NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy
For most of this decade, naval enthusiasts have championed the "Maritime Strategy" as the answer to the strategic malaise that characterized American foreign policy in the post-Vietnam era. Perceived American weakness and strategic incoherence undoubtedly contributed to the burst of Soviet...
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ftdtic:ADA528311 2023-05-15T16:49:05+02:00 NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy Hooker, Jr, Richard D. ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA 1989-06 text/html http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA528311 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA528311 en eng http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA528311 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. DTIC Military Forces and Organizations Military Operations Strategy and Tactics *MILITARY STRATEGY *NATO *NAVAL OPERATIONS REPRINTS UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT(FOREIGN) MILITARY FORCES(FOREIGN) INTERDICTION NORWAY AIR POWER SEA BASED MILITARY BUDGETS BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES USSR ICELAND MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES) GUIDED MISSILES MARITIME STRATEGY NORTHERN FLANK SLOCS(SEA LINES OF COMMUNICATION) MEB(MARINE EXPEDITIONARY BRIGADES) SSBN(SOVIET BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES) WAR TERMINATION LAND BASED AIRPOWER Text 1989 ftdtic 2016-02-23T03:23:41Z For most of this decade, naval enthusiasts have championed the "Maritime Strategy" as the answer to the strategic malaise that characterized American foreign policy in the post-Vietnam era. Perceived American weakness and strategic incoherence undoubtedly contributed to the burst of Soviet adventurism beginning in Angola in 1974 and culminating most spectacularly with the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Yet the large military expenditures of the last seven years. which were intended to reverse the declining "correlation of forces" and reestablish US military power as an effective instrument of policy, were not rigorously submitted to the discipline of an articulated and integrated conception of national military strategy. In the scramble for defense resources each service advanced its own interests, but the sea services emerged clear winners, basing their requests for funds on the strategic necessity for a modernized, offensively oriented, greatly enhanced naval force structure. In the process, the Navy has largely succeeded in independently defining and marketing the very strategic framework by which its budget requests are evaluated. A case in point is the wartime defense of NATO's critical Northern Flank. Navy strategy there is bold, aggressive, and dynamic in every way. It may also be a prescription for failure. After decades of neglect, the strategic significance of the Northern Flank is now receiving serious attention from NATO planners. Briefly put, control of the Norwegian Sea and the airfields in north Norway and Iceland could enable Soviet submarines and naval aviation to interdict NATO sea lines of communication (SLOCs) in time of war--potentially a war-winning strategy. Published in Parameters, p24-37, Jun 1989. Text Iceland North Norway Norwegian Sea Defense Technical Information Center: DTIC Technical Reports database Norway Norwegian Sea |
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Defense Technical Information Center: DTIC Technical Reports database |
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English |
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Military Forces and Organizations Military Operations Strategy and Tactics *MILITARY STRATEGY *NATO *NAVAL OPERATIONS REPRINTS UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT(FOREIGN) MILITARY FORCES(FOREIGN) INTERDICTION NORWAY AIR POWER SEA BASED MILITARY BUDGETS BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES USSR ICELAND MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES) GUIDED MISSILES MARITIME STRATEGY NORTHERN FLANK SLOCS(SEA LINES OF COMMUNICATION) MEB(MARINE EXPEDITIONARY BRIGADES) SSBN(SOVIET BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES) WAR TERMINATION LAND BASED AIRPOWER |
spellingShingle |
Military Forces and Organizations Military Operations Strategy and Tactics *MILITARY STRATEGY *NATO *NAVAL OPERATIONS REPRINTS UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT(FOREIGN) MILITARY FORCES(FOREIGN) INTERDICTION NORWAY AIR POWER SEA BASED MILITARY BUDGETS BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES USSR ICELAND MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES) GUIDED MISSILES MARITIME STRATEGY NORTHERN FLANK SLOCS(SEA LINES OF COMMUNICATION) MEB(MARINE EXPEDITIONARY BRIGADES) SSBN(SOVIET BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES) WAR TERMINATION LAND BASED AIRPOWER Hooker, Jr, Richard D. NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy |
topic_facet |
Military Forces and Organizations Military Operations Strategy and Tactics *MILITARY STRATEGY *NATO *NAVAL OPERATIONS REPRINTS UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT(FOREIGN) MILITARY FORCES(FOREIGN) INTERDICTION NORWAY AIR POWER SEA BASED MILITARY BUDGETS BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES USSR ICELAND MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES) GUIDED MISSILES MARITIME STRATEGY NORTHERN FLANK SLOCS(SEA LINES OF COMMUNICATION) MEB(MARINE EXPEDITIONARY BRIGADES) SSBN(SOVIET BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINES) WAR TERMINATION LAND BASED AIRPOWER |
description |
For most of this decade, naval enthusiasts have championed the "Maritime Strategy" as the answer to the strategic malaise that characterized American foreign policy in the post-Vietnam era. Perceived American weakness and strategic incoherence undoubtedly contributed to the burst of Soviet adventurism beginning in Angola in 1974 and culminating most spectacularly with the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Yet the large military expenditures of the last seven years. which were intended to reverse the declining "correlation of forces" and reestablish US military power as an effective instrument of policy, were not rigorously submitted to the discipline of an articulated and integrated conception of national military strategy. In the scramble for defense resources each service advanced its own interests, but the sea services emerged clear winners, basing their requests for funds on the strategic necessity for a modernized, offensively oriented, greatly enhanced naval force structure. In the process, the Navy has largely succeeded in independently defining and marketing the very strategic framework by which its budget requests are evaluated. A case in point is the wartime defense of NATO's critical Northern Flank. Navy strategy there is bold, aggressive, and dynamic in every way. It may also be a prescription for failure. After decades of neglect, the strategic significance of the Northern Flank is now receiving serious attention from NATO planners. Briefly put, control of the Norwegian Sea and the airfields in north Norway and Iceland could enable Soviet submarines and naval aviation to interdict NATO sea lines of communication (SLOCs) in time of war--potentially a war-winning strategy. Published in Parameters, p24-37, Jun 1989. |
author2 |
ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA |
format |
Text |
author |
Hooker, Jr, Richard D. |
author_facet |
Hooker, Jr, Richard D. |
author_sort |
Hooker, Jr, Richard D. |
title |
NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy |
title_short |
NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy |
title_full |
NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy |
title_fullStr |
NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy |
title_full_unstemmed |
NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy |
title_sort |
nato's northern flank: a critique of the maritime strategy |
publishDate |
1989 |
url |
http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA528311 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA528311 |
geographic |
Norway Norwegian Sea |
geographic_facet |
Norway Norwegian Sea |
genre |
Iceland North Norway Norwegian Sea |
genre_facet |
Iceland North Norway Norwegian Sea |
op_source |
DTIC |
op_relation |
http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA528311 |
op_rights |
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
_version_ |
1766039151256272896 |