is House Armed Services Committee; SASC is Senate Armed Services Committee; HAC is
House Appropriations Committee; SAC is Senate Appropriations Committee; Conf. is conference agreement.

50 T wo observers argue that shifting the Navy to a fleet architecture that includes a larger proportion of smaller ships
would have beneficial impacts on U.S. shipbuilding industry’s ability to support Navy shipbuilding needs. See Bryan
Clark and T imothy A. Walton, “ Shipbuilding Suppliers Need More T han Market Forces to Stay Afloat ,” Defense News,
May 20, 2020.
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Appendix. Proposed Change in Amphibious-Ship
Force Architecture and EABO
This appendix presents additional background information on the proposed change in the
amphibious-ship force architecture and the EABO-related operational rationale behind it.
Proposed Change in Amphibious Ship Force Architecture
Regarding the shift to a new amphibious-ship force architecture, the July 2019 Commandant’s
Planning Guidance document states in part (emphasis as in the original):
Our Nation’s ability to project power and influence beyond its shores is increasingly
challenged by long-range precision fires; expanding air, surface, and subsurface threats;
and the continued degradation of our amphibious and auxiliary ship readiness. The ability
to project and maneuver from strategic distances will likely be detected and contested from
the point of embarkation during a major contingency. Our naval expeditionary forces must
possess a variety of deployment options, including L-class [amphibious ships] and E-class
[expeditionary ships] ships, but also increasingly look to other available options such as
unmanned platforms, stern landing vessels, other ocean -going connectors, and smaller
more lethal and more risk-worthy platforms. We must continue to seek the affordable
and plentiful at the expense of the exquisite and few when conceiving of the future
amphibious portion of the fleet.
We must also explore new options, such as inter-theater connectors and commercially
available ships and craft that are smaller and less expensive, thereby increasing the
affordability and allowing acquisition at a greater quantity. We recognize that we must
distribute our forces ashore given the growth of adversary precision strike capabilities, so
it would be illogical to continue to concentrate our forces on a few large ships. The
adversary will quickly recognize that striking while concentrated (aboard ship) is the
preferred option. We need to change this calculus with a new fleet design of smaller, more
lethal, and more risk-worthy platforms. We must be fully integrated with the Navy to
develop a vision and a new fleet architecture that can be successful against our peer
adversaries while also maintaining affordability. To achieve this difficult task, the Navy
and Marine Corps must ensure larger surface combatants possess mission agility across sea
control, littoral, and amphibious operations, while we concurrently expand the quantity of
more specialized manned and unmanned platforms….
We will no longer use a “2.0 MEB requirement” as the foundation for our arguments
regarding amphibious ship building, to determine the requisite capacity of vehicles
or other capabilities, or as pertains to the Maritime Prepositioning Force. We will no
longer reference the 38-ship requirement memo from 2009, or the 2016 Force
Structure Assessment, as the basis for our arguments and force structure
justifications. The ongoing 2019 Force Structure Assessment will inform the amphibious
requirements based upon this guidance. The global options for amphibs [types of
amphibious ships] include many more options than simply LHAs, LPDs, and LSDs. I will
work closely with the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) to
ensure there are adequate numbers of the right types of ships, with the right capabilities, to
meet national requirements.
I do not believe joint forcible entry operations (JFEO) are irrelevant or an operational
anachronism; however, we must acknowledge that different approaches are required given
the proliferation of anti-access/area denial (A2AD) threat capabilities in mutually contested
spaces. Visions of a massed naval armada nine nautical miles off-shore in the South China
Sea preparing to launch the landing force in swarms of ACVs [amphibious combat
vehicles], LCUs [utility landing craft], and LCACs [air-cushioned landing craft] are
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impractical and unreasonable. We must accept the realities created by the proliferation of
precision long-range fires, mines, and other smart-weapons, and seek innovative ways to
overcome those threat capabilities. I encourage experimentation with lethal long -range
unmanned systems capable of traveling 200 nautical miles, penetrating into the adversary
enemy threat ring, and crossing the shoreline—causing the adversary to allocate resources
to eliminate the threat, create dilemmas, and further create opportunities for fleet maneuver.
We cannot wait to identify solutions to our mine countermeasure needs, and must make
this a priority for our future force development efforts….
Over the coming months, we will release a new concept in support of the Navy’s
Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) Concept and the NDS called – Stand-in Forces.
The Stand-in Forces concept is designed to restore the strategic initiative to naval forces
and empower our allies and partners to successfully confront regional hegemons that
infringe on their territorial boundaries and interests. Stand-in Forces are designed to
generate technically disruptive, tactical stand-in engagements that confront aggressor
naval forces with an array of low signature, affordable, and risk-worthy platforms
and payloads. Stand-in forces take advantage of the relative strength of the contemporary
defense and rapidly-emerging new technologies to create an integrated maritime defense
that is optimized to operate in close and confined seas in defiance of adversary long-range
precision “stand-off capabilities.”
Creating new capabilities that intentionally initiate stand-in engagements is a disruptive
“button hook” in force development that runs counter to the action that our adversaries
anticipate. Rather than heavily investing in expensive and exquisite capabilities that
regional aggressors have optimized their forces to target, naval forces will persist forward
with many smaller, low signature, affordable platforms that can economically host a dense
array of lethal and nonlethal payloads.
By exploiting the technical revolution in autonomy, advanced manufacturing, and artificial
intelligence, the naval forces can create many new risk-worthy unmanned and minimally-
manned platforms that can be employed in stand-in engagements to create tactical
dilemmas that adversaries will confront when attacking our allies and forces forward.51
EABO
Regarding EABO, the Commandant’s Planning Guidance states the following (emphasis as in the
original):
The 2016 Marine Corps Operating Concept (MOC) predates the current set of national
strategy and guidance documents, but it was prescient in many ways. It directed partnering
with the Navy to develop two concepts, Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment
(LOCE) and Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) that nest exceptionaly
well with the current strategic guidance. It is time to move bey ond the MOC itself,
however, and partner with the Navy to complement LOCE and EABO with classified,
threat-specific operating concepts that describe how naval forces will conduct the range of
missions articulated in our strategic guidance….

