By Dmitry Filipoff
Last week CIMSEC featured analysis submitted in response to our call for articles on fleet warfare. Authors explored many themes, including the potentially decisive tactic of homeport strikes, more deeply integrating fleets into acquisition and interagency processes, and putting the surface fleet at the forefront of U.S. sea control doctrine.
As great power competition endures and intensifies, navies must consider the specter of fleet warfare and what it implies for naval policymaking and reform. Intense clashes between fleets may decide major historical outcomes and radically alter the balance of power for years to come.
Below are the authors who featured during Fleet Warfare Week, and we thank them for their excellent contributions.
“Homeport Strike: A Decisive Tactic in Fleet Warfare,” by Hee-Cheol Jung
“The criticality of homeport infrastructure to naval power makes bases an attractive target. Neutralization of a homeport not only stands to neutralize the warships located at the homeport, but can significantly damage the operational longevity of fleets operating at sea.”
“The Numbered Fleet: The New Main Supported Force,” by Major Robert Holmes, USMC
“The Navy’s numbered fleets must now prepare to assume the role of the primary supported unit in a major theater of operations, one that can integrate effects in all domains in pursuit of large-scale sea control. Significant changes can be made in how fleets integrate with the acquisitions process acquire capabilities and how they leverage non-Defense Department agencies.”
“Transitioning Away from the Carrier Strike Group and Toward Distributed Maritime Operations,” by CDR Anthony LaVopa, USN
“To effectively win a war against a peer competitor, the Navy should transition to the decentralization and distribution inherent in DMO by empowering the surface fleet to take the lead in prosecuting sea control.”
Dmitry Filipoff is CIMSEC’s Director of Online Content. Contact him at Content@cimsec.org.
Featured Image: The PLA Navy guided-missile destroyer Kunming (Hull 172) fires its close-in weapons system at mock aerial targets during a maritime actual combat training exercise in April 2018. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Yu Lin)