COMMENT & DISCUSSION

摘要

Commander Phillip E. Pournelle, U.S. Navy-Admirals Rowden, Gumataotao, and Fanta present a way for the surface-warfare community to step out of the defensive crouch it has been in since World War II and provide the Fleet with the opportunity to be more lethal, relevant, and resilient. For this they should be commended. However, there is a glaring omission. In the vignette contained in their article the hunter-killer surface action group (SAG) would be unable to continue to do its mission for long, particularly against a near-peer competitor. The SAG would quickly run out of ordnance and have to retire from the theater to reload, as we can expect enemy anti-access/area-denial capabilities to render fixed bases unusable. To keep SAGs in the fight, we must provide the ability to reload the vertical-launch cells at sea or austere anchorages in theater. This capability is within our grasp if we choose to pursue it.