<< Polish Navy's NSM Coastal Defense System launcher and three-dimensional radar TRS-15M Odra in the background. (Image: Wiki Commons)
By Benjamin David Baker
Need more examples? Look to Northern European during WWII.
Professor James Holmes recently wrote (yet another) excellent article on the nature of naval warfare, supporting Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel’s remarks on land-based coastal defences. Hagel has been widely derided for referencing the War of 1812 as an example of why land-based defences are still valid military assets. In fact, if one leaves the Western Hemisphere and looks to Northern Europe, there are several examples of how coastal fortifications, even with inadequate weapons and supplies, were able to significantly affect military operations during WWII. Finnish coastal artillery was able to severely hamper Soviet naval activity during the 1939-1940 Winter War, aiding in the prevention of a dreaded amphibious landing behind the overstretched Mannerheim Line. Moreover, coastal forts on the Karelian Isthmus were able to turn their guns on advancing Soviet ground forces with great effect, in effect becoming the most powerful and accurate land-based artillery of the war.
Read the full story at The Diplomat