Column 147

Advice for Navy's future

This week I testified before the Seapower Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee regarding the Department of Navy's long-range strategic planning. This is what I told them.

Having spent the last decade arguing that America's grand strategy should center on fostering globalization's advance, I welcomed the Department's 2007 Maritime Strategic Concept that stated, "As our security and prosperity are inextricably linked with those of others, U.S. maritime forces will be deployed to protect and sustain the peaceful global system comprised of interdependent networks of trade, finance, information, law, people and governance."

Read on at KnoxNews.
Read on at Scripps Howard.

Comments

[Jeff J]

I was in the local Barnes and Noble this weekend browsing and noticed a book about the different drones the military has developed over the years and among them was a submarine drone. I will go out on a limb here and assume they cost much less than a a full blown sub, nuclear or diesel. Could the navy not use these for surveillance and other tasks?

[Tom Barnett]

Oops! Better not to bring up that one. About as popular as UAVs with pilots.

[Chap]

Us military people are *so* locked into such mindsets. Gosh, thanks for the vote of confidence.

Or, just maybe, the sub force is trying to make UUVs happen--see the Giant Shadow series of experiments, for instance. UUVs are doing okay (lots of complexity in the computing) except for one problem: the first three thousand miles. Really hard to get them somewhere without advertising it, so you need some way to get them there and keep them doing what it is you want them doing. It's just another technical hurdle but non-trivial.