Naval Tactics

Naval tactics and doctrine refer to the collective body of methods, principles, and practices used to engage and defeat enemy ships or naval fleets in battle at sea. They represent the maritime equivalent of land-based military tactics and operate at a level distinct from naval strategy. While naval strategy concerns the overarching plan for achieving victory in war and the large-scale movement and employment of fleets, naval tactics focus on the immediate conduct of battle, particularly the manoeuvres, deployments, and decisions made by commanders in the presence of the enemy. Naval doctrine provides the intellectual framework within which such tactics are developed, taught, and applied, shaping how navies expect to fight and win at sea.

Distinction Between Naval Strategy and Naval Tactics

The distinction between naval strategy and naval tactics is fundamental to understanding maritime warfare. Naval strategy addresses long-term objectives, theatres of operation, and the allocation of forces to secure advantages such as command of the sea or control of maritime communications. Naval tactics, by contrast, are concerned with how individual engagements are fought, including formations, weapon employment, timing, and coordination between platforms. Strategy determines where and why a battle is fought, while tactics determine how it is conducted.
In the modern era, this distinction has become increasingly pronounced due to the complexity of naval warfare, the speed of engagement, and the integration of multiple domains, including air, surface, subsurface, and space-based systems.

Evolution of Modern Naval Doctrine

Modern naval tactics and doctrine largely emerged after the Second World War, following the obsolescence of the battleship as the primary capital ship and the rise of aircraft carriers, submarines, and long-range guided missiles. Since there has been no sustained large-scale naval conflict between major powers since 1945, with the notable exceptions of the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971 and the Falklands War of 1982, much contemporary doctrine is based on theoretical planning scenarios rather than extensive combat experience.
During the Cold War, naval doctrine was heavily influenced by the expectation of a large-scale conflict between the United States and its NATO allies on one side and the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact on the other. Planning focused on fleet-on-fleet engagements in the open ocean, particularly involving carrier battle groups and massed missile attacks. Critics argue that the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent reduction in Russian naval capabilities rendered many of these scenarios obsolete, though others note that renewed naval investment by Russia and the expanding fleets of South and East Asian states may restore the relevance of conventional naval combat.

Battlespace and Situational Awareness

A central concept in Western naval tactical thought is battlespace. Battlespace refers to the zone around a naval force within which a commander is confident of detecting, tracking, engaging, and destroying threats before they can inflict damage. Control of battlespace depends on sensors, communications, intelligence, and weapon reach.
The open ocean provides the most favourable environment for battlespace control, allowing wide manoeuvre and long detection ranges. In contrast, littoral and coastal waters compress the battlespace due to land interference, complex topography, and civilian traffic. These factors limit manoeuvring options, increase the predictability of fleet movements, and complicate the detection of enemy forces. Shallow waters are particularly challenging for antisubmarine operations and mine countermeasures, increasing tactical risk.

Categories of Naval Warfare

Modern naval tactics and weapon systems are commonly categorised according to the type of threat they are designed to counter.

• Anti-Air Warfare (AAW): Involves defending naval forces against aircraft and incoming missiles. This includes long-range interception, point defence, and layered missile defence systems.
• Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW): Focuses on engaging enemy surface combatants using missiles, naval guns, aircraft, and electronic warfare.
• Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW): Concerns the detection, tracking, and destruction of enemy submarines using sonar, maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters, and torpedoes.

These warfare areas are highly interdependent, and modern naval operations require their integration into a unified tactical system.

Missile Warfare and Air Defence

The dominant threat in modern naval combat is the airborne cruise missile, which can be launched from aircraft, surface ships, submarines, or coastal installations. Such missiles may travel at high subsonic or supersonic speeds and are often designed to skim the sea surface, reducing detection time and complicating interception. Engagement windows may be measured in seconds.
A widely accepted principle of missile defence is that the most effective counter is to destroy the launch platform before it fires, thereby eliminating multiple missile threats simultaneously. When this is not possible, naval forces rely on layered air defence, balancing resources between long-range interception and close-in protection. Modern missile tactics typically involve fire-and-forget weapons, such as the Harpoon or Exocet, or over-the-horizon targeting systems such as the Tomahawk missile family.
Close-range defence depends heavily on close-in weapon systems (CIWS), including rapid-fire guns and short-range missiles designed to intercept incoming threats in their final approach. Despite these defences, most surface combatants can withstand only one or two modern missile strikes before being rendered ineffective, shaping doctrines that emphasise dispersion and redundancy.

Torpedoes and Subsurface Threats

Torpedoes present a similarly lethal threat, despite travelling at lower speeds than missiles. They are self-propelled, can be launched from surface ships, submarines, and aircraft, and employ a variety of homing technologies tailored to different targets. Compared to missile defence, there are fewer reliable means of intercepting incoming torpedoes, making avoidance and early detection critical.
Submarines, as covert launch platforms, pose one of the most serious challenges to surface fleets. Advances such as anechoic hull coatings and ultra-quiet propulsion systems have enhanced submarine stealth, particularly in littoral environments. Even the suspicion of a submarine presence can force a fleet to divert significant resources to ASW operations, as the consequences of undetected attack are potentially catastrophic. Historical experience, including the Falklands War and the Indo-Pakistani Naval War of 1971, demonstrates the disproportionate impact a single submarine can have on naval operations.

Power Projection and the Role of Aircraft Carriers

Beyond sea control and denial, naval forces provide a critical capability for military power projection. Aircraft carriers, in particular, have frequently been employed to support land operations rather than solely to establish air superiority over the sea. This role has been evident in numerous post-war conflicts, including the Gulf War, where carrier-based aircraft conducted sustained strike operations against land targets. This dual function has shaped naval doctrine, requiring carriers to be protected not only as fleet air defence assets but also as strategic instruments of national power.

Historical Evolution of Naval Tactics

Naval tactics have evolved continuously in response to technological change. In the ancient and medieval periods, tactics centred on boarding actions and ramming by oar-powered galleys, culminating in battles such as Lepanto in 1571. The rise of sailing warships in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to the development of the line of battle, emphasising broadside firepower and disciplined formations.
The nineteenth century introduced steam propulsion, ironclad armour, and explosive shells, requiring new tactical approaches. Mines, torpedoes, submarines, and aircraft in the early twentieth century further transformed naval combat, leading to specialised doctrines such as antisubmarine warfare and defensive camouflage. By the end of the Second World War, aircraft carriers and submarines had replaced battleships as the principal fleet units.