Floating Military Bases: The Latest Toy for the US Military

From computers that sit on their wrists to small bat-like surveillance cameras, the military is privy to receiving some of the most innovative and interesting tools and weapons. While some seem a little far-fetched, there are others that are brilliant ideas and will help support the power of our military.
One of the latest military innovations is the floating base. Yes. A floating base.
Forget the tents set up throughout the desert. Now, the military has the ability to set their base up in the middle of open water.

The purpose. 

Troops often find themselves without much land to work with when it comes to creating their base. If the military were fighting in an area that contains landmines, creating a land-based base would be difficult. With the floating base, they no longer have to worry about locating a safe land location.
Oftentimes, during war, US troops will set up base on an allied land. If something were to go wrong during the war and the US and the ally were to part ways, the US would find themselves without a base location. With a floating base, troops can be stationed in the water, which prevents them from needing to be tied to another country’s land.
Some may argue that the creation of a floating base is a waste of money and that our troops should just station themselves in a warship. In reality, the production of a floating base is actually much more cost effective than using warships for this purpose. Though the base will be smaller than a cargo ship, it will be larger than assault ships.

The benefits.

Floating bases have the ability to carry out different purposes. They can house military members for the use of attack, hostage rescue and missions, but they can also serve as fueling stations, helicopter launch pads and maintenance locations for damaged ships. Plus, since the base floats, it can easily be moved from one location to another. There is no need to pack up all the gear and move it—simply move the entire vessel.
The plans for floating bases have been drawn and redrawn over the past 10 years. There was recently much pressure being put on the Pentagon to get production started, so the Pentagon agreed to convert the USS Ponce, an old warship, into a floating base until production on the new floating bases began.
The floating base made from the Ponce arrived off Bahrain at the beginning of July. The base will be used for divers and as a seaborne fueling station and helicopter launching pad.
While the Ponce is acceptable for now, the Navy cannot wait to have brand new floating vessels that were designed with a specific purpose in mind. Two new floating base vessels are currently in production, and the first one has a completion date of 2015 and the second one 2016.
These new creations will provide many benefits to our military. Once the initial two vessels have been created and put to use, floating bases may start being produced more quickly and may become a staple to our military.

Author Bio:

Joshua Reynolds works with airborne systems in the military.  He is interested in the newest and coolest technology invented for the military and enjoys writing about them.