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Friedman, Norman. Seapower and Space: From the Dawn of the Missile Age to Net-centric Warfare. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2000. 384pp. $36.95
This work examines the development of space systems and its implications for
naval warfare in the twenty-first century by focusing on the argument that "access to space systems makes possible a new style of warfare." It addresses the "linked revolution of long-range missiles and their space-based supporting systems." Furthermore, Friedman seeks to understand how the development of space-based systems (notably rockets and satellites) has radically influenced how naval forces conduct navigation, communication, reconnaissance, and targeting. The reality is that modem military forces depend almost entirely on platforms in space to know where they are and to communicate with friendly forces, as well as to know the location of enemy forces and use that information to destroy them. This "revolution in military affairs" is now having an effect on a global scale.
None of these observations, however, is particularly new, and in fact all have been widely discussed within the defense establishment since the Persian Gulf War, when it...