The 21st century will witness the advent of unique and powerful capabilities delivered by global sea-based forces. In the decades ahead, the seas will comprise the most independent and secure maneuver space for joint military forces. Weapons, sensors, and communications systems with revolutionary reach and precision will integrate maritime forces into a unified battle space extending across sea, land, air, space, and cyberspace—providing invaluable strategic and operational advantage from the vast international domain of the world's oceans. (Here, an F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the USS Abraham Lincoln [CVN-72] for operations in support of the war on terrorism.)
Sea Basing is the core of "Sea Power 21." It is about placing at sea—to a greater extent than ever before—capabilities critical to joint and coalition operational success: offensive and defensive firepower, maneuver forces, command and control, and logistics. By doing so, it minimizes the need to build up forces and supplies ashore, reduces their vulnerability, and enhances operational mobility. It leverages advanced sensor and communications systems, precision ordnance, and weapons reach while prepositioning joint capabilities where they are immediately employable and most decisive. It exploits the operational shift in warfare from mass to precision and information, employing the 70% of the earth's surface that is covered with water as a vast maneuver area in support of the joint force.
Sea Basing will be increasingly central to joint military planning because the traditional advantages enjoyed by afloat forces—such as independence, mobility, and security—are becoming ever more important to military affairs, while traditional limitations of sea-based forces—including operational reach and connectivity—have been largely overcome by new technologies and concepts of operations. These advances in sea-based capabilities could not come at a more critical time, as political and military barriers to access ashore are growing worldwide. Because of these changes, the value of Sea Basing in an increasingly interdependent world will continue to rise—providing operational freedom for joint and coalition forces, compressing deployment timelines, strengthening deterrence, and projecting dominant and decisive combat power from the sea.
In a world of hidden and fleeting enemies, Sea Basing provides the joint force commander with dispersed, netted, and sovereign platforms that are ready to respond. To accomplish this mission, the sea base is comprised of distributed forces of many types, including carrier strike groups, expeditionary strike groups, combat logistics force ships, maritime prepositioning force platforms, and, in the years ahead, high-speed support vessels. Working together, these forces mass effects rather than platforms, increasing sensor coverage and force protection while focusing offensive and defensive firepower throughout the battlespace. This increase in operational effectiveness is possible because naval capabilities are evolving in important ways.
- Precise and Persistent Firepower. Sea Basing is the foundation for Sea Strike and Sea Shield, complementary capabilities that strengthen deterrence and warfighting. Sea-based offensive and defensive power assures friends and allies, enhances coalition building, and guards against international coercion; missions that will grow in importance as advanced warfighting technologies proliferate.
Sea-based forces are projecting power over longer distances and with far greater precision than in the past. For example, the F/A-18 C/D, the current workhorse of the fleet, has an unrefueled operational mission radius of approximately 500 miles. The F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, which already has flown combat missions in the war on terrorism, extends that range to more than 650 miles. The Joint Strike Fighter, which will enter the fleet in the next decade, will have a combat radius of 800 miles. The MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft will have five times the range of current helicopters and the Advanced Gun System will support maneuver forces by extending precision gunfire from 10 miles to 100 miles, vastly increasing the target set vulnerable to sea-based gunfire. At the same time, the Advanced Assault Amphibious Vehicle will provide the Marine Corps much needed over the horizon mobility and remarkably improved firepower.
Increased range is augmented with increased precision. Over the past ten years, precision weapons with extended standoff capability have advanced from a niche capability to an operational requirement. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, precision weapons represented only 10% of munitions expended. In 2001, during the initial phases of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, precision weapons accounted for more than 90% of weapons employed. This ability to effectively target and engage with pinpoint accuracy gives our forces the scalable combat power necessary to dominate today's military environment. In addition, efficiencies inherent in precision strike radiate from the battlefield to the factory, requiring fewer weapons to be produced, shipped, stored, and employed. This movement from mass to precision greatly enhances the effectiveness of Sea Basing.
