Their primary purpose is to engage space, air, surface, and submerged targets with weapons deployed from the ship itself, rather than by crewed carried craft.
In smaller surface action groups (i.e. a single or a few task elements, such as a lone Aegis-equipped destroyer or cruisers on patrol), the same combatant commander may be responsible for managing all three areas as part of his duty in carrying out his vessel's mission, while larger formations such as a carrier strike group may have an individual commander in charge of each separate warfare element.
[citation needed] Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is an important role for surface combatants, as submarines present a serious threat to navies and civilian vessels.
Many surface combatants carry weapons and sensors to engage submarines, but increasingly an on-board helicopter is used as the primary anti-submarine asset.
Land attack takes two main forms: In the United States Navy, there are two divisions of surface combatant missions:[2]