COMNAVSURFOR -Vision for the 2026 Surface Fleet
COMNAVSURFOR – “Vision for the 2026 Surface Fleet”
Interesting read & released coincident with the Surface navy Association’s annual meeting. I especially note with interest the emphasis on offensive lethality – to wit: the Surface Force must greatly improve it’s offensive lethality. All well and good and the nod to training is important. BUT:
– where is my ship-launched 150-300km, supersonic (Mach 2+) ASCM?
– where are my organic OTH-T sensors to support it?
– and most importantly, how do we get the lawyers out of my CDC or give me real world ROE so I can put a spear deep in the enemy’s (sea-going) chest?
“Offensive lethality” =/= the mere ability to pump a bunch of subsonic TLAMs across the beach in a permissive environment. We need to get back to being able to fight on the high seas and in the littorals with a range of ship-launched weapons supported by organic and off-board sensors, and do so in a non-permissive. Alas, our current offensive capability puts our ships well inside the first-launch ring of our opponents, which, of course means, we need to have the full range of hard and soft-kill capabilities out there (now) to defend ourselves and hope to survive to close and launch.
What about the CVW? It’s going to be damn busy fighting a new Outer Air Battle with reduced assets (aircraft and carriers) and may not be available in certain areas of the world where our surface forces are already deployed – more frequently by themselves or with very small associated support.
It’s time for surface navy to get a big stick.