resources into escorting and thus disputing sea control, asymmetrical warfare and skirmishes on military vessels that disputes sea control or by maintaining a fleet in being that threatens offensive operations without actually conducting them (Speller 2019, p. 118 - 132). During World War I and World War II, Germany pursued sea denial using U-boats. Owing to the substantial superiority of the Royal Navy's surface forces, Germany's Imperial Navy (in World War I) and Kriegsmarine (in World War II) had little hope of seizing control of the high seas, but with submarines the Germans could hope to defeat the British by choking off their crucial access to seaborne commerce. In both wars, the United Kingdom successfully resisted the German strategy with a combination of strict rationing and the development of anti-submarine weapons and techniques. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union invested heavily in submarines and would likely have pursued a similar strategy of sea denial had tensions with the NATO powers escalated to open warfare. Since World War II, the most notable example of a sea denial strategy involved the so-called 'Tanker War,' wherein Iran and Iraq sought to close the Persian Gulf. Today the term A2/AD has gained traction, and refers to a sort of sea denial strategy where a state aspires to challenge access to certain areas and at the same time hinder the freedom of movement in an adjacent area. It can include a combined effort of the navy, air force and army. The army deploys missiles and sensors in an effort to produce effective coastal defensive moats. The air force deploys assets that can support intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance and even targets ships with airborne weaponry. The navy deploys everything from sea mines, surface combatants to submarines in a system of layered defence and distributed lethality (Till 2018, p. 193 – 197). Modern sea denial relates to the area denial weapon, for example in the context of a land power using land-based missiles to strike sea targets. Such missiles can follow cruise missile (terrain-skimming) or ballistic missile trajectories. In response to these threats, the U.S. Navy has developed the Littoral Combat Ship. See also Fleet in being Sea control Commerce raiding References Corbett, Julian S. 2018. Some Principles of Maritime Strategy. Bd. 1911. Adansonia Press. Speller, Ian. 2019. Understanding Naval Warfare. 2. edition. Routledge. Till, Geoffrey. 2018. Seapower. A Guide for the Twenty-First Century. 4th