Anti-surface warfare

Anti-surface warfare can be divided into four categories based on the platform from which weapons are launched: Anti-ship missiles include the BrahMos, Harpoon, RBS-15, P-500 Bazalt, Penguin and Exocet.

Against this necessity of logistical and combat support, the Soviet Union expanded its submarine fleet, which in the event of hostilities may have been sufficient to deny the supply of material to the theatre.

As military strategists often design counter-strategies to meet the capabilities of the rival force, the West then responded with the construction of SOSUS lines to track Soviet submarines.

Exocet anti-ship missile strikes against the Royal Navy during the Falklands War even resulted in the adoption of 'Exocet' as a slang term for a 'sharp, devastating and surprising attack.'

Additionally modern communication and intelligence tools make carrier fleets harder to attack than in previous decades.

Fighters could cause huge casualties in a bomber force, but their comparatively low range and loiter time made it impossible to keep a constant combat air patrol over hundreds of miles of ocean.

The ability to bring real time intelligence from long range radars and satellite imaging to the fleet better allows fighters to be used against attackers in the air.

Most naval vessels today are equipped with long range anti-surface missiles[3] such as Brahmos, Harpoon and Exocet which are capable of crippling or destroying enemy ships with a single hit.

Even with surprise the flight time of such missiles is long enough for an enemy to return fire before being hit, making such an engagement extremely dangerous without some additional advantage.

Weapons such as the 5-inch Mark 45 gun remain in service to provide artillery support against land targets but also with a function against surface ships.

Equally, guns do not require a radar lock to fire, giving them utility against stealth vessels or those too small to be detected.

P-3 Orions or other ASW maritime patrol planes could deploy magnetic anomaly detectors or disposable sonobuoys, against which the concept of a submarine firing a SAM was generally considered a poor trade-off (the revelation of the submarine's location was not generally considered worth the possible hit on a single plane).

In the post-Cold War era, UAVs and asymmetric threats such as the suicide boat are adding additional complexity to the ASuW discipline.