Editing Arsenal ship

{{Short description|Conceptual floating missile platform}}
{{See also|SC-21 (United States)#Arsenal ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
[[File:Missile being launched from surfaced submarine.GIF|thumb|Depiction of an arsenal ship launching a missile]]
[[File:US Navy Surface Combatant for the 21st century 1995.png|thumb|1995 depiction of an arsenal ship]]

An '''arsenal ship''' is a concept for a floating missile platform intended to have as many as five hundred [[vertical launching system|vertical launch bays]] for large-sized missiles, most likely [[cruise missile]]s. In current [[United States Navy|U.S. naval]] thinking, such a ship would initially be controlled manually by an [[Aegis Combat System|Aegis Cruiser]], although plans that have long since been scrapped included control by [[Airborne early warning and control|AEW&C]] aircraft such as the [[Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye|E-2 Hawkeye]] and [[Boeing E-3 Sentry|E-3 Sentry]].

==History==
Originally proposed by VADM Joseph Metcalf, DCNO Surface Warfare, as a component of the "Surface Combatants of the 21st Century" initiative in the mid-1980's.  Later, proposed by the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] in 1996, the arsenal ship had funding problems, with the [[United States Congress]] canceling some funding, and the [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (DARPA) providing some funding to individual contractors for prototypes. Some concept artwork of the Arsenal Ship was produced, with some images bearing the number "72", possibly hinting at an intent to classify the arsenal ships as a [[battleship]], since the last battleship ordered (but never built) was [[Montana-class battleship|USS ''Louisiana'' (BB-71)]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The arsenal ship would have a small crew and as many as 500 vertical launch tubes for missiles to provide ship-to-shore bombardment for invading troops. The Navy calculated a $450 million price for the arsenal ship, but Congress scrapped funding for the project in 1998.<ref>[http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/02/02/micro-drones-arsenal-plane-railguns-funded-new-defense-budget.html?ESRC=todayinmil.sm 'Micro' Drones, 'Arsenal' Plane, Railguns Funded in New Defense Budget] - Military.com, 2 February 2016</ref>

The U.S. Navy has since modified the four oldest {{sclass|Ohio|submarine|0}} [[Trident (missile)|Trident]] submarines to [[Cruise missile submarine|SSGN]] configuration, allowing them to carry up to 154 [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk cruise missiles]] using [[vertical launching system]]s installed in the tubes which previously held strategic ballistic missiles, creating a vessel roughly equivalent to the arsenal ship concept.<ref name=USNFOHIO>{{Cite web|title=Guided Missile Submarines&nbsp;– SSGN|url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4100&tid=300&ct=4|publisher=Navy.mil|work=U.S. Navy|date=10 November 2011|access-date=27 January 2012|archive-date=27 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227005234/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4100|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2013, [[Huntington Ingalls Industries]] revived the idea when it proposed a Flight II version of the [[San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock|LPD-17 hull]] with a variant carrying up to 288 VLS cells for the ballistic missile defense and precision strike missions.<ref>{{cite news |last=Katz |first=Daniel |date=11 April 2014 |title=Introducing the Ballistic Missile Defense Ship |url=http://aviationweek.com/blog/introducing-ballistic-missile-defense-ship |newspaper=Aviation Week |access-date=16 September 2014 |archive-date=2 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902073439/http://aviationweek.com/blog/introducing-ballistic-missile-defense-ship |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cavas |first=Christopher P. |date=8 April 2013 |title=HII Shows Off New BMD Ship Concept at Sea-Air-Space (Updated with video!) |url=http://intercepts.defensenews.com/2013/04/hii-shows-off-new-bmd-ship-concept-at-sea-air-space/ |newspaper=Defense Daily |access-date=16 September 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140917003901/http://intercepts.defensenews.com/2013/04/hii-shows-off-new-bmd-ship-concept-at-sea-air-space/ |archive-date=17 September 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

