The nature of naval warfare has always been dynamic, evolving with technological advancements and changing strategic priorities. The trend in historical perspective has always been toward the building of larger and more powerful ships, culminating in the colossal battleships of World War II. However, does this trend in the modern battlefield question the wisdom of putting such large surface combatants in harm’s way?
The substitution of aircraft carriers for battleships surely counts as military strategic change, one of the most drastic. The carriers form the core of great naval fleets, flanked by cruisers and destroyers. Recently, with the new threats, from drones to hyper-advanced missile swarms, larger vessels are increasingly put into question. The recent success of Ukraine in neutralizing Russia’s Navy flagship in the Black Sea accents how large ships can be easily targeted in contemporary conflicts.
The proliferation of both surface- and air-launched drones creates a very serious threat to the large surface combatant. Drones are inexpensive, hard to find, and can be launched in swarms that saturate traditional defensive systems. The attack this year by Ukraine, using sea drones against a Russian patrol ship, demonstrated how powerful those systems can be.
Moreover, as of now, contemporary navies have had no occasion to face an enemy that would be capable of shooting off numerous missiles at a time. Just in the latest raid, entailing over 300 drones and missiles, the threat was obvious. A missile attack launched on a naval fleet in concert, could easily overpower its defensive capabilities.
The Russian experience in the Black Sea only further personifies this diminishing utility of large surface ships. Whereas Ukraine has no navy to speak of, it has managed to sink or disable one-third of the Russian Black Sea fleet. This has left the fleet with nothing to offer to the war effort and demonstrated how vulnerable big ships are in today’s warfare.
That the Iowa-class battleships, perhaps the only peerless heroic class in terms of historical value that has ever existed and which served throughout World War II and most conflicts until the Gulf War, attests to how naval warfare changed. These immense ships of over 58,000 tons represented a compromise: the speed over protection would allow them to maintain tempo in naval maneuvers with the fast carrier task forces. Their vulnerability to torpedoes, even by 1940s standards, underscored the limitations of large surface combatants.
It has even been said that the battleship, with the benefit of modern technology, would reintroduce heavily armored ships able to sustain numerous attacks of anti-ship missiles. Indeed, advances in shell technology, like guided smart shells, could find battleships an effective fighting force once again. Yet, doing so would be complex, with requirements for air cover and the changing threat from the naval environment.
As the nature of naval warfare becomes increasingly changed, the strategic value of large surface combatants is being reassessed. The rise of drones, advanced missile technology, and change-like threats hint that the era of big powerhouse warships may be sailing into history.