Counterinsurgency absorbed defense attention after the Cold War while less fashionable capabilities such as ocean surveillance received less investment. The United States could preserve more of this work because its larger budget kept specialist systems alive even when they were not the priority. Smaller allies then faced a choice between rebuilding expensive research and infrastructure or buying into American systems. A fleet may possess nominal wartime sensors and weapons while lacking the redundant shore stations, trained organizations, and institutional readiness needed to use them under attack.
Notable Point · 1:14:08-1:16:55
The post-counterinsurgency ASW infrastructure gap
Years of counterinsurgency priorities left many allies dependent on American undersea-surveillance systems and short of resilient wartime infrastructure.