At a time when many are talking about possible China-U.S. naval conflict as part of their strategic rivalry, this path-breaking volume offers an alternative approach.
The 1980s have ushered in a new era for the US. Navy. Despite projectionssa that the number of ships it had at the start of the decade would decline, the total is increasing, and the Navy is predicting that it will reach its long-sought goal of a 600-ship Navy by 1990.
It is a great honour to be here today to open the royal Australian Navy sea power conference, the international maritime conference, and the pacific 2008 maritime expotition.
The present evolution of naval technologies seems to favor the theory that, for all navies, the era of big surface ships and even big submarines might be nearing its end, in favor of smaller, faster, more numerous and more flexible platforms and the blurring ot the civil-military distinction in the oceans.