Anti-surface warfare, or ASUW (sometimes ASuW or less commonly, anti-surface warfare) is a type of naval warfare directed against surface ships. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's surface ships.
Broadly speaking, ASUW can be divided into four categories:
- Air (or aviation) — Anti-surface warfare conducted by aircraft. Historically, this was conducting primarily through bombing and strafing runs (and in some cases by suicide (Kamikaze) attack). Today, air ASUW is generally conducted by stand-off attacks using air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) or air-to-surface missiles (ASM).
- Surface — Anti-surface warfare conducted by warships. Warships can use torpedoes, guns, surface-to-surface missiles, or even mines.
- Submarine — Anti-surface warfare conducted by submarines. historically, this was conducted using deck guns and torpedoes. More recently, the submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) (or, more commonly, Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM)) has become a preferred weapon.
- Shore — Historically, this refers to shore bombardment from artillery and cannon. Today, coastal-launched cruise missiles are considerably more common.
Some weapons used in ASUW include:
- Missiles, such as the Harpoon, RBS15, SS-N-12 Sandbox and Exocet
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