Surface Navy 2026: CNO seeks to develop US Navy ‘deterrence concept'

USS Laboon is shown here conducting patrols for missile defence in the Red Sea. Such operations are examples of hedge forces. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

The US Navy (USN) needs to develop a ‘Navy Deterrence Conceptʼ that mirrors the service's Warfighting Concept, Admiral Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations (CNO), said on 14 January during his keynote speech at the Surface Navy Association National Symposium 2026.

“Although warfighting is what we are designed to do, it accounts for only a fraction of our daily operations,” Adm Caudle noted. “I would argue that deterrence – shaping adversary behaviour short of armed conflict – accounts for nearly 90% of what we do. We have a Navy Warfighting Concept that defines how we fight. What we also need is a Navy Deterrence Concept that defines how we deter.”

He said, “Of all the white binders in your workspaces, I would wager there is not one that gives you a clear, formalised approach to what deterrence at sea really means and more important – how to achieve it through campaigning, posture, and investments. The Navy Deterrence Concept is how we take that task on.”

Adm Caudle added that the deterrence concept will “formalise a deterrence kill-chain and codify it into doctrine”.

The CNO said, “It will tell us who we are deterring, what we are preventing them from doing, and how we create space to shape adversary behaviour long before conflict begins. It will connect posture, signalling, manoeuvre, and integration across domains into a coherent, repeatable approach.”

The new concept will “hit the streets soon”, Adm Caudle said, adding, “When it does, it will sit alongside the Navy Warfighting Concept as a paired set – one for how we fight [and] one for how we deter.”