Sea Control

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Daniel R. Post and U.S. Army Capt. Noël Bartley

Traditionally, the United States Army has focused on land-based operations, with its role in maritime contexts largely limited to support functions. This is, of course, what armies are designed to do. However, changing geopolitical dynamics and evolving threats, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, necessitate a broader operational scope and a reevaluation of the Army’s role in sea control.

Sea control, defined by U.S. Naval War College professor Milan Vego as “the ability to use a given part of a body of water and its associated air space for military and nonmilitary purposes in time of open hostilities,” is crucial for national security. It involves projection and sustainment of combat power and the safeguarding of vital sea lines of communication (SLOC). Sea control is now required for many missions and tasks that the Army performs. The Army, therefore, should take a much more prominent and organic approach to sea control. The Army’s capabilities and technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems support this approach. By investing in AI and automated platforms for maritime operations, the Army can enhance its joint warfighting capabilities and improve national security, operational effectiveness and strategic flexibility.

Geopolitical context 

The Indo-Pacific has become a focal point of geopolitical tensions, with the self-governed island of Taiwan at the center of potential conflict scenarios. China threatens to annex Taiwan by force and Beijing threatens the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait with its increased illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive activities. A key concern is the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) willingness and ability to threaten the global economy by potentially limiting access to critical trade markets.

In addition to the perils in the Taiwan Strait, Iran’s advancements in maritime capabilities, including outfitting its naval ships with advanced missile systems, threaten critical choke points for energy resources and international commerce. These threats pose significant risk to the U.S. and its Allies and Partners, which rely heavily on trade partners and protected shipping routes to facilitate more than $5.6 trillion in annual international commerce.

Authoritarian regimes are investing to shape the maritime economic environment in ways that defy U.S. and partner nation objectives. Given the increasing maritime capabilities of potential adversaries, particularly China, U.S. Army sea control capabilities can significantly enhance regional stability and deterrence through a multidomain approach that integrates maritime strategy, operational fires and tactical maneuvers.

The U.S. recognizes vulnerabilities and is mitigating them. For example, the U.S. military has stockpiled equipment throughout the Indo-Pacific. This includes 330 vehicles and trailers, and 130 containers in warehouses, ready to supply over 500 Soldiers, Reuters reported. This highlights the need for innovative solutions and effective joint operations. Also, the Army notes it is “dependent upon other services for the protection of people, equipment, and supplies in transit.”

Shifting the Army’s strategy toward maritime operations would strengthen logistics and provide a distributed fire, counterfire and maneuver architecture ready to deny aggression and more viably support the Joint Force. The Army’s expertise in logistics, coupled with advancements in AI and autonomous systems, positions it to address this challenge. By enhancing its role in sea control, the Army can provide critical support to securing SLOCs, thereby bolstering security. 

Mobile capabilities

Responding to maritime threats requires “highly mobile capabilities that mass effects against enemy forces quickly,” according to the U.S. Army. In 2022, the Army introduced the Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) to replace the Vietnam War-era Landing Craft Mechanized-8. The new vessel transports equipment and supplies in littoral environments and can maneuver in diverse conditions at more than 20 knots (about 37 kilometers) per hour, more than twice as fast as its predecessor. The watercraft is the first in a series of modernized vessels. Integrating these and other crewed capabilities with new AI weaponry and logistical assets offers a multifaceted approach to enhancing operational effectiveness. AI and uncrewed, or minimally crewed, systems can enhance capabilities in logistics and resupply; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); and firepower and precision strikes. 

Logistics and resupply: AI can streamline asset management, quickly identifying needs and using machine learning to predict requirements. In the commercial sector, for example, AI is enhancing warehouse and supply chain management functions to keep pace with fulfillment needs. 

Also, uncrewed logistics systems such as the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply System, which can transport supplies between ships and shore-based units, reduce the need for crewed convoys. By using watercraft as mobile supply hubs, the Army can establish distributed and resilient supply networks that are more difficult for adversaries to disrupt.

