Whether it is the intelligence community, the military, industry, or just individuals attempting to get some notion of what the future holds, extrapolating current trends to determine likely outcomes in years “downstream” is both a science and an art and one that is absolutely essential to stay one step ahead of any current – or future – adversaries. This is the work of military and intelligence analysts and is more essential today than ever before.
One such concept, the Navy-Air Force AirSea Battle Concept (ASBC), emerged well “under the radar,” in a small study by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). Released without fanfare by an American think tank, it was “merely” one of hundreds of such studies that emerge every year. However, we found it prescient in looking towards the future of conflict for the U.S. Armed Forces.
The Navy-Air Force AirSea Battle Concept (ASBC), modeled after the Army-Air Force Air Land Battle Doctrine of a previous generation, has been heralded by some as the answer to compelling strategic and operational challenges facing the U.S. military today. But is this really a new strategy? And old or new, will it help the United States deal with compelling world-wide issues?
Understanding where we have been may provide insight into where we can go and what we can accomplish with this concept. It may also prepare the Navy and Air Force for some of the likely as well as unintended consequences this concept may create.
We addressed this emerging Navy-Air Force AirSea Battle Concept, in the August 2010 issue of the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings in our article “What’s New about the AirSea Battle Concept,” as one of the first open-source literature reports on this important, emerging concept. Since then, ASBC has “caught fire” and has become an important organizing impulse for not only the Navy and the Air Force, but also for all of DoD and the National Security Strategy of the United States. Read our full article in the attached .PDF below.
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