A “New Look” at Cold War Maritime Defense—The Royal Canadian Navy’s Seaward Defence Report and the Threat of the Missile-Firing Submarine, 1955

The Soviets’ development in the mid-1950s of the capability to launch nuclear-armed missiles from conventional submarines constituted a significant challenge to Allied antisubmarine forces during the Cold War, impacting the U.S. Navy and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) most. The RCN’s 1955 Seaward Defence Report reveals how a midsize navy with comparatively limited resources charged with defending a long coastline and valuable strategic targets proposed to cope with dramatically changing circumstances

Confronting Technological and Tactical Change: Allied Anti-Submarine Warfare in the Last Year of the Battle for the Atlantic

The recall of German U-boat wolfpacks from the central north Atlantic at the end of May 1943 ended the most costly phase of the shipping war for the Allies. Never again would the German U-boats inflict dangerously high shipping losses. The naval war remained bitter, nonetheless, for the U-boats refused to give up, turning instead to new technology and new tactics. Right to the end, they continued to present a plausible threat that caused concern in high Allied circles. Indeed, in January 1945 the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty was moved to warn that, “The high shipping losses which may occur during the first half of 1945 may well prejudice the maintenance of our forces in Europe....” The ensuing struggle in early 1945 led to a confrontation and tactical changes by the U-boats countered by operational and tactical adaptation produced in reply by Allied anti-submarine warfare (ASW) forces. This last phase of the battle of the Atlantic was fought out for the most part in the confusing and difficult shallow waters around the coasts of the United Kingdom and off the east coast of Canada, moving to the shores of the United States only in the last few months of the war. This campaign provides insights into how new and unexpected initiatives by an enemy could be dealt with even when no technological solutions were readily at hand. It also illustrates the difficulty that both submarine and antisubmarine forces encounter when operating in the challenging environment of shallow water

Expanding the ROKN\u27s Capabilities to Deal with the SLBM Threat from North Korea

The navies of both Koreas are capable of conducting effective underwater operations. The North Korean navy possesses more than seventy submarines that, while aging and relatively obsolete, remain difficult to detect. They are tasked mainly with disrupting South Korean sea lines of communication

In the Tradition of Nelson: The Royal Navy in World War II

Review of Correlli Barnett, Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1991

Low Intensity Conflict: Contemporary Approaches and Strategic Thinking

Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) is a significant feature of the contemporary world and it is a particular challenge to the armed forces of many states which are involved is such conflict, or are likely to become so. This thesis is not concerned with how such difficult conflict situations arise. Rather it is concerned with how, from the point of view of the state, they may be contained and ultimately brought to a satisfactory resolution. The work is thus concerned with the practicalities of ending LIC. More specifically, the purpose of this research is to establish a framework of doctrinal and military principles applicable to the prevention and resolution of LIC. The principles of this thesis are based in numerous historical examples of LIC and six in depth case studies. These distilled principles are analysed in two central chapters, and are then applied in two latter defence force chapters so as to ensure there practicality and resilience. Numerous defence academics and military practitioners have been consulted in the production of this thesis; their contribution has further reinforced the functionality of the principles examined in this research. The research illustrates the criticality of a holistic approach to LIC. The function of this approach is to guarantee the stability of the sovereign state, by unifying civil, police, intelligence and military services. The effectiveness of the military elements must also be ensured, as military force is central to the suppression of LIC. Consequently, the research makes strategic and operational prescriptions, so as to improve the capability of defence forces that are concerned with preventing or resolving LIC

An Analysis of Factors Affecting the Royal Air Force Contribution to the Raid on Dieppe, 1942

This paper seeks to explain the limited options available to Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory when planning the Royal Air Force (RAF) portion of the combined operation raid on Dieppe in 1942. It proposes that a number of constraining influences, some self-imposed, reduced the air support options, so that only an air umbrella over the attacking forces could be provided. It argues that these influences were a consequence of the RAF’s cultural and conceptual environment, which perpetuated Trenchardian notions of offensive spirit in RAF doctrine, together with the refusal to consider options to extend the range of its fighter aircraft. The paper rejects claims that the RAF’s effort at Dieppe was the natural evolution of combined operations doctrine and demonstrates that preemptive bombing of Dieppe was politically unacceptable

Privateers in Australia’s conflict and disaster zones

The private security industry has become an established component in the conflict and disaster zones where the Australian Government operates and looks set to be an enduring feature of the security landscape. Although behind the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa, Australia is now a substantial contributor to the global private security industry. Australian companies provide security services across the globe, from Asia to Africa, to governments and private clients alike. Many Australians, mostly former ADF personnel, work as contractors for PSCs—leveraging their military skills to protect infrastructure and individuals. Australians are key players in the private security industry, relied upon for their expertise, combat experience and interoperability with US and UK militaries and private security operators. The Australian Government has been forging a greater leadership role in the private security arena. Australia has been among the most forthright supporters of nascent initiatives designed to regulate the established private security industry. Australian diplomats, academic specialists and international legal experts have actively driven initiatives like the Montreux Document, the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers, and the development of international standards for the private security industry. In August 2013, Australia become a foundation member and key government supporter of the Association of the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers, contributing seed funding to this non-government organisation (NGO), which aims to provide a forum to oversee PSC operations

Forging a maritime alliance: Norway and the evolution of american maritime strategy 1945-1960

The study examines the development of American maritime interests in the High North in the period from 1945 to 1960 with particular emphasis on the Eisenhower period and Admiral Arleigh Burke's tenure as Chief of Naval Operations. Specifically, it traces the reorientation of US concern about Soviet naval developments from the Baltic area to the Northern Fleet area after 1955. It explores how, in the latter half of the 1950s, Norway acquired a central role in US defence strategy as the US Navy - partly in response to the weakening of British naval power - moved into the Northeast Atlantic. By 1960 Norway was providing navgational support for the first generation of US nuclear-fuelled ballistic missile submarines and was playing a key part in the nuclear-oriented anti-submarine strategy of the US Navy. In 1960 the process which had begun in the late 1940s when the US increasingly came to assume Britain's traditional role as Norway's principal source of external support had been largely completed

Probabilistic Analysis of Anti-ship Missile Defence Effectiveness

Effective missile defence systems are primary requirement for naval ships to counter lethal anti-ship cruise missile attacks in today’s naval warfare scenario. Anti-ship ballistic missiles would further add worry to ship missile defence. The paper discusses a probabilistic analysis of missile defence system effectiveness by considering a simple scenario of a single ship defence with multiple interceptors against a single non-maneuvering missile attack. The ship’s interceptor hard kill lethality is taken as the measures of effectiveness in the analysis. The paper discusses effect of different firing policies, multi-sensor and layered defence to achieve maximum ship survivability.Defence Science Journal, 2014, 64(2), pp. 123-129. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.64.353