AMPHIBIOUS FORCES

New amphibious concepts are re-shaping marine forces to break the A2AD defensive line.

- Tim Fish

Amphibious warfare has existed as a pillar of western military strategy since World War II, particularly after the experience of the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) in the island-hopping campaigns in the Pacific. New concepts that have emerged and are currently under development will put amphibious forces at the center of how the Western powers will meet emerging security threats not just in the grey zone under the threshold of war but in high intensity conflict as well.

Commentators have long predicted the demise of amphibious warfare with the advent of new technologies and weapons that can threaten and neutralise landing operations in the littoral, but amphibious forces have always been adaptable and remain relevant.

The recent adoption of Anti-Access Area Denial (A2AD) tactics and weapons by Russia and China are attempting to neutralize the threat an amphibious force presents. The introduction of long-range anti-ship missiles and sensors, unmanned systems, hypersonic missiles to add to existing air, land, surface and underwater defenses makes a largescale amphibious landing against a well-defended coastline an extremely difficult proposition.

To this extent the commentators were right, but a large-scale beach assault such as the invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord) in France on 6 June 1944 are what many observers still associate with an amphibious attack. However, today’s amphibious forces are extremely flexible and can be utilized for a variety of missions including different kinds of assault (the Falkland Islands in 1982), raids, withdrawals, demonstrations, and actions to support to other operations. Variations of these kinds of operations have been present throughout history.