A balanced fleet must solve simultaneous tasks

Gorshkov's monofleet thesis begins from the universality of naval demands: one service may have to perform many different tasks in several environments. It therefore requires specialized submarines, multipurpose surface ships, aircraft, marines, shore missile forces, and varied means of supply. Balance is not equal numbers of every type, but the quantitative mix needed to form independent or joint groups able to overcome opposition. The force must be sized for the least favorable plausible combination of demands rather than for a convenient single mission. Its defining test is whether those tasks can be performed simultaneously instead of one after another.