| Watching a DVD "State of Alert", which is mostly about the modern RN, there is a section on the Swedish Military where the line between land and sea forces becomes rather blurred in the dotted islands and fjords of the Sweden.
Apparently the Swedes are doing something no-one else has even conceived of - they are using land forces to engage sea forces. Think about it - sea forces engage land, air and sea, air engages land, air and sea, and land can engage air and land - but there is no reverse-direction version of shore bombardment, no equivalent of the coastal artillery today.
Swedish artillery units (not sure whether army or marine) train at engaging ships in coastal waters. I am thinking how hard would it be to establish a system for firing a Harpoon or other anti shipping missile, from a launching post or from a vehicle? The latest Harpoon version will be able to take on targets ashore so I cant see why it cant be used from ashore against targets at sea. In a littoral environment, like the Swedes find themselves in, or in an amphibious operation where you might find a beachead trapped between the enemies army and naval forces, the system would have its uses. Take the Gulf for example. Mine clearing work went on for a year, after the main fighting warships had done their job and been removed. Now if you have MCMVs going about their work in a coastal area with small fast boats, usual coastal merchant & shipping activity, piracy and weapons smuggling, and no, or few, escorting vessels, that must be a liability. Having a few land based Harpoons would give you a protected area over those ships without the massive cost of deploying a taskforce.
Ian
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