ISR: Many militaries use uncrewed, AI-enhanced systems for ISR-related tasks, including to analyze and interpret vast amounts of data much faster than humans could. While these systems still require human operators, maintenance support and management, they minimize the risk to warfighters by allowing them to operate from more heavily defended or supported positions. Using watercraft as command and control hubs that receive data from AI-driven systems allows the Army to disseminate actionable intelligence to joint and allied forces. Uncrewed aerial, surface and underwater vehicles can perform surveillance and reconnaissance, detecting and identifying threats in high-risk environments, reducing human intervention. Watercraft capabilities can deploy and recover these assets, extending mission range and duration. Collected data can be analyzed and distributed to command nodes, as well as be used to locate and destroy targets.  

Firepower and precision strikes: AI and machine learning can significantly enhance precision strikes by processing data from sensors and communications systems to aid decision-making. These assets help the Army to rapidly determine when, where and how to engage targets. 

The autonomous loitering and target acquisition capabilities of Switchblade 600 and Warmate drones provide tactical advantages, according to experts at the December 2023 Army Technical Exchange Meeting 9 in Tennessee. In Ukraine, AI is used to integrate target and object recognition with satellite imagery and to geolocate and analyze open-source data, facilitating the rapid identification of Russian soldiers, weapons, systems, units and their movements. These capabilities, along with other long-range precision fires, can be operated from watercraft to provide the U.S. Army with more flexible and rapid response options. They also allow for coordinated strikes from multiple domains, increasing the effectiveness of offensive operations.

The relative cost-effectiveness of AI-enhanced platforms makes them feasible for expanding the Army’s maritime role. The long-term benefits to operational capabilities and risk reduction justify the investment.  Under Project Convergence, its flagship modernization campaign, the U.S. Army is experimenting with long-range fires, drones, autonomous fighting vehicles, next-generation sensors and other technologies to enhance Joint Force capabilities. 

Historical precedents

Today’s Army can draw from history to conceptualize and embrace a new approach to sea control. 

Sea control during the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War was decisive in Imperial Japan’s victory, allowing it to ensure logistical support, isolate Russian forces, win naval battles and conduct effective amphibious operations. This gave Japan the ability to sustain land operations by moving troops efficiently, concentrating ground forces at key points.

The war set a precedent for future conflict. To the extent that the Army can secure SLOCs, especially over relatively short distances, such as between tightly packed island chains or land-based positions separated by small or regional bodies of water, it can contribute more efficiently to the Joint Force. In essence, the Army becomes a force provider rather than a receiver of sea control services. 

World War II operations such as the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, demonstrated the U.S. Army’s capability to conduct large-scale amphibious assaults and sustain operations in contested maritime environments. The invasion on June 6, 1944, was the largest amphibious assault in history and a turning point in the war. The U.S. Army was vital in planning and executing the invasion, which combined the forces of more than 156,000 Allied troops with about 7,000 ships and landing vessels. 

The U.S. Army and Navy cooperated to transport forces and employed air and naval power to create the conditions required for troop landings. The operation secured control of the English Channel and facilitated the rapid buildup of Allied forces in Europe, leading to the liberation of France and the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany.  

Such examples show the importance of sea control in enabling land operations. A more prominent role for the U.S. Army in the sea control mission will aid the Joint Force in providing logistical support, securing SLOCs and ensuring freedom of movement. Ultimately, that enables the deployment and provision of ground troops. The strategic, operational and technological advantages are clear. In modern warfare, distinctions among land, sea and air domains are increasingly blurred, with success in one often depending on control and influence in the others. By embracing its role in sea control, the Army can ensure that its land operations are supported by robust maritime capabilities, enhancing overall Joint Force effectiveness. 

  This will not dilute the Army’s focus on land operations; rather, it recognizes that control of the seas is integral to success on land. By securing vital SLOCs, supporting amphibious operations and providing a distributed fire and maneuver capability, the Army can better ensure the success of joint operations. This in turn improves the Army’s operational flexibility and provides additional layers of security and deterrence in strategically vital regions such as the Indo-Pacific. This holistic approach is essential in an era where global threats are interconnected and all-domain operations are the norm.