Blue Water Navy - Littoral Threat
Abstract
The United States spent the latter half of the twentieth century designing and building a Navy to operate in Blue Water, prepared for eventual conflict with the Soviet Union fleet. With the end of the Cold War, the Soviet fleet is gone and there exists no other Blue Water threat; other nations have focused their resources towards areas which had previously been avoided by the US Navy, the littorals. Inside these waters, the capabilities which ensured the supremacy of the US Navy in Blue Water are ill-matched to locate and operate against the threats in these littoral regions. The existing gap between the Blue Water and the Littoral Navy is substantial; however, recent strategic decisions will ensure the conversion of the US fleet over the next twenty years. Should conflict rise before the building process is complete, a Blue Water navy will be employed in the littoral, against forces specifically designed for operations in those waters. During the next two decades the Navy requires changes in operational planning and tactical doctrine to even the bar with the littoral threat in order to ensure local sea control at any desired time for national tasking.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 13, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA463218
Entities
People
- Robert E. Beauchamp
Organizations
- Naval War College