Naval tactics play a crucial role in modern battles and wars. The presence of land, changing water depths, weather, detection and

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

, the speed at which actual combat occurs and other factors – especially air power – have rendered naval tactics essential to the success of any naval force. The basis of all tactics (land, sea and air) is ''fire and movement'': the fulfillment of a mission by the effective delivery of firepower resulting from scouting and the creation of good firing positions. Movement is the basis of modern combat; a naval fleet can travel hundreds of nautical miles in a day. In

naval warfare Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large l ...

, the key is to detect the enemy while avoiding detection. A crucial part is to deny the detection of friendly forces through various means. There is also the concept of ''

battlespace Battlespace or battle-space is a term used to signify a unified military strategy to integrate and combine armed forces for the military theatre of operations, including air, information, land, sea, cyber and outer space to achieve mi ...

'': a zone around a naval force within which a commander is confident of detecting, tracking, engaging and destroying threats before they pose a danger. This is why a navy prefers the open sea. The presence of land and the bottom topology of an area compresses the battle space, limits the opportunities and ability to maneuver, allows an enemy to predict the location of the fleet, and hinders the detection of enemy forces. In shallow waters, the detection of submarines and mines is especially problematic. One scenario that was the focus of American naval planning during the Cold War was a conflict between two modern and well equipped fleets on the high seas; a battle between the fleets of the United States and the Soviet Union. The main consideration is for

Carrier Battle Groups A carrier battle group (CVBG) is a naval fleet consisting of an aircraft carrier capital ship and its large number of escorts, together defining the group. The ''CV'' in ''CVBG'' is the United States Navy hull classification code for an airc ...

(CVBGs).

Order of engagement

Once a commander has considered the geography of a mission, he examines the assets the enemy is believed to have available – the enemy's

order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed ...

(OOB); what friendly units are needed to succeed at the mission objective; and the added constraints placed by mission requirements (time etc.). This produces a ''path of intended motion'' (PIM) for the friendly forces – not the route, but the direction in which the force is heading at any time and so the area which must be checked and passed through. As enemy forces are encountered and identified, they are categorized by potency and immediacy and the friendly OOB altered to reflect this. There are four threat classes: A, B, C and D. * Class A is Potent and Immediate; this is a need to drop everything and respond immediately. This might be a group of sea-skimming

missile In military terminology, a missile is a missile guidance, guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously ...

s racing towards a capital ship, or something as powerless as a

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

– that is radioing the fleet's position to a more distant enemy. * Class B is Immediate only; this requires fast action but does not threaten the mission; for example, a small boat detected in the

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