The recurring cycle between naval offence and defence

The Maginot Line and the First World War combination of artillery, barbed wire, and machine guns provide the historical comparison. Each seemed to show that defence had become dominant, yet attackers developed ways to break or bypass it. Missile and drone swarms may be another phase in the same cycle. Shipboard lasers could eventually defeat incoming weapons cheaply enough to free vertical-launch cells for offensive missiles. Attackers would then pursue smarter or better-shielded missiles, while defenders might restore surface-to-air missiles or adopt railguns if their energy and materials problems are solved. The balance between naval offence and defence should therefore be treated as temporary.