Diesel Submarines: The Best Weapon against China's Rising Naval Power?
The U.S. Navy can turn technical shortcomings into a strategic and political advantage.
The MITRE proposal, then, deserves a fair hearing—not denunciation. Every ship in a global navy need not be a globe-spanning ship. Diesel submarines are an option for the future U.S. Navy. Whether to exercise that option is the question before Congress and the navy.
James Holmes is Professor of Strategy at the Naval War College and coauthor of Red Star over the Pacific. The views voiced here are his alone.
This article first appeared in 2017 and is being republished due to reader interest.