Reintegrating Mine Countermeasures into the Greater Naval Force

Abstract

The current naval force is unable to conduct mine countermeasures in support of amphibious operations in a contested environment but can mitigate this problem using resources already available. After examining the mine threat and presenting problems within the current force, this paper proposes solutions that the United States can implement today. The mine is an effective asymmetric weapon utilized by potential enemies of the United States. The mine threat continues to grow while the United States mine countermeasures capabilities languish. Today's mine countermeasures force is not properly integrated into fleet exercises with amphibious forces, naval combatant forces, or major joint assets. Today's mine countermeasures forces lack a command ship or heavy lift capability for surface ships and are overly dependent on coalition assets. The changes proposed in this paper are to fully integrate the current forces exercises and to expand command and control capabilities. These changes will mitigate the risk to the current force and set the groundwork for the effective introduction of the future force.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 10, 2019
Accession Number
AD1077976

Entities

People

  • Nicholas D. Bularzik

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amphibious Operations
  • Civil War
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Countermeasures
  • Doctrine
  • Littoral Combat Ships
  • Military Operations
  • Minefields
  • National Security
  • Naval Mines
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control