For decades, Alfred Thayer Mahan has been simplistically remembered as the prophet of battleship supremacy—an advocate of grand fleets and decisive naval engagements. But thanks to historian Nicholas A. Lambert’s The Neptune Factor, a more nuanced and deeply relevant interpretation is resurfacing. As America grapples with great power competition and the transformative impact of autonomous technologies, revisiting Mahan’s original ideas may offer both strategic clarity and inspiration for action.
Beyond the Battle Line: What Mahan Really Meant
In The Neptune Factor, Lambert dismantles the long-held myth that Mahan’s theory of sea power was obsessed with fleet-on-fleet combat. Instead, he paints a richer portrait of Mahan as both a serious naval officer and a world-class historian. Mahan’s core insight was that a nation’s maritime strength—its navy, merchant marine, industrial base, and access to global trade—formed the true foundation of national power.
According to Lambert, Mahan saw navies as tools to protect commerce, ensure the steady flow of goods and resources, and deter conflict by securing strategic access to the global commons. Combat power was only one element of a larger system—a point often lost in the shorthand version of his work.This broader view of sea power is precisely what makes Mahan relevant today, in an age of networked economies, global supply chains, and emerging military technologies.
Autonomy, Drones, and the Modern Maritime Landscape
Today’s Navy—and the joint force more broadly—faces a dramatically different threat environment than Mahan’s 19th-century context. Yet the fundamentals of sea power remain the same: Who controls the global flow of goods, energy, and data? Who can project influence while denying adversaries access to key maritime terrain?
In this context, autonomous systems—drones, uncrewed vessels, AI-enabled logistics—are not merely tactical tools. They are strategic enablers of maritime security and economic resilience:
- Uncrewed Surface and Undersea Vessels (USVs/UUVs): These can extend maritime presence at a fraction of the cost, providing persistent surveillance, mine countermeasures, and even strike capabilities—all without risking human crews.
- Payload-Carrying Drones: Supporting ground forces, logistics hubs, and maritime patrols, these drones represent a new layer in the defense of supply lines and economic infrastructure.
- Autonomous Logistics and ISR: In a Mahanian sense, these technologies are not about glamorizing combat—they’re about safeguarding the arteries of national power: trade routes, ports, and industrial throughput.
Executive Orders and the Industrial Reawakening
Recent executive actions by the White House signal a renewed commitment to rebuilding the maritime industrial base, particularly through investments in shipbuilding, port modernization, and resilient supply chains. These orders echo Mahan’s emphasis—now reaffirmed by Lambert—on the economic underpinnings of sea power.
For example, the 2024 Executive Order on Revitalizing American Shipbuilding and Maritime Workforce Development recognizes the strategic vulnerability posed by a shrinking U.S. merchant fleet and foreign-controlled shipyards. It directs funding toward domestic shipbuilding, expands workforce training, and prioritizes dual-use vessel designs that serve both commercial and military needs.
This isn’t just a matter of economic policy—it’s national security policy through a Mahanian lens. A strong, sustainable maritime industrial base is the keystone of American power projection, just as it was when Mahan first wrote about Britain’s naval supremacy in the 18th century.
Ground Forces and the New Mahanian Joint Strategy
Even land power has a role in this vision. With the rise of precision fires, drone swarms, and shore-based anti-ship systems, ground forces now contribute directly to sea control and maritime denial. Army and Marine units, equipped with autonomous sensor-strike networks, can protect littorals, defend chokepoints, and support the flow of maritime logistics.
This multidomain integration reinforces Lambert’s argument: sea power today is a national system, not merely a naval tactic. It spans economics, infrastructure, technology, and force design.
A Doctrine Reborn
Lambert’s The Neptune Factor not only rescues Mahan from the narrow interpretations of the past century—it repositions him as a visionary for our own time. Mahan understood that economic prosperity and national strength are tied to maritime mobility, industrial readiness, and the ability to shape global trade.
As autonomous systems redefine war fighting and executive action reaffirms the value of domestic maritime capacity, Mahan’s ideas return to the strategic spotlight—not as relics of a battleship age, but as a blueprint for enduring power in a chaotic world.Sea power, in its truest Mahanian sense, is not just about seeking battles—it’s about securing peace, prosperity, and national resilience through strategic maritime presence. And that makes it as relevant today as it was over a century ago.