The United States and other nations dependent on maritime trade for prosperity often forget about the power of the sea mine to inflict significant strategic and operational level of war effects on opponents. While the U.S. Navy has occasionally built back its mine clearance forces since the end of World War II, its mining capability and that of the wider joint force has been rarely used since 1945.
In fact, the nation’s mine infrastructure is facing a historic nearly-40 plus year period of neglect and under-investment since the end of the Cold War. This decay also includes industrial capacity, explosives, training, infrastructure, ships and personnel..
Just a handful of facilities, including those run by Boeing and General Dynamics in the U.S., produce mines. Like other neglected elements of U.S. munitions production, these facilities produce few dozen mines per year, a completely insufficient number for large-scale mining in the Indo-Pacific and other regions.
Center for Maritime Strategy
Dr. Steven Wills
External Source: Defense Opinion
The United States and other nations dependent on maritime trade for prosperity often forget about the power of the sea mine to inflict significant strategic and operational level of war effects on opponents. While the U.S. Navy has occasionally built back its mine clearance forces since the end of World War II, its mining capability and that of the wider joint force has been rarely used since 1945.
In fact, the nation’s mine infrastructure is facing a historic nearly-40 plus year period of neglect and under-investment since the end of the Cold War. This decay also includes industrial capacity, explosives, training, infrastructure, ships and personnel..
Just a handful of facilities, including those run by Boeing and General Dynamics in the U.S., produce mines. Like other neglected elements of U.S. munitions production, these facilities produce few dozen mines per year, a completely insufficient number for large-scale mining in the Indo-Pacific and other regions.
The full article is available at Defense Opinion
Dr. Steven Wills, Navalist