Naval Operations Concept - Defense Technical Information Center

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Naval Operations Concept 2010
and sea-based Marine tactical aviation provide air superiority over the
amphibious operations area, air interdiction of adversary forces maneuvering
toward the landing force, and close air support to augment highvolume
naval surface fires from surface combatants. Rotary-wing aircraft,
armed with air-to-surface missiles, embarked on surface combatants and
amphibious assault ships, along with vertical/short takeoff and landing
fixed wing aircraft from amphibious assault ships contribute fires in the
littoral as required. Moreover, non-kinetic fires provided by electronic
warfare systems and computer network operations can be employed to
gain the initiative.
The mission, geography, weather and adversary’s capabilities all combine
to create a unique set of seaward and landward littoral maneuver challenges.
Adversary aircraft, coastal defenses, air defenses, submarines,
surface combatants, fast attack craft (including suicide boats), maneuver
forces, improvised explosive devices and mines (in the sea and very
shallow water as well as on land), and a collection of weapons often
referred to as G-RAMM—guided rockets, artillery, mortars and missiles—
must all be effectively countered. Additionally, littoral maneuver may
also be subject to attack by irregular forces employing a variety of simple
and sophisticated weapons.
To offset these threats, especially widely proliferated first-generation
anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), assault echelons will normally commence
littoral maneuver from amphibious ships positioned—at least
initially—over-the-horizon. This extends the range from, and reduces
the ISR available to, the adversary. MEBs will normally provide the
landing force building blocks for larger contingencies and major operations.
When combined, two MEB assault echelons constitute the assault
echelon of a MEF. Naval forces use high-speed vertical and surface
means, singularly or in combination depending on the threat environment,
to rapidly project this combat power ashore. During Operation
DESERT STORM in 1991, for example, an all-vertical assault into the Al
Wafrah gap was conducted due to the high concentration of sea mines.
During Operation UNITED SHIELD in 1995, the amphibious withdrawal
of United Nations forces from Somalia employed surface means only in
order to avoid a significant surface-to-air missile threat.