Command of the sea is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rivals cannot attack it directly. This dominance may apply to its surrounding waters or may extend far into the oceans, meaning the country has a blue-water navy. It is the naval equivalent of air supremacy.
USS Abraham Lincoln, a United States Navy aircraft carrier, a means of global maritime power projection.
Britannia rule the waves: decorated plate made in Liverpool circa 1793-1794 (Musée de la Révolution française).
HMS Daring, a Royal Navy Type 45 guided missile destroyer.
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
