ARRC JOURNAL
MARITIME SUPPORT TO
DEEP OPERATIONS
Lieutenant Scott Sabin, Royal Navy
“Since men live upon the land and not upon the sea, great issues between nations
at war have always been decided - either by what your army can do against your enemy...
or else by the fear of what the fleet makes it possible for your army to do.”
Sir Julian Stafford Corbett
As water covers 70 per cent of the
world’s surface, it stands to reason
that 90 per cent of the world’s trade is
carried by ships, 80 per cent of the
world’s population lives within 100 miles
of the sea and more than 70 per cent
of the world’s megacities (>8 Million
inhabitants) are located within coastal
regions. These figures speak volumes
and highlight how reliant we, as nation-
states, are upon the sea. With that in
mind, this essay will touch on a number
of maritime capabilities that are able
to support forces ashore, in particular
focussing on how maritime capabilities
can affect the land component’s deep
operations.
Freedom of Navigation
The utility of maritime
power is in its freedom
of navigation. Able to
move more than 300
nautical miles per
day, a carrier strike
group (CSG), with its
embarked air wing
for example, offers
a uniquely mobile,
flexible, reconfigurable
and truly independent
platform for sustained
operations, able to
reach well beyond the
horizon and strike into
the deep.
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The aircraft carrier, through its ability to
project tactical air power, independent
of access, basing and overflight rights,
endures as an essential force multiplier in
an era of expeditionary operations where
host nation support may be unavailable
or comes with significant political and/or
military constraints and risks attached.
With the increase in anti-access, area
denial (A2AD) weapons, countries are
trying to push the envelope of what they
can control or deny to their adversary,
especially within the air and maritime
spheres. At sea however, this only delays,
rather than prevents, a maritime task
force the freedom of entering a region. A
task group is generally afforded its own
integral area air defence (AD) capability
A coalition carrier strike group. Pictured here are the USS John C Stennis,
Charles de Gaulle (French Navy), USS John F Kennedy and HMS Ocean.
ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS
and a single ship or smaller task group
can often hide within the clutter of the
congested waterways where A2AD
systems are arguably less effective.
Once the risk is considered tolerable,
commanders can exploit this tactical
flexibility to great effect, maintaining
a force presence and freedom of
navigation, whilst extending its reach into
the enemy’s area of operation (AOR).
Deep Strike
The embarked air wing of an aircraft
carrier can be tailored to offer a full range
of capabilities. Today’s US Navy air wing,
which forms the core of NATO’s follow-
on forces (FFG), typically numbers 60
aircraft and comprises a mix of warfare
capabilities that can have an effect on
deep operations including long-range
airborne early warning and control, air
defence, deep strike, reconnaissance
and electronic attack. The task group also
typically includes a ship-launched land
attack capability, whether that is direct
fire used to suppress enemy coastal
batteries, such as tactical land-attack
missiles or naval gunfire, and the use of
long-range Land Attack Cruise Missiles
(LACM), such as the Tomahawk, which
was most recently used in Syria by the
United States in 2017.