Naval Operations Concept - Defense Technical Information Center

Naval Operations Concept 2010 6
Conventional Deterrence
It is difficult to overstate the time-tested conventional deterrent value of
a forward postured, sustained and combat-capable naval force. Potential
adversaries are constrained in their freedom to act by the probability of
retaliation from overwhelming and technologically advanced offensive
capabilities, combined with defensive measures that allow naval forces to
fight effectively despite growing anti-access and area-denial capabilities.
Conventional deterrence puts a premium on the credible ability to rapidly
respond to aggression, and therefore regionally concentrated, combat-credible
naval power plays a central role. Naval forces can quickly respond
to emerging crises by bringing combat power where none existed before,
and they can augment existing forces already in theater to signal U.S.
political resolve in a crisis and further swing the local balance of power
in the United States’ favor. The ability to rapidly deploy, and indefinitely
sustain, combat power in a region helps ensure that an opponent cannot
hope to wait out U.S. forces in the belief that at some point there will be a
favorable “window of opportunity” for conventional aggression. Forward
presence, sea control and power projection preeminence deter aggression
through the credible threat of conventional retaliation and the certain
denial of an adversary’s military objectives.
A key to denying adversary objectives in the emerging strategic environment
are effective maritime ballistic missile defense forces. Several
nations have developed, tested and fielded ballistic missiles that threaten
the U.S homeland, its territories, its forces deployed abroad, and its
partners, friends and allies. Emerging technologies will make it possible
for potential adversaries to inhibit naval forces from accessing littoral
regions through the employment of short and medium-range ballistic
missiles designed to attack ships at sea. As ballistic missile technology
advances and proliferates, more nations are gaining or will gain the
means necessary to attack both sovereign U.S. territory and deployed
U.S. forces. The Nation has called for a BMD architecture that includes
complementary capabilities for mid-course interception of missiles
outside of friendly airspace and point defense protection of population
centers, critical infrastructure and military bases. The Navy provides a
deployable mid-course interception capability, which is already employed
in the Western Pacific, Middle Eastern and European theaters. In addition
to these maturing kinetic defense capabilities, we will continue to