ABSTRACT
The principal methods of combat employment aimed at weakening enemy naval forces over time are minor and major tactical actions at sea, subsurface, and in the air. Perhaps one of the most often used methods in disputing sea control is for a weaker side to carry out numerous tactical actions aimed at gradually weakening the stronger side at sea. A weaker but offensively minded side should carry out a series of actions at sea, subsurface, and in the air aimed at weakening the enemy’s naval forces over time. A weaker side can avoid costly attritional warfare by conducting strikes beyond the effective range of the enemy’s defenses. The performance of submarines in sinking enemy surface ships was even better in World War II. Land-based aircraft have many advantages over surface ships in attacking enemy surface combatants. Destruction and neutralization of the threat posed by enemy submarines is one of the most critical and yet most difficult and time-consuming tasks.