The sliding scale between mass and precision is equally evident in maneuver. In step with the improvements achieved in precision weaponry is a complementary shift toward precision maneuver. Netted intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance with increased speed of seaborne and airborne platforms permit the discernment and rapid maneuver against and exploitation of gaps in an adversary's defenses. Precision navigation systems allow forces to move through cleared lanes created in obstacle belts and minefields, eliminating the need to clear entire shorelines. Sea Basing also improves the speed by which maneuver forces operate by retaining command and control, fire support, and logistics functions at sea. Precision maneuver capitalizes on the improved accuracy of fire support systems and munitions to enable a tempo of operations the adversary cannot match.
- Operational Maneuver at and from the Sea. The essence of Sea Basing is the exploitation of the sea, an obstacle for those who cannot control it, as maneuver space for friendly forces. By controlling the sea, the U.S. Navy creates a sanctuary for joint forces. Using the sea as maneuver space, afloat forces are capable of presenting an adversary with a mobile and multidimensional threat that overextends his capabilities and generates exploitable gaps and vulnerabilities. The inherent operational mobility of the sea base enables naval forces to place enemy forces and critical infrastructure at risk across the length of his coastline. The significantly expanded operational reach enabled by sea-based fires and maneuver capabilities will further increase an adversary's vulnerabilities deep inland. This power projection capability can be exploited for forcible entry, enabling the establishment ashore of follow-on land based joint forces. Subsequently, the maneuver capabilities of the sea base will allow naval forces to operate opportunistically off an adversary's coast, striking from the sea with fire and maneuver as vulnerabilities are discerned or created.
The economy and benefits of sea-based maneuver are best appreciated from the perspective of the enemy, who faced with a combined arms sea-based threat is placed on the horns of a dilemma. He can dissipate his force along the length of his coast or concentrate forces at strategic points; in either case naval and joint forces will maneuver throughout the battle space to defeat local forces in detail while striking critical nodes. By placing the enemy in a no-win situation, sea-based forces contribute greatly to the joint campaign and fully exploit the advantages of sea control.
- Global Connectivity. Tremendous advances in afloat connectivity over the past decade have knitted sea-based forces into the larger world around us. Situational awareness is shared real-time across all forces and with theater and national decision-makers. Support data have increased dramatically, providing greater efficiency, higher readiness, and access to expertise and information through reach-back systems. Collaborative planning and training systems, including video teleconferencing from sea, allow forces to arrive on scene with the latest information, ready for immediate employment. This web of connectivity turns individual ships into elements of a dispersed but integrated force—a sea base—from which commanders exercise control in secure and mobile facilities, accelerating the speed and accuracy of assessment, decision, and action at every level of command.
- Responsive Logistics. Twenty-first century operational logistics increasingly will leverage information to achieve efficiencies and provide support at the time and place of greatest impact. This shift toward anticipatory, responsive logistics—which is just beginning—will make Sea Basing of integrated joint logistics support increasingly possible, minimizing dependence on large and vulnerable bases ashore.
In pursuit of this goal, sea-based logistics are building upon a rich tradition that includes the legendary World War II fleet train of support ships that operated just behind the battle fleets. Today's Military Sealift Command (MSC) has inherited this role. Comprised of 119 fully operational ships—72% of which are deployed at any time—and another 96 surge ships, MSC supports fleet operations with oilers, stores ships, ammunition ships, ocean-going tugs, hospital ships, and other vessels. In addition, MSC has maintained prepositioned support forces in the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, and Western Pacific since the early 1980s. These assets are truly joint, including 40 ships to supply the Marine Corps, Army, Navy, and Air Force. By keeping these arsenals of U.S. firepower in theater, MSC provides the nation with decreased deployment and employment timelines, expanded military options, and greater operational responsiveness to the joint force commander.
