The ninth biennial RAN Sea Power Conference was held on Glebe Island in Sydney over 6-8 October 2015, examining issues associated with the future of sea power.
As a simple observation, the future of sea power is influenced by myriad factors that will impact on the possible role of navies, the capabilities required by navies, and the technologies that might be used by navies.
Some of these factors include current and emerging security challenges and appropriate responses to them, including cooperative regional mechanisms and the processes for how navies actually cooperate at sea, as well as the fundamental restructuring of some navies and new operational concepts to meets the requirements of their governments.
Major advances in relevant technologies are having a major impact on naval forces and how they might conduct future operations. Importantly these advances extend beyond weapons and sensors to information technology and the impact they may have on all aspects of shipborne operations and warfighting.
An oft forgotten factor is not only a state's thinking on or about sea power issues but more importantly, whether there exists within that state a maritime culture and identity that is the bedrock of creating sea power.
This volume includes some of the presentations delivered at the conference and is a mix of academic papers and the views of expert practitioners in various fields. As with all conferences and published proceedings, no claim is made to a comprehensive coverage of the issues, rather a selection of topics to fuel further thought.