51 U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant’s Planning Guidance, 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps, undated, released
July 2019, pp. 4-5, 10.
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EABO complement the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations Concept and will
inform how we approach missions against peer adversaries ….
EABO are driven by the aforementioned adversary deployment of long -range precision
fires designed to support a strategy of “counter-intervention” directed against U.S. and
coalition forces. EABO, as an operational concept, enables the naval force to persist
forward within the arc of adversary long-range precision fires to support our treaty partners
with combat credible forces on a much more resilient and difficult to target forward basing
infrastructure. EABO are designed to restore force resiliency and enable the persistent
naval forward presence that has long been the hallmark of naval forces. Most significantly,
EABO reverse the cost imposition that determined adversaries seek to impose on the joint
force. EABO guide an apt and appropriate adjustment in future naval force development
to obviate the significant investment our adversaries have made in long -range precision
fires. Potential adversaries intend to target our forward fixed and vulnerable bases, as wel
as deep water ports, long runways, large signature platforms, and ships. By developing a
new expeditionary naval force structure that is not dependent on concentrated, v ulnerable,
and expensive forward infrastructure and platforms, we will frustrate enemy efforts to
separate U.S. Forces from our allies and interests. EABO enable naval forces to partner
and persist forward to control and deny contested areas where legacy n aval forces cannot
be prudently employed without accepting disproportionate risk….
In February of 2019, the Commandant and Chief of Naval Operations co -signed the
concept for EABO. The ideas contained in this document are foundational to our future
force development efforts and are applicable in multiple scenarios.52
A February 2021 Marine Corps tentative manual on EABO defines EABO as follows:
EABO are a form of expeditionary warfare that involves the employment of mobile, low-
signature, persistent, and relatively easy to maintain and sustain naval expeditionary forces
from a series of austere, temporary locations ashore or inshore within a contested or
potentially contested maritime area in order to conduct sea denial, support sea control, or
enable fleet sustainment.
EABO support the projection of naval power by integrating with and supporting the larger
naval campaign. Expeditionary operations imply austere conditions, forward deployment,
and projection of power. EABO are distinct from other expeditionary operations in that
forces conducting them combine various forms of operations to persist within the reach of
adversary lethal and nonlethal effects. It is critical that the composition, distribution, and
disposition of forces executing EABO limit the adversary’s ability to target them, engage
them with fires and other effects, and otherwise influence their activities.
Missions of EABO include
 Support sea control operations;
 Conduct sea denial operations within the littorals;
 Contribute to maritime domain awareness;
 Provide forward command, control, communications, computers, combat systems,
intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, targeting (C5ISRT), and counter-C5ISRT
capability;
 Provide forward sustainment.

