Page 43 - NAVAL SCIENCE 3 TEXTBOOK

48 NAVAL KNOWLEDGE

There are four principal objectives for amphibious operations: Information Warfare
To capture territory from which a land campaign can be The gathering, transmission, storage, processing, and accessing
launched and supported (it may be to outflank and surprise, of information has always been of concern to war fighters, and is
or to gain a base for forward movement of forces) critical to success in modern warfare. Information wn/fare, some-
To capture a land area from which air operations can be times called information opemtions, is any action taken to nega-
launched and supported tively affect the information or information processing capabilities
of an enemy, safeguard our own information, or exploit that infor-
To prevent enemy use of selected territory or facilities
mation militarily. It includes such things as electronic warfare, psy-
To destroy enemy facilities, interrupt their communications,
chological warfare operations, military deception, computer net-
and cause them to spread their forces to try to respond to
work defense, and operations security.
amphibious raids
In order to provide timely processing of information at aU lev-
The amphibious operation is highly useful because of its els, the Navy is currently implementing a revolutionary new com-
mobility and flexibility. In other words, it has the ability to concen- mand, control, communications, computers, and intelligence
trate forces and to stril<e with great strength at selected points. It (C4I) network called ForceNet. When fully implemented, it will
exploits the element of surprise. At the right time, it can stril<e revolutionize the way in which naval operations are conducted.
where the enemy is known to be weak. In fact, the mere threat of Based on cutting-edge information and communication tech-
an amphibious assault may be sufficient to cause the enemy to dis- nology, ForceNet will use a common database instantly accessible
perse his forces and make expensive and wasteful efforts to defend from land, sea, and air to provide real-time access to all infor-
a long coastline. The amphibious strikillg forces of the United mation required for the conduct of naval operations. It will Link
States normally consist primarily of Navy and Marine Corps forces together not only all U.S. forces involved in these operations, but
but may include personnel and equipment from every service. also any allied forces as well.

Space Warfare

The use of space-based communications, intelligence, and naviga-
tion systems has become increasingly important to the Navy. Naval
aviators were among the first selected for astronaut training, and
they served as crew members on many of the early space explora-
tion missions, as well as in the space shuttle program. Navy navi-
gation satellites have been providing global all-weather position-
ing information to both military and civilian users since the 1960s,
and communications satellites have been a mainstay of the Navy
communications system for many years.
Space satellite systems playa key role in Linking widely dis-
persed forward deployed naval forces with each other, the support-
ing shore establishment, forces of other services and other nations,
and government and nongovernment agencies. They have become
indispensable tools in the command and control of naval forces.
Today's naval forces are one of the DOD's largest users of space
systems, relying on space support for most ship-to-shore commu-
nications, precision navigation, combat information and intelli-
gence, and weather forecasting.
Space systems provide a unique capability to collect and dis-
seminate large volumes of information. They can provide sustained,
covert surveillance of the battlespace to allow timely indications
and warning of hostile actions. They can detect, classify, and iden-
tify high-interest targets and can help in assessing battle damage.
They can provide highly accurate positional data to aid navigation,
Marines practice a fast rope-out egress from a hovering V-22 Osprey weapons direction, mapping and charting, and search and rescue.
aircraft. Such aircraft provide the Marine Corps with a quick-strike
capability far inland during an amphibious operation. (Lana Waters) Finally, they can tie together naval, joint, and multinational forces