Since Russia´s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, asymmetric warfare has been on the rise, and much effort has been focused on understanding and comparing this warfare to existing theories. This, however, has not been the case for the naval aspects of asymmetric warfare. Even though nations and insurgents alike use these methods it has received little focus and therefore many questions have been left unanswered.
How should naval asymmetric warfare be understood and countered? Does naval asymmetric warfare relate to existing naval theories or is it related to existing asymmetric land theories? This essay aims to answer some of these questions by using Vegos theory concerning sea control to examine asymmetric methods and their correlation to sea control in The Tanker War and the Sri Lankan civil war.
This essay concludes that asymmetric methods and it´s correlation to sea control are, to a great extent, described by Vegos theory. The methods used and level of sea control achieved conform to Vegos theory which, according to this essay, can be used to interpret asymmetric naval conflicts.