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The law of naval warfare includes distinct and overlapping legal regimes applicable to the law of air warfare, the law of armed conflict, specific rules concerning the conduct of hostilities at sea, prize law, and maritime neutrality. These regimes govern hostilities at sea and beyond, balancing the rights of belligerents to conduct operations for sea control, sea denial, and the subjugation of the enemy with humanitarian considerations and protection of the rights of neutral states. The principles of the law of armed conflict apply in naval warfare, including military necessity, proportionality, distinction, and with special considerations, precautions in attack. Weapons must be reviewed for compliance with the law of armed conflict. Belligerent naval operations may be conducted in areas outside of neutral territorial seas. For the purposes of naval operations in peacetime and during armed conflict, the exclusive economic zone is subject to the rules of the high seas.

Disruptive technologies have transformed conflict at sea, creating a dynamic and distributed operational environment that extends from the oceans to encompass warfare on land, in the air, outer space, and cyberspace. Naval warfare throughout this integrated multi-domain, networked seascape raises choice of law decisions that include the law of naval warfare and the law of armed conflict; neutrality law; and the peacetime regimes that apply to the oceans, airspace, outer space, and cyberspace. The international law in networked naval warfare must contend with autonomous vessels and aