By J. Overton
Dr. Emma Salisbury joins the program to discuss her essay, “From Hulls to Pods: Why NATO’s Navies Should Beware of the Allure of Mission Modularity,” in the new book in the ISPK SeaPower Series Guardians of the North Atlantic: NATO Maritime Strategies and Naval Operations in Turbulent Times.
Dr. Emma Salisbury is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s National Security Program, an Associate Fellow at the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre, and a Contributing Editor at War on the Rocks. She writes widely on military-industrial matters, geopolitics, and national security in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe, with a particular focus on the maritime. She is based just outside London in the United Kingdom.
Download Sea Control: 594: From Hulls to Pods with Emma Salisbury
Links
1.”The Trump-class Battleship: Spectacle Wins Out over Combat Power,” by Emma Salisbury, Foreign Policy Research Institute, January 8, 2026.
2. “Want of Frigates: Why Is It So Hard For America to Buy Small Surface Combatants?” by Emma Salisbury, Foreign Policy Research Institute, December 1, 2025.
3. “Atlantic Bastion: The Future of Anti-Submarine Warfare,” by Emma Salisbury, Foreign Policy Research Institute, August 11, 2025.
4. Emma Salisbury FPRI page.
J. Overton is Co-Host of the Sea Control podcast. Contact the podcast team at Seacontrol@cimsec.org.
Jonathan Selling edited and produced this episode.
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I think we are at an inflection point with modularity. LCS failed entirely at having a plug and play approach. Why have a 30mm gun module when you can just bolt a 30mm down on a clear deck with a good firing ark? Modules / containers can be similar to that in quickly reloading and changing the armament carried. Now a 20′ container might have 4 NSM pre loaded, or 4 PRSM Blk II. Do it.
To take a loud ship and put on a VDS or MFTA is poor mixing and matching. Insofar as some of our opponents that will be using sea mines still have boat swarms and mini/littoral submarines intermingled in that mine field, we need to consider more plug and play items where the ships existing combat suite can handle the change out. Why not get back to a littoral ASW USV based on the MCM USV, for instance.