Book Description

Today, alongside its all-important operations in direct support of the Global War on Terrorism, naval aviation also continues its now 60-year commitment to shaping the maritime and littoral environment through persistent forward presence. In the longer term, naval aviation is also adapting to a series of geopolitical revolutions which will dramatically increase the future demand for a secure sea base capable of projecting dominant power ashore in wartime against the full spectrum of possible opponents. It is adapting to these demands by exploiting technologies and operational practices developed in the last decade that will greatly increase its ability to surge and concentrate forces rapidly; protect the sea base from new air, surface, and undersea threats; and find, identify, locate, track, and strike mobile as well as fixed targets ashore, under all weather conditions, and in timely enough fashion to produce the desired effects. This report discusses the following topics: (1) Formal Alliances Provide Predictable Access, Informal Coalitions Do Not; (2) Distributed Ground Forces Require Persistent, Distributed Air Support; (3) The Sea Shield Must Be Dominant If the Sea Base Is to Be Effective; (4) Adapting; (5) The Spectrum from Presence to Major Combat; (6) Technology and the Spectrum of Threat; (7) The Value of Robust Airborne Early Warning (AEW) Aircraft; (8) No Substitute for Range in Carrier Aviation; (9) The Need for Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) is Not Going Away; (10) Land-Based Maritime Patrol Aircraft; (11) Multimission Helicopters; (12) New Capabilities and Challenges; (13) Eliminating the Weather Sanctuary for Mobile Targets; (14) Providing a Dominant Defense of the Sea Base; (15) Shoot Archers Not Arrows; (16) Make Opposing Submarines Pay for Their Inevitable Indiscretions; (17) Get Back in the Counter-Surveillance Business; and (18) The Force of the Future.