West 2026: Lacking ‘overmatch', US Navy must depend on tailored forces with enhanced command-and-control, CNO says

Submarines, like USS Ohio shown here operating near Guam, are important for naval deterrence missions. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

The US Navy (USN) can no longer automatically count on overwhelming adversary forces and must use newly designed forces and command-and-control (C2) systems to win new naval fights, according to Admiral Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations (CNO).

“Our navy's theoretical approach to combat could no longer be based on capability overmatch, setting a theatre with impunity, and winning by mass dominance alone,” Adm Caudle said on 10 February during his keynote address at the West 2026 conference in San Diego, California.

“Under the constraints of an ever-lowering cost of entry and the proliferation of asymmetric capabilities coupled with simultaneous peer conflicts, the nation needs a navy that can hedge tailored solutions aggressively, innovate continuously, fight distributively, and command with clarity across the battlespace,” Adm Caudle said.

“Communications will be disrupted. Space and cyber will be under attack,” he said. “The enemy will try to fracture our kill chains, slow our decisions, and isolate our forces.”

To counter this, the navy will implement an Enhanced Mission Command Framework, he said.

Adm Caudle noted, “Mission command cannot be something we fall back on when networks fail. Mission command must be how we prepare, practice, and fight – all the time. So instead of rigid hierarchies and constant reach-back, we will build a fleet that operates through empowered, self-organising teams – commanders who understand the mission, own the intent, and act with disciplined initiative.”

Enhanced Mission Command provides the navy a clear way to delegate decision authority across the force, the CNO said.

That C2 is meant to help implement the CNO's Hedge Strategy of tailored forces and tailored offsets.