Can the US Navy Rebuild their Fleet?

The United States and China are in the middle of one of history's largest naval arms races right now. In 2020 the Chinese Navy surpassed the US in the overall number of warships for the first time…on the other hand the US fleet is more advanced and has far more tonnage. But US Naval leadership has seen the writing on the wall and attempted to kick the Military industrial complex back into high gear. What new warships, weapons and tactics will they acquire over the next decade and will it be the correct ones needed to keep China in check?

Written by: Chris Cappy and Diego Aceituno

Edited by: Maksym

If we want to understand the US Navy’s plan to modernize, it is worth looking at its two greatest influences. Alfred Mahan was a United States naval officer, and strategist who wrote the 1890 book "The Influence of Sea Power upon History," it’s basically the navy bible now. In it Mahan argued that control of maritime trade routes were crucial for the success of a global power. He recommended maintaining naval bases and refueling logistics stations around the world. He pointed out that Control of strategic maritime choke points have had a decisive impact on the outcome of wars throughout history all the way back to 400 BC. We can easily see today how his theories were extremely influential on the Navy.

Then there was Sir Julian Corbett who was a British Naval historian and strategist who published “some principles of maritime strategy” in 1911 its like the Torah of the Navy no that analogy doesn’t make any sense. Corbett was in some ways the counterpoint to Mahan; he argued for avoiding decisive battles engaging in raids on the enemy instead. Critics of Mahan believed he had an Overemphasis on large heavily armed Battleships. They believed a smaller more agile Navy could be more effective at sea denial and disrupting larger fleets through asymmetrical means. Sir Corbett placed more emphasis on limited warfare and coordinating with the other military branches, even making use of diplomacy more. The Naval problems facing Mahan and Corbat over a hundred years ago are many of the same faced today. Their works have influenced national Naval policies around the world for over a hundred years.

Join this channel to get access to perks:

sources:

Nebulous: fleet command video game

Task & Purpose is a military news and culture oriented channel. We want to foster discussion about the defense industry.

Email capelluto@taskandpurpose.com for inquires.

#NAVY #USA #WAR