The Naval Supply Systems Command is another important change agent in enhanced Sea Basing. Its more than 8,000 logistics professionals are striving to achieve one-touch supply on a global scale, providing web-based, single-point-of-entry support to save customer time and increase anticipation of demand. As with the MSC, the Naval Supply Systems Command is expanding its partnership with the other services and the Defense Logistics Agency by leveraging information technologies and expanded communications tools to increase situational awareness and capture joint efficiencies. The result will be improved speed of response and operational agility.
The Way Ahead
We are only beginning to exploit the full potential of Sea Basing. In support of joint and coalition operations, maritime forces will provide Sea Strike and Sea Shield capabilities of unprecedented range and accuracy, global connectivity of great capacity and survivability, and streamlined logistics to support joint forces throughout the battle space. Sea-based forces will minimize reliance on ashore infrastructure by challenging all assumptions that result in the shore basing of operational capabilities. The reasoning is direct: less reliance on shore basing equals more operational flexibility. This means taking advantage of every opportunity to place enhanced capabilities at sea and improving the reach, persistence, and sustainability of systems that already are based afloat.
- Improved Joint Effectiveness. The future is all about jointness, from initial planning through mission completion. Every facet of sea-based operations must focus on the bigger picture. Defensive assurance will be derived from the integration of complementary joint capabilities, and strike options of every type will be planned and executed in a joint context. Afloat operations will be tailored and timed so that their impact folds smoothly into joint strategic, operational, and tactical plans. The fully integrated battle space of the future may witness not only Special Operations Forces operating from the maritime domain, but also Air Force unmanned combat vehicles surging to sea bases rather than bedding down ashore. Readily available forward-operating bases will be central to joint operations in the 21st century, and, while not invulnerable, there is no forward-staging area more secure and sovereign than a sea base.
Seamless joint communications lie at the heart of effective Sea Basing. As part of that effort, the Navy is lead agent for developing a new deployable joint command-and-control system to provide a rapidly accessible and flexible common planning tool for all services to share. Such communications must leverage fully the capabilities of joint, theater, and national systems, as well as those of allies, coalition partners, and friends. This web of awareness must reach beyond the military, to include other agencies such as the new Department of Homeland Security, the intelligence organizations, and civilian relief and international aid groups. In an era of preemptive defense, we must shape the strategic and operational environment by engaging as early as possible with every available tool.
Sea Basing is also a catalyst for coalition building, because it is politically and logistically easier for nations to contribute to a sea-based effort than to commit land forces. In future operations, international data-sharing networks will make available local knowledge, regional intelligence, and operational specialties needed for effective campaign planning. This demands the development of communications systems that are accessible to other nations, including the portability and safeguards required to optimize coalition operations.
- Increased Reach and Responsiveness. On-scene presence and operational freedom are vital to deterring and defeating current and future threats, ranging from regional adversaries to transnational terrorists and criminal organizations. The Navy-Marine Corps team will meet this challenge by greater integration with each other and with the larger joint force. Naval forces will provide distributed, netted striking power around the world to swiftly attack wherever threats appear.
New and better systems are key to expanded reach. The new CVN(X) nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will be the first major update of the fleet's most powerful weapon system in a quarter century. It will launch very long-range manned and unmanned strike craft, be powered by a new propulsion plant that will include greatly expanded electrical-generating capacity, and have a more flexible flight deck, all operated and supported by a much smaller crew. The new multi-mission DD(X) destroyer reflects this drive toward longer-range weapons, more efficient crewing, and greater emphasis on electric systems, eventually leading to electric propulsion and weapons. The follow-on CG(X) cruisers will project defensive shields over entire regions, placing a new tool of great value into the hands of decision makers. Improved amphibious assault ships such as the LHA(R) and LPD-17 will maneuver forward presence forces to shape events in the early stages of conflict. These new expeditionary warfare platforms will provide a limited but responsive forcible entry capability to enable rapid reinforcement by follow-on sea-based forces.