China has conducted studies and tested models of partially and completely submersible arsenal ship concepts.<ref name="PopSci">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.popsci.com/futuristic-chinese-warship-concept-is-making-waves |magazine=[[Popular Science]] |date=1 June 2017 |title=China is developing a warship of naval theorists' dreams |first1=Jeffrey |last1=Lin |first2=P.W. |last2=Singer}}</ref> South Korea is also planning to deploy three arsenal ships by the late 2020s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/south-korea-dreams-aircraft-carriers-armed-stealth-fighters-198187 |title=South Korea Dreams of Aircraft Carriers Armed With Stealth Fighters |last=Episkopos |first=Mark  |date=19 December 2021 |website= |publisher= |access-date=20 June 2022 |quote=Also in the works is a 5,000-ton 'Arsenal Ship'-- a mobile missile platform, derived from South Korea’s existing KDX-II destroyer design, capable of saturated cruise missile strikes against land and surface targets.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2021/12/latest-details-on-south-koreas-arsenal-ship-project/ |title=Latest Details On South Korea's Arsenal Ship Project |last=Lee |first=Daehan  |date=16 December 2021 |website= |publisher= |access-date=20 June 2022 |quote=[South] Korean military plans to deploy three 5,000 tons arsenal ships by the late 2020s, equipped with over 80 land attack cruise missiles to strike land-based targets as a 'sailing missile base'.}}</ref> These South Korean arsenal ships are designated "Joint Strike Ships", or "JSS".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2024/03/south-korea-starts-ship-launched-ballistic-missile-development/ |title=South Korea Starts Ship-Launched Ballistic Missile Development |last=Lee |first=YoungHak  |date=25 March 2024 |website= |publisher= |access-date=30 September 2024 |quote=...the future Arsenal ship (known locally as Joint Strike Ship)...}}</ref>

==See also==
* {{Sclass|Kirov|battlecruiser}}
* [[Strike cruiser]]

==References==
{{more footnotes|date=May 2008}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

===General references===
{{Refbegin}}
* Holzer, Robert. "Commanders May Share Arsenal Ship Assets." Defense News, (17–23 June 1996)" 10.
* Holzer, Robert with Pat Cooper. "Warships May Use Leaner Crews: Report Recommends Additional Firepower for U.S. Navy Vessels." Defense News, (29 January – 4 February 1996): 4.
* Holzer, Robert. "U.S. Navy Eyes Options as Arsenal Ship Takes Shape." Defense News, (5–11 February 1996): 20.
* Holzer, Robert. "U.S. Navy's New Arsenal Ship Takes shape." Defense News, (8–14 April 1996): 4.
* Lok, Joris Janssen. "Arsenal Ship Will Pilot Future USN Combatants." Janes Defense Weekly, 17 April 1996: 3.
* [[Joseph Metcalf III|Metcalf, Joseph III]]. "Revolutions at Sea." U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 114, no. 1019 (January 1988): 34–39.
* Pickell, Greg. "Arsenal Ship fails to Hit the Mark," Defense News, (16 October 1995 – 22 October 1995): 55.
* Scott, Richard, ed. "Arsenal Ship Programme Launched." Jane's Navy International, 101, no. 7 (1 September 1996): 5.
* Smith, Edward A. "Naval Firepower for the 21st Century." ''The Washington Post'', 27 July 1996.
* Stearman, William L. "The Navy Proposes Arsenal Ship." The Retired Officer Magazine, 102, no. 11 (November 1996): 39.
* Stearman, William L. "A Misguided Missile Ship: Old Battleships Would Do a Better Job Than a Pricey New Boat," ''The Washington Post'', (7 July 1996): C03.
* Stearman, William L. "The American Scud." Navy News & Undersea Technology, 12, no. 41 (23 October 1995).
* Truver, Scott C. "Floating Arsenal to be 21st Century Battleship." International Defense Review, 29, no. 7 (1 July 1996): 44.
* U.S. Department of Defense. Arsenal Ship...21st Century Battleship. Brief prepared by OPNAV (N86). Washington, D.C.: 23 May 1996.
* U.S. Department of Defense. Arsenal Ship Program. Joint memorandum signed by Larry Lynn, John W. Douglass and J.M. Boorda. Washington, D.C.: 18 March 1996.
* U.S. Department of Defense. Promulgation of The Arsenal Ship Concept of Operations. Memorandum for Distribution by Daniel J. Murphy. Washington, D.C.: 11 April 1996.
* U.S. Department of Defense. The Arsenal Ship. Brief prepared by OPNAV (N86). Washington, D.C.: 29 August 1996.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/arsenal_ship.htm FAS page on Arsenal Ships]
* [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/docs/rsnlship.htm Dawn H. Driesbach's paper on arsenal ships]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927160919/http://www.warship-21.com/pages/936010/index.htm TRAMCO Striker page]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/arsenal_ship.htm Arsenal ship] – GlobalSecurity.org

{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries}}

[[Category:Abandoned military projects of the United States]]
[[Category:Ship types]]
[[Category:Proposed ships of the United States Navy]]