Great Power Conflict and the SOF: MARITIME FORCES UPGRADING SURFACE VESSELS TO PREPARE FOR HIGH-CAPABILITY CONFLICT

摘要

In the United States, the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is one component command that finds itself in the middle of recapitalizing its surface fleet in line with such requirements emerging from the 2018 National Defense Strategy. Highlighting a series of emerging threats associated with the great power competition (which centers around competition with China, Iran, North Korea or Russia), the strategy demands a "magnitude improvement in the fighting lethality of the joint force" to "leverage the scale of operations to drive greater efficiency, utilizing maritime interdiction, insert/extract and visit, board, search and seize operations."