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There were many improvements and changes in direction for naval aviation in the 1960s—new aircraft carriers, new amphibious assault ships, new types of missiles and improvements to old ones such as Sidewinder and Sparrow, and notable successes in efforts to conquer space.  In other respects, the Navy's traditional role in controlling the sea remained unchanged.  The old technique of a naval blockade was revived during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

The philosophy of restraint and artificial rules of engagement that were in place during the Korean War was carried to a deplorable extreme during the Vietnam War that followed in the 1960s and 1970s.  In Vietnam, aircrews not only had to contend with politically motivated constraints on their actions; a new and deadly element of aerial warfare was introduced—the surface-to-air missile.  As a result, new tactics evolved and electronic warfare emerged as the most important technological development of the era.