7th
Distributed Lethality and Sea Control: “It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again”
June 2017
By Captain R. Robinson Harris, USN (Ret.) and Andrew Kerr
As the inimitable Yogi Berra said, “It’s déjà vu all over again!”
In August 1981 then Rear Admiral Robert Walters and then Lieutentant Commander Robby Harris published “Combat Systems to Meet the Threat” in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings. The Cold War was raging, and many thought that the Soviet Navy was at least the equal of the U. S. Navy, if not its superior. Walters and Harris were assigned to Cruiser Destroyer Group Eight (today’s Carrier Strike Group Eight), were engaged in work-ups for a Sixth Fleet deployment and very much aware of the challenges the Soviet Navy presented. Upon reflection, Walters’ and Harris’ 1981 concerns regarding the Soviet Navy are starkly like the challenges our Navy faces today with respect to capabilities possessed by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and others.
In 1981 Walters and Harris characterized the Soviet threat:
https://blog.usni.org/2017/06/07/distributed-lethality-and-sea-control-its-deja-vu-all-over-again
