United States Amphibious Forcible Entry: An Expensive Necessity

Abstract

In May 2010, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, directed a review of the roles and missions of the United States Marine Corps while making remarks that large scale amphibious operations in today's threat environment were likely not feasible or necessary. Additionally, maintaining amphibious shipping and amphibious assault vehicles is extremely expensive and may not be supportable given the current United States economic and deficit situation. This research project will determine if the United States requires an amphibious forcible entry capability, or whether increasingly sophisticated technology and weapon capabilities make amphibious assault too deadly to attempt. Finally, if amphibious assault is necessary and feasible, the paper will conclude whether the United States possesses sufficient amphibious forcible entry capability, and if not, can it be fiscally achieved?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 17, 2011
Accession Number
ADA543197

Entities

People

  • Samuel C. Cook

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Amphibious Operations
  • Amphibious Ships
  • Anti-Ship Missiles
  • Area Denial
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • Navy
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design