U.S. Releases New Seapower Strategy

The U.S. Navy released its new maritime strategy, March 13, a key aspect of which is having more ships deployed and basing more of them outside of the U.S. 

The strategy titled A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower: Forward, Engaged, Ready describes how the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard will design, organize and employ naval forces.

The new strategy emphasizes operating forward and engaging partners across the globe, especially in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. It calls for increasing the Navy’s forward presence to 120 ships by 2020, up from about 97 ships today. This includes forward-basing four ballistic-missile-defense destroyers in Spain and stationing another attack submarine in Guam by the end of 2015. The Navy is scheduled to increase presence in Middle East from 30 ships today to 40 by 2020.

Changes in the global security environment, new strategic guidance and the changed fiscal environment have driven the development of the strategy. 

“The world has changed since 2007, when the last strategy was published, violent extremist organization like [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] have grown. We have a continued threat from North Korea and Iran and you’ve seen the recent Russian aggression. There’s also the question of the rise of China,” Navy Rear Admiral William McQuilkin, director Navy strategy and policy division, told reporters. “Additionally, we face challenges that threaten our access — in cyberspace and the in the global commons.”

The essential functions of the maritime strategy released in 2007 were adjusted to include a new function called “all domain access” which underscores the challenges forces face in accessing and operating in contested environments. This includes sea, air, land, space and cyberspace. “Since 2007, all of the services have placed a greater emphasis on the cyber aspects of warfare,” McQuilkin said.

The strategy reinforces the continued need to strengthen partnerships and alliances by stressing the importance of operating in NATO maritime groups and participating in international training exercises. “No one nation can do this alone. Every country can make a contribution no matter how small they are,” said McQuilkin, citing the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle now joined with the U.S. carrier Carl Vinson in the Arabian Gulf as an example of cooperation. The vessels carry out combat airstrikes against the Islamic State group.

Further Arctic development is discussed in the strategy including the ability to operate in ice-covered and ice-obstructed waters. The U.S. Coast Guard will apply the multi-mission capabilities of the National Security Cutter to provide a tailored seasonal presence for command and control and aerial surveillance, and will begin the design process for a new, heavy icebreaking capability to support operations in both the Arctic and Antarctic. 

The Coast Guard will also pursue the formation of a maritime assistance, coordination, and operations group, open to members of the eight Arctic Council nations. The purpose of this group will be coordination of multinational search and rescue operations, training exercises, maritime traffic management, disaster response and information sharing.

Additionally, the strategy outlines plans to maintain readiness by implementing the Navy's Optimized Fleet Response Plan which improves readiness and leads to a predictable cycle for maintaining, training and deploying carrier strike groups and amphibious ships. 

Human trafficking makes its debut in the revised document, says CIMSEC commentator and manager for research and analysis at Security Management International, Joshua Tallis, while greater significance is given to those non-state threats mentioned in the 2007 white paper. “The first section of the strategy detailing geopolitical changes since the publication of the first document is peppered with references not only to extremism and terrorism but also to transnational organized crime, the growing significance of population expansion in the littorals, and the threats posed by under-governed zones ashore.”

The document features four sections: Global Security Environment, Forward Presence and Partnership, Seapower in Support of National Security, and Force Design: Building the Future Force.

The full document is available here.