By Bill Stubs - The Heritage Foundation - May 17, 2005

The likelihood of major combat operations at sea has diminished significantly for the next two to three decades. In its place, maritime security operations against numerous non-military, non-traditional, asymmetric threats—terrorists, criminals, pirates, smugglers, and assorted miscreants—are highly likely. These threats must be defeated, preferably at their origin, or well before they reach America’s shores. This new national security environment places much greater emphasis on maritime security or constabulary operations for the purpose of “good order and discipline” at sea.

The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard are among the federal agencies addressing these threats to America’s maritime security. The Navy will conduct increased global maritime security operations in regional coop­erative agreements, primarily against the terrorist threat, while still addressing military threats from hos­tile nation-states as well as warfighting and deterrence responsibilities for dissuasion, contested access, and power projection[1] purposes. The Coast Guard will concentrate on maritime security operations against terrorist and criminal threats in America’s maritime domain while still addressing its responsibilities for maritime safety, mobility, protection of natural resources, and national defense.

Current Coast Guard maritime security capabilities are a unique blend of military and constabulary means, and its capabilities for terrorist and civilian threats are one and the same, whereas current Navy mari­time security capabilities are purely military and do not address civilian threats since, by policy and cus­tom, the Navy does not have the authority to enforce U.S. law.[2] However, both the Navy and Coast Guard must be able to detect, intercept, and board ships in the ocean expanses as well as the lit­toral. They both need to conduct, at long range and for long periods of time, single-ship interdiction, escort, presence, surveillance, patrol, peacekeeping, international engagement, and other low-level sea-control/denial missions. Navy and Coast Guard ships conducting maritime security duties need speed, endurance, and sea-keeping for multiple small boat and helicopter operations; self-sufficien­cy for independent operations, broad area coverage, and rapid reaction; and adequate C4ISR (Com­mand, Control, Communications, Computer, Intel­ligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) and combat systems.

Despite great commonality in how both services conduct maritime security operations, the Navy and Coast Guard are headed in different directions to provide this capability. The Navy plans to adapt its sophisticated warship, the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), and the Coast Guard is building purposely designed maritime security ships. In an era that plac­es great emphasis on inter-service “jointness” as dem­onstrated by the Joint Strike Fighter Program, along with the very real reality of austere defense procure­ment budgets, the nation can no longer afford this bifurcated approach to its maritime security.

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Blog Tags: Antiterrorism, Counterterrorism, Force Protection, Homeland Security, Maritime Security, Port Security