Prediction

Adapted and extended from an address to the Military Applications Society of INFORMS delivered in Monterey CA on 27 March 2012

22 questions for streetfighter

Hughes attempts to answer 22 questions that pertain to the foremost task of a streetfighter battleship: The ability to fight in the "back alleys" of an enemy's home waters

Clear Purpose, Comprehensive Execution—Raymond Ames Spruance (1886–1969)

From two tours at the Naval War College, Spruance understood both the roles and limitations of doctrine and principles, but the great sources of his success in World War II were luck, selfless ambition, skills acquired from study and experience, and innate talent

Implementing the Seapower Strategy

The “Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower”—the new maritime strategy—is the result of a broadly based, collaborative effort, and it has great significance as a guide for the nation’s maritime operations. But what does it not say? What remains to be done

Naval Maneuver Warfare

To approach teh sea side of maneuver warfare, one ought first to understand its nature and content in general. Contemporary American military reformers seem to claim that maneuver warfare is everything good: outwitting the enemy, creating and exploiting an information advantage, moving faster and more adroitly, and shooting more precisely and effectively. In the rhetoric, maneuver warfare is rapid, violent, coordinated attack. But who would espouse the opposite, a slow, feeble, disorganized attack ? If maneuver warfare is nothing more than fighting intelligently, then its antithesis is stupid warfare

Take the small boat threat seriously

Today, the flotilla suited for coastal operations-littoral warfare-is more complicated in composition than a century ago, comprising not only small fighting craft but also low-flying aircraft and assorted means to detect, track, and target enemy ships of all sizes. Above all, it is complicated by the addition of many kinds of missiles. The breadth of littoral waters also has increased from a few score miles to hundreds of miles

A Bimodal Force for the National Maritime Strategy

A “bimodal” national military strategy would have two, and only two, objectives: first, the capabilities to deal with a peer competitor, and second, the means to conduct several small operations concurrently. What capabilities would the naval forces need? Would they cost no more than our present capabilities? Would this bimodal force be capable of dealing with other situations