Rebalancing the Fleet

Sidebar: 'Numbers Do Matter'

Looking at the hologram, Vice Admiral Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. Navy, could scarcely believe the pace of the battle unfolding before him. He had begun with overwhelming combat power at his disposal, and despite the violent consequences of the past eight hours of battle—which previously had been gamed and modeled—his task force was well positioned to take the fight to the enemy. He still had 200 miles to go to reach his best position to strike decisively ashore and even longer before the Marines would be maneuvering against the first of their many objectives. The contested littoral, once a narrow band extending tens of miles off the adversary's coastline, now was a battlespace hundreds of miles deep, transformed by an overlapping and sophisticated defense. Transiting this area was perilous but necessary.