While the likelihood of global conflict is diminished, challenges to our security have appeared in more complex guises. From a submarine perspective, fundamental changes since the end of the Cold War involve major shifts in war fighting concepts and doctrine. There is a distinct shift in emphasis from the deterrence of global war instigated by a specific region to the deterrence of regional conflicts on a global scale, and a further shift from independent operations to the increased support of multi-national maritime forces and combined joint task forces. These individuals have both US national and NATO respon-sibilities. This head-quarters arrangement has provided for safe and effective operation of Alliance submarines for over 30 years, and has furnished the Alliance with all the benefits of a major staff without the expenditure of NATO common funds.
Submarines are extremely versatile platforms by virtue of their inherent characteristics.
Foremost among these is stealth. The most basic and important characteristic of a modern submarine is its ability to submerge and become virtually invisible. Stealth confers a number of advantages to submarines. First, the submarine is covert. A submarine can easily conduct operations with-out indicating to other forces that it is present or involved.