52 U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant’s Planning Guidance, 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps, undated, released
July 2019, pp. 9, 11, 19. See also Jim Lacey, “T he ‘Dumbest Concept Ever’ Just Might Win Wars,” War on the Rocks,
July 29, 2019; Megan Eckstein, “How to Seize Islands, Set Up a Forward Refueling Point: Marine Corps Recipes for
Expeditionary Operations,” USNI News, September 13, 2019.
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EABO tasks include
 Conduct surveillance and reconnaissance;
 Conduct operations in the information environment;
 Conduct screen/guard/cover;
 Deny or control key maritime terrain;
 Conduct surface warfare operations;
 Conduct air and missile defense;
 Conduct strike operations;
 Conduct antisubmarine warfare;
 Conduct sustainment operations;
 Conduct forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operations.
FMF formations may execute these tasks across the competition continuum both above and
below the threshold of violence. In the former case, they are normally conducted to deny
an adversary access to adjacent battlespace or to support a more comprehensive effort to
establish sea control. In the latter, they are often conducted with the goal of deterring the
enemy while preparing for conflict if deterrence fails….
EABO provide engagement capabilities throughout the competition continuum. During
competition below the threshold of violence, EABO engage allies and partners, preserve
access, and shape the theater for future operations. EABO also enables stand-in
engagement capabilities by the persistent posturing of littoral forces within a potential
adversary’s weapons engagement zone (WEZ). During armed conflict, the combination of
stand-in and stand-off engagement capabilities… places the adversary on the horns of a
dilemma: while the adversary seeks to discover and engage friendly stand -off forces, he
exposes himself to the sensing, nonlethal, and lethal capabilities of stand-in forces….
The assigned mission sets within EABO are conducted within a joint and coa lition
framework, as part of not merely an interoperable, but an integrated naval force. Task-
organized Marine and Navy units project naval power through EABO by fusing their
landward and seaward roles….
A stand-in force executing EABO is strategically cost-effective by virtue of its ability to
undermine a potential adversary’s cost-imposition strategy. Potential adversaries are
investing in large numbers of comparatively inexpensive systems of adequate lethality,
extended range, and greater precision to ho ld at risk the US military’s expensive,
sophisticated, and relatively few multimission platforms. Forces executing EABO are
small, numerous, dispersed, and relatively inexpensive and difficult to target, thus inverting
an adversary’s cost-benefit calculation when deciding whether to engage and upsetting the
cost-imposition strategy.53

53 Department of the Navy, Headquarters, United States Marine Corps, Tentative Manual for Expeditionary Advanced
Base Operations, February 2021, pp. 1-3 to 1-5.
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Author Information

Ronald O'Rourke

Specialist in Naval Affairs

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
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under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should n ot be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
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Congressional Research Service
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