During the current period, naval technology has incorporated atomic energy and progressed to satellites, computers, drones, data networks, and artificial intelligence. O'Hara and Heinz chart the influence of six innovative technologies and recount how the combat potential of those technologies was enhanced or constrained by the organizations that developed, refined, and employed them. Also their more limited industrial capcity meant that losses could not be readily provided to sustain operations.

In relation to naval aviation the authors conclude that: “It is difficult to know whether the carrier has had its day, but the current crop of antiship weapons give little cause for optimism.Other technologies such as analog and digital computers, jet and rocket propulsion, and nuclear weapons were also under development during this period and were competing with the subject technologies for limited financial, scientific, and production resources.

As the 2008 banking crisis and COVID pandemic have clearly demonstrated, the world can generate vast sums of money in times of emergency.

If they are used in the same old way, it is legitimate to repeat the question that opened this paragraph: Where is the innovation? Ship propulsion evolved from sail to steam, and fuel from coal to fuel oil to nuclear; guns progressed from muzzle-loaders to automated 8-inch cannons; mechanical fire control was invented and elaborated. Both tools aided navies in bringing weapons to bear on their opponents and (generally) increased the amount of available information.

Distances over sea are stated in nautical miles and over land in statute miles unless otherwise specified.Soon, the United States was at war and these vehicles, which quickly received the nickname “jeep,” were carrying Allied troops around battle zones all over the globe. In terms of formations, objectives, and major weapons, John Jellicoe and Reinhard Scheer, the admirals at Jutland, essentially fought the same way that Horatio Nelson and Pierre Villeneuve fought Trafalgar.