The end of the Cold War, and the strategic shift towards expeditionary operations in littoral regions, has not diminished the need for warships to have an effective defensive capability against a range of above-water threats. But the environment in which maritime forces are required to operate, and the threats they must counter, has changed substantially. During the Cold War, the US Navy and its allies had rehearsed tactics to counter a formidable Soviet bluewater threat (notably in the Norwegian Sea and its approaches). This included massed attacks by long-range bombers carrying high-diving supersonic missiles, and a range of anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) fired from both submarines and surface units. But tactics designed for 'set-piece' scenarios against mainly high-diving missiles across expanses of open ocean did not read across to the threat posed by small, sea-skimming weapons such as Exocet. The loss of HMS Sheffield in 1982 and the crippling of USS Stark in 1987 highlighted the vulnerabilities of surface warships not adequately equipped or prepared to counter the modern ASCM approaching under the radar horizon.
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