Naval Training Center - Rudder Yearbook (Orlando, FL)

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THE UNITED STATES NAVY TODAY i The United States Navy is an instrument of sea power. Its basic mission is national security. By simplest definition, sea power is the sum at a nationls capabilities to implement its interests in the ocean, the Navy's operating environment. The Navy, therefore, is necessarily concerned with all at the nation's interests in that environment, with primary emphasis upon national defense. In the early 1950ls, Navy interest led to the adaptation of nuclear energy to a traditional instrument of sea power, the submarine. Today the nuclear powered submarine permits us to carry naval power to the farthest reaches of the oceans. And when missiles were being con- sidered for the delivery of nuclear warheads, the nuclear submarine was logically adapted to missile technology. The result was the Polaris weapon system-mobile, the most nearly invulnerable, and certainly the Iorward-most component of our nuclear deterrent forces. Today all potential targets in the world are within reach of Polaris missiles launched trom tleet ballistic missile submarines. In the early 1970ls, the Poseidon, a new generation of submarine-launched ballistic missiles will join the Ileet. But other nations possess large and modern submarines, many of them capable of launching missiles of various types. This calls Ior anti- submarine warfare tASWI. In the United States Navy, ASW is of the highest priority, second only to the Polaris program. Modern developments in anti-submarine warfare have led tor the first time to the adoption of a strategic offensive concept, that is, the detecting and contronting of enemy or potential enemy submarines where they are, rather than waiting Ior them to come to us. Surveillance Iorces are supported by new mobile weapons systems, including Iixed wing aircraft and helicopters Irom carriers, long range Iand-based patrol aircraft, nuclear attack submarines es- pecially configured Ior anti-submarine warlare, a new generation of es- cort ships, new sensors in the form of advanced sonars. and new ASW weapon systems of all types. To maintain the advantage that we have today requires continuing research and development. Perhaps the most striking development in naval power in the early part of this century was the aircraft carrier. As the nucleus of mobile striking forces, the attack aircraft carrier is capable oI launching strikes against land areas anywhere around the seas of the world. Concurrently with the development of the attack aircraft carrier, the Navy developed other modern air weapon systems for use by the NavylMarine Corps team. There is the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phan- tom II, a supersonic high performance lighter that is also capable of support as an attack aircraft. Other examples are the Grumman A-6 ln- truder, the Iirst attack aircraft capable at delivering large volumes of fire power with precision under all weather conditions, and the A-7 Corsair II, a new attack and close support aircratt. The Navy has also been a leader in the development at air- launched weapons, such as the Bullpup and Shrike air-to-ground mis- siles, and the Sparrow and the tamous Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The newest in fleet operation is the Walleye, a bomb guided by televi- sion which can hit targets with extreme accuracy and effectiveness. Also in development is the Phoenix system, an air-to-air missile system capable of destroying enemy aircraft at greater ranges than any ex- isting air-to-air guided weapon. Nuclear power has now been adapted to the surface fleet, and has brought with it most at the advantages proved in its application to sub- marines: greater speed at response; longer endurance on station; sustained high speed; and more freedom from shore-based support. Each major war generates new requirements Ior sea power. In World War II, the Navy and Marine Corps developed the amphibious assault Irom a crude operation to a relined ready instrument for assault from the sea. In 1950, the amphibious assault at lnchon, the decisive battle in the Korean War, again validated the Iundamental case for sea power.