Anti-submarine warfare cannot be wished away

The Oliver Hazard Perry-to-LCS transition illustrates a belief that surface-ship anti-submarine warfare had become less important. Some planners expected submarines and helicopters to carry the mission because a peer war at sea seemed unlikely. This was a contemporary current of thought, rather than a view shared by the entire US Navy. The enemy still gets a vote, and submarines offer a weaker power a form of guerrilla warfare at sea that concentrates offensive effect while limiting exposure. A fleet that discards a mission because it seems dated may expose precisely the gap an adversary can exploit.