A CBO Study: The Future of the Navy's Amphibious and Maritime Prepositioning Forces

Abstract

The Department of the Navy's vision for military transformation, known as Sea Power 21, rests on three key concepts: Sea Strike, Sea Shield, and Sea Basing. The first two concepts focus on improving the Navy's and Marine Corps's offensive and defensive capabilities, respectively. But the third, Sea Basing, is considered by many in the Department of Defense to be the most transformational of the three ideas. It envisions putting a substantial Marine Corps ground force on shore and sustaining it from ships at sea rather than from a land base. Thus, the Navy and Marine Corps could conduct amphibious assaults (including "forcible-entry" operations, like those conducted on Japanese-held Pacific islands during World War II) without needing to seize enemy territory to build a base or to get permission from a nearby country to use an existing base. Supporters argue that sea basing would therefore allow U.S. forces to operate overseas more independently, flexibly, and quickly.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA428900

Entities

Organizations

  • Congressional Budget Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Amphibious Operations
  • Boats
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Landing Craft
  • Marine Transportation
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Shipbuilding
  • Tilt Rotor Aircraft
  • Vertical Takeoff Aircraft
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies