Sea mines in the Adriatic Sea: the asymmetric threat

The current Croatian military strategy requires assured maritime access to achieve national policy objectives on the Adriatic Sea. With the increasing number of regional and asymmetric threats navies have embarked on transformation initiatives to address new security realities of the 21st century. One of the realities that has not changed is the threat posed by sea mines. Sea mines, as a grave threat, especially in a littoral sea, can be laid by surface, subsurface or air assets. Ground mines on the sea bed, buoyant mines moored in deep water, surface, drifting or moored and self-propelled or smart positioning mines pose a credible threat to commercial waterways or naval forces attempting to establish a maritime presence in an area. Global proliferation of sea mines, including older variants as well as those that have evolved dramatically overtime with modern devices, has continued to grow and presents a unique challenge to maritime security for the Croatian Navy and NATO. This paper will discuss the problem of proliferation, mine technologies and their deployments, and methods to counter the threat in order to enhance capability and that “no gaps “exist in the ability to provide mobility and survivability for all maritime actors.