A blue-water navy is a maritime force capable of operating globally, essentially across the deep waters of open oceans. While definitions of what actually constitutes such a force vary, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea control at long range.
USS Abraham Lincoln leads a formation of ships from eight countries during the Exercise RIMPAC in July 2006.
A blue-water navy still remains susceptible to asymmetric threats, an example being the USS Cole bombing in October 2000.
Indian Navy flotilla of Western Fleet escort INS Vikramaditya (R33) and INS Viraat (R22) in the Arabian Sea; according to the Todd & Lindberg classification system, six navies are considered to be ranks 1-3 blue-water "multi-regional power projection" navies, capable of operating in multiple regions adjacent its own.
Cavour (foreground) operating with Harry S. Truman (middle) and Charles de Gaulle (background) in the Gulf of Oman, 2013
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includes anything conducted by surface ships, amphibious ships, submarines, and seaborne aviation, as well as ancillary support, communications, training, and other fields.
The Spanish Armada fighting the English navy at the Battle of Gravelines in 1588
British and Danish navies in the line of battle at the Battle of Copenhagen (1801)
A flotilla from the Indian Navy's Western Fleet escorts the aircraft carriers INS Viraat and INS Vikramaditya through the Arabian Sea in 2014
Fourth Style wall painting with naumachia (triremes), a detail from a panel from the portico of the Temple of Isis in Pompeii, Naples National Archaeological Museum