Increased combat power also will rely on an array of advanced weapons and sensors. Long-dwell unmanned sensors will be projected vast distances on, over, and under the sea, providing the persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance critical to 21st century warfighting. Next-generation missiles, aircraft, and unmanned vehicles will provide rich streams of information, to include optical, infrared, audio, seismic, radiological, magnetic, and thermal returns. These sensors will guide very fast, very precise strikes best suited to a rapidly changing battlefield. Information operations will complement strike missions with non-kinetic attack at vital enemy systems. High-speed sealift, tilt-rotor aircraft, and advanced assault amphibious craft will provide more mobility and flexibility in support of power projection forces while also increasing sustained support. In short, sea-based forces will leverage improved intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, precision fire support, and enhanced mobility to generate combat power on a scale previously provided by far heavier and less agile forces.
New platforms and technologies will be implemented by new concepts of operations. To provide greater striking power and responsiveness, amphibious ready groups are being augmented with dedicated surface combatants and submarines, to produce expeditionary strike groups, thereby distributing the offensive power of the fleet more widely while increasing area control and surveillance capabilities. Expeditionary strike groups will operate independently against transnational threats, and they will combine with carrier strike groups and maritime prepositioning groups to form expeditionary strike forces when countering major adversaries.
To further develop sea-based reach and responsiveness, joint experimentation will be aggressively pursued. Today, the Navy-Marine Corps team and U.S. Joint Forces Command are working together to incorporate naval efforts into joint exercises whenever possible. Concurrent with that effort, the naval services are working with the Army on high-speed vessels, with the Air Force on unmanned aerial vehicles, and with the Coast Guard on its Deepwater project. The goal is to develop as many common systems as possible, to maximize the utility of joint Sea Basing. In addition, we must define concepts and doctrine that codify how we will work together more effectively in the future as a unified military force.
- Enhanced On-Scene Endurance. Being there is what sea-based forces are all about, and the naval services are dedicated to finding innovative ways to increase on-scene endurance. Enhanced on-station presence will compress deployment and employment timelines and increase the operational effectiveness of every Sailor and Marine.
Maritime Prepositioned Force-Future (MPF[F]) ships will be central to this effort. These platforms will sustain in-theater logistics, communications, and medical capabilities, providing joint operational and logistical support while remaining on-station for extended periods. MPF(F) ships will enhance the responsiveness of the joint team by the at-sea assembly of a Marine expeditionary brigade that arrives by high-speed airlift or sealift from the United States or advanced bases. They will off-load forces, weapons, and supplies selectively while remaining far over the horizon and reconstitute ground maneuver forces aboard ship after completing assaults deep inland. The impact of these ships will be significant, because prepositioned support will not be limited to unloading supplies in port after troops have moved ashore. They will sustain the force and allow the joint force commander to rapidly reposition and retask for other operational missions. MPF(F) ships will serve a broader operational function than current prepositioned shipping, creating greatly expanded operational flexibility and effectiveness.
In the near future, on-station time will be enhanced by improved vertical delivery capabilities provided by the MH-60S helicopter and MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft. High-speed sealift will provide far more flexible, efficient, and secure support by way of inter- and intra-theater sustainment and transportation. MSC already is sailing the WestPac Express, a 101-meter vessel that averages 35 knots while transporting nearly 1,000 Marines. This results in more efficient training and lower costs than provided by airlift. Another high-speed vessel, Joint Venture, is being employed on the U.S. East Coast for experimentation with the Army, while a third has been placed on order to work with the Mine Warfare Command in Ingleside, Texas.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will take the concept of being there to new heights, applying cutting-edge technology and innovative operational concepts to provide increased presence in the littorals. Designed from the keel up to be very fast and mission flexible, it has the potential to remain forward deployed for extended periods, supporting carrier and expeditionary strike groups while sustaining access to vital waters for trade and military operations. In addition, the Navy is conducting experiments with rotational crewing to enhance on-scene endurance, and optimum manning initiatives are being implemented in fleet units to reduce crew size while increasing sustainability.
