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| An AV-8A Harrier of the "Ace of Spades" of Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 231 operates from the flight deck of the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA 42) steaming in the Mediterranean Sea on November 9, 1976, thirty-seven years ago today. |
I wonder.
From talking to and reading about the situation at sea at the height of the Cold War, I get the impression that events just short of war were taking place on a daily basis. Quite honestly a few times warfare occurred but both sides chose not to call it that.
If we assume the same type of posture with China will our naval forces hold up? I don't know.
Oh yes you are so right. I think it is even more surprising how much snooping and down right naughty behaviour went on, still goes on, between allies at sea out of sight of their peoples. Over at Think Defence I often mention ice strengthening hulls for patrol ships. More often than not I am met with some sarcastic question about how often they will enter the ice flows. I leave it at that point because obviously they don't know how often Western navies put their ships physically into harm's way. Surface ships, submarines alike. If the West's armies and air forces had been in similar positions it would have been war. But at sea nobody sees what goes on. It is hidden from the view of the multitude.
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