One scenario that was the focus of American and NATO naval planning during the Cold War was a conflict between two modern and well equipped fleets on the high seas, the clash of the United States/NATO and the Soviet Union/ Warsaw Pact. In shallow waters, the detection of submarines and mines is especially problematic. The presence of land and the topography of an area compress the battlespace, limit the opportunities to maneuver, make it easier for an enemy to predict the location of the fleet, and make the detection of enemy forces more difficult. The open sea provides the most favorable battlespace for a surface fleet. As in all forms of warfare, a critical objective is to detect the enemy while avoiding detection.

JSTOR ( July 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī central concept in Western modern naval fleet warfare is battlespace: a zone around a naval force within which a commander is confident of detecting, tracking, engaging and destroying threats before they pose a danger.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. Critics argue that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent reduction in the size and capabilities of the Russian Navy renders most such fleet-on-fleet scenarios obsolete. Since there has been no major naval conflict since World War II, apart from the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971 and the Falklands War, many of these doctrines reflect scenarios developed for planning purposes.

Modern naval tactics are based on tactical doctrines developed after World War II, following the obsolescence of the battleship and the development of long-range missiles. Naval strategy concerns the overall strategy for achieving victory and the large movements by which a commandant or commander secures the advantage of fighting at a place convenient to himself.

Naval tactics are concerned with the movements a commander makes in battle, typically in the presence of the enemy. Naval tactics are distinct from naval strategy. Naval tactics and doctrine is the collective name for methods of engaging and defeating an enemy ship or fleet in battle at sea during naval warfare, the naval equivalent of military tactics on land. Kennedy, HNLMS Van Amstel and Luigi Durand de la Penne Stennis, Charles de Gaulle, Surcouf USS Port Royal, HMS Ocean, USS John F. In four descending columns, from the top left to the bottom right: Maestrale, De Grasse USS John C. A five-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea.

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