Special Maritime Operations - A Unique Mixture of Traditional Maritime Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism Capabilities

摘要

The past decade of operations have seen Maritime SOF (MARSOF) focussing on Irregular Warfare (IW), Counter-Terrorism (CT,) and COIN missions, albeit predominantly in support of wider ground campaigns as witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the operational environment evolves towards renewed focus on the security of maritime and littoral environments worldwide, not to mention counter- and anti-piracy operations in multiple hot spots, new requirements are being placed on MARSOF elements, subsequently requiring the confirmation of certain skill sets which might not have been utilised to maximum effect over the past decade in the land domain.