Russia retained nominal amphibious capacity but lacked the deployable force needed to protect and sustain it against a prepared Ukraine. That gap answers claims that submarines make surface fleets obsolete. Submarines are powerful ambush platforms, but they cannot provide the visible, cooperative layers of air defense required by vulnerable transport and aviation ships. Surface combatants derive much of their value from operating as a mutually supporting group rather than as isolated hulls.
Notable Point · 1:01:21-1:03:42
Surface escorts make power projection possible
Submarines cannot replace the surface ships that protect carriers, amphibious vessels, and merchant shipping with layered defenses.