Sam Tangredi

Captain Sam J. Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Ret.) is the Leidos Chair of Future Warfare Studies and Professor of National, Naval and Maritime Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College. A surface warfare officer and warship captain deployed worldwide, Dr. Tangredi also served multiple tours of duty in the Pentagon as a leader of strategic planning teams. He has published six books and over 200 articles on defense strategy and has won 15 professional literature awards. His book Anti-Access Warfare, considered a definitive work, was recently republished in paperback by Naval Institute Press as well as translated into Chinese by the People’s Liberation Army. He splits his time between Newport, RI and Coronado, CA.

Articles by Sam Tangredi

Two Long-Range Antisurface Missiles (LRASMs), shown here loaded on an F-35, are the types of weapons the U.S. military needs to “replicate” at scale and pace.

Replicate Ordnance, Not Cheap Drones

By Captain Sam Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

March 2024

General Prize Essay Contest—First Prize. Sponsored by Andrew and Barbara Taylor. Drones won’t offset China’s growing military, but more weapons could.

From left to right, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force guided-missile destroyer Ashigara, the USS Shiloh (CG-67), the Rafael Peralta (DDG-115), the Antietam (CG-54), and the USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) in formation in the Philippine Sea, in January 2023.

Develop a Persuasive Strategy for All-Domain Naval Power

Captain Sam J. Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

January 2024

A review of Advantage at Sea and the issues an effective Sea Service strategy would have to address.

A fanciful 17th-century depiction of the 13th-century Siege of Damietta

The Elusive Fleet of the Knights Templar

By Captain Sam J. Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

April 2023

They have been the subject of endless, outlandish speculation and farfetched theories. Here is a clear-eyed look at the legendary Crusader knights’ various uses of naval power.

Fighting When the Network Dies

By Captain Sam J. Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

March 2023

General Prize Essay Contest—Third Prize, Sponsored by Andrew and Barbara Taylor. To beat a technological near-peer in a future war, the Navy will need a reserve “analog” fleet.

Bigger Fleets Win

By Captain Sam J. Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

January 2023

In naval warfare, the side with the most ships almost always wins.

Jointness Versus Strategy: How Joint Ideology Distorts U.S. National Security

By Captain Sam Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

June 2022

The concept of jointness has gone too far and has not delivered the promised results.

Keep War Confined to the ‘Seas’

By Captain Sam Tangredi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

June 2022

General Prize Essay Contest, Third Prize. Sponsored by Andrew and Barbara Taylor. U.S. forces should reorient to confine conflict with China to the maritime, space, and cyber global commons.