Surface combatant

Surface combatants are non-submersible ships built to military standards whose primary purpose is to engage space, air, surface and submerged targets with weapons deployed from the ship itself, rather than by manned carried craft.^[1]

Surface combatants denotes a subset of naval fighting ships; generally speaking, they are ships built to fight other ships, submarines or aircraft, and can carry out several other missions including counter-narcotics operations and maritime interdiction.

Surface combatants include cruisers, destroyers, frigates and corvettes, and several outdated types including battleships and battlecruisers. They do not include aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, and mine hunters.

Naval warfare is divided into three operational areas: surface warfare, aerial warfare and submarine warfare

Missions

There are two divisions of surface combatant missions: ^[2]

• Battle Force Capability (BFC): defines ships capable of command of the sea and power projection:^{[1][nb 1]}
  • in a carrier battle group
  • as units of a Surface Action Group without a carrier.

• Protection of Shipping (POS): defines ships intended to protect:
  • traditional convoys
  • underway replenishment groups
  • amphibious warfare groups

Notes

1. ^ For discussion of command of the sea and power projection, see pages 7-8 of reference - Naval Transformational Roadmap.

References

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