Download - Royal Australian Navy

The 1000-Ship Navy Global Maritime
Partnership Initiative
Dr Stanley Weeks
The US Navy’s (USN) 1000-Ship Navy initiative, now officially titled the Global
Maritime Partnership, had its origins in USN Chief of Naval Operations Admiral
Mike Mullen’s speech to the September 2005 International Seapower Symposium
in Newport. This paper will first place this initiative in the broader context of four
current key USN strategic plans, to which the initiative is closely related. The origins
of the 1000-Ship Navy initiative will then be detailed, with particular emphasis on the
initial Newport speech of Admiral Mullen, as well as the more specific development
of the concepts in a November 2005 article in the US Naval Institute Proceedings by
senior USN strategy and policy staff leaders. Admiral Mullen further described the
initiative in a December 2005 speech outlining the ‘Ten Principles’ of this new global
maritime network. With this background, an initial critical examination is provided
of the 1000-Ship Navy as a concept, and some critiques and concerns regarding this
general concept. The challenges and possible frameworks for its implementation are
also considered. We then highlight the specific views of the Royal Australian Navy
(RAN) leadership on the 1000-Ship Navy concept, and consider some relevant general
lessons for the concept from past and current USN-RAN naval cooperation, and note
potential RAN contributions in implementing this global maritime partnership.
Broader Context – USN Strategic Plans
Despite its distinct origins, the 1000-Ship Navy concept is closely related to a series of
four key strategic plans that together are designed to guide the USN way ahead in the
21st century. These four key plans provide the vision, tactics, resources and strategy
guidance for the USN.
‘Sea Power 21’. The USN’s overarching vision, which sets the ends and aligns its
efforts, is laid out in ‘Sea Power 21’. This document, which dates from October 2002,
articulates the navy’s capabilities in terms of the three naval warfighting pillars (Sea
Strike, Sea Shield and Sea Basing), with a fourth ForceNet pillar linking them, and also
outlines several supporting areas (Sea Trial, Sea Warrior, Sea Enterprise).
Naval Operations Concept (NOC). New in September 2006, this document is signed
by both the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and the Commandant of the Marine
Corps. It provides the tactical framework for application of maritime capabilities. In
the context of the five joint strategic missions in the US National Military Strategy
(Homeland Defence, War on Terror/Irregular Warfare, Conventional Campaigns,
Deterrence, and Shaping and Stability Operations), the NOC identifies thirteen Naval