More advanced technologies lie further ahead. Future sea bases might include highly capable joint command centers, aircraft operating areas, and sea-to-shore craft of unprecedented speed and lift. Future logistical capabilities include enhanced hull-to-hull transfer systems for heavy cargo, revolutionary crane designs, advanced strike-up/strike-down cargo handling equipment, improved fenders employing electromagnetic technologies, and new fuel transfer systems for greater safety and efficiency. Someday, sea bases may even be supplied by ultra-large airships capable of vertically delivering more than 1,000 tons of cargo after transiting from airstrips in the United States or elsewhere around the world.
Decisive Capabilities for an Uncertain Era
Twenty-first century Sea Basing will result in dramatically expanded use of the seas to directly influence events anywhere. Imagine a major crisis 20 years from now: rogue elements within a failed state seize missiles armed with weapons of mass destruction and threaten to attack a neighboring nation. In response, sea-based forces project a defensive shield over the potential victim. Long-dwell sensors—naval, joint, and national—provide minute-by-minute, comprehensive data to decision-makers. Advance parties of Special Operations Forces and Marines clandestinely deploy from ships and submarines to gather intelligence. Reinforcements flow from outside the theater to afloat forward-staging bases, where they meet with equipment and prepare for the attack. The sea base grows in extent and capability as international forces arrive, bringing additional intelligence and operational skills.
A joint force commander activates an afloat headquarters and begins integrated planning, linking with resources around the world. Representatives of other governmental agencies and international humanitarian organizations arrive to coordinate post-conflict planning, including the possibility of inserting teams of specialists from the sea base into a contaminated environment ashore. As planning rapidly progresses and refined estimates of weapons usage become available, focused logistics systems push select items forward on high-speed sealift and airlift to sustain the tempo of assault.
While the international community struggles to defuse the crisis, sea-based forces shape the effort: providing enhanced deterrence capabilities, immediately employable strike options, critical intelligence, and coalition connectivity. Should conflict erupt, sea-based forces will be at the leading edge of the attack, maneuvering to exploit the advantages of sea-based power projection. Once tensions are resolved, the sea base will disperse as silently and swiftly as it assembled, melting away into the vast maneuver space of the sea until it is needed again.
Asymmetric Military Advantage
Enhanced and networked Sea Basing will allow us to do more from the sea than ever before, operating as a fully integrated joint force to deliver major increases in operational effectiveness. By doing so, it will extend to the joint force advantages historically enjoyed by naval forces, such as freedom of action, immediate employability, increased security, and sustained access. Sea Basing is transformational, but it is not a panacea. It will remain an operational-level capability that relies on the strategic basing support of overseas friends and allies outside the joint operations area.
In the years ahead, afloat command and control will be seamless, global, and secure. Resupply of joint forces from the sea will be safer, faster, and more efficient. Naval firepower will range across the joint battle space, and sea-based maneuver forces will penetrate deep into enemy territory. Prepositioned assets will remain on station for extended periods. Greater integration with joint and coalition forces will result in increased situational awareness, enhanced regional stability, and—should crises occur—an accelerated flow of combat and support forces throughout the theater of operations.
Twenty-first-century Sea Basing will be our nation's asymmetric military advantage, contributing immeasurably to global peace, international stability, and warfighting effectiveness. It is the key to operational independence in the dangerous decades before us.
Admiral Moore is Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics (N4). Previously, he was Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, and Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet during Operation Enduring Freedom.
General Hanlon is Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Previously, he was Commanding General, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
Sea Power 21 Series:
Part I—Projecting Decisive Joint Capabilities
Part II—Sea Shield: Projecting Global Defensive Assurance
Part III—Sea Strike: Projecting Persistent, Responsive, and Precise Power
Part V—ForceNet: Turning Information into Power
Part VI—Global Concept of Operations
Part VII—Sea Warrior: Maximizing Human Capital
Part VIII—Sea Trial: Enabler for a Transformed Fleet
Part IX—Sea Enterprise: Resourcing Tomorrow's Fleet