[Llarry]

Related to the growth of Chinese naval power is the recent news that the Navy is buying a new class of ocean surveillance ships.

There are five T-AGOS ships in service now, all homeported in Japan and no doubt keeping tabs on the increased Chinese submarine activity in the Pacific. The four oldest are 30 years or so old and the newest is 22 years old, so it's time to think about replacing them.

These are interesting ships of SWATH design with twin submarine-like hulls, made for stability in rough seas. They tow very long (well over a mile) cables with sonar arrays on the end and can detect sonar targets at very long range. The five existing ships are 3,500 tons full load (the four oldest) or 5,400 tons (the newer one.) They have no helo pad for MEDEVAC or the like.

The new design is not finalized but will likely be considerably larger (8.500 tons full load?) and have a helo pad. The preliminary specs I've seen also indicate a greater speed, although they typically tow at fairly low speeds. They are Military Sealift Command civilian-manned but with a Navy det aboard (sonar techs, I'd guess).

The Chinese have harassed them when they've been cruising 50+ miles off the Chinese coast, so larger size and more speed might come in handy in the event of trouble.