Ott Laanemets
Mine warfare is often described as a cycle: A simple sea mine strikes an expensive warship, but no mine warfare forces are able to respond because mine warfare has been neglected; thereafter mine warfare receives some attention. After the conflict, however, mine warfare resumes its unsexy status—at least until the next mine strike.
During the Cold War, small European navies maintained NATO’s mine warfare readiness. This included both minelaying and mine countermeasures (MCM). However, after the demise of the Soviet Union, minelaying was quickly dismissed as the first benefit of the peace dividend, and the focus of mine warfare communities turned toward clearing the sea of war remnants. For other warfare communities, focus turned “out of area” altogether. As a result, NATO has lost its institutional mine warfare knowledge and, more broadly, coastal defense warfare knowledge, which is the type of warfare applicable to the Baltic Sea.
The character of mine warfare in the Baltic Sea has not changed but has been forgotten. Sea mines are still the central weapon, and mine warfare must be part of maritime and joint warfare.
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