Naval warfare has for a long time been carried out on the open ocean, but the latest trend seems to change things. Contemporary naval warfare is now being fought in the coastal regions. This change in scenery makes the combat more complex than ever before, since it not only involves naval forces, but land- and air forces as well. This means that threats are constantly being projected from more than one domain at a time. The theories trying to explain contemporary naval warfare are old and not developed for littoral warfare. There are also different opinions whether these old theories are sufficient or if there is a need for newer ones.
This thesis uses a theory testing approach to examine if Milan Vego’s theory can explain success in littoral warfare. The Falklands war and the Gulf war were chosen for the comparative case study using a most different design. The aim of the study is therefore to better understand the phenomenon and answer the question: Which factors can explain success in Littoral Warfare? The study concludes that three of five factors from the theory are important for success. These factors being mission command, joint operations and air superiority. Since these are traditional factors for success, the study suggests that a separate theory for littoral warfare might not be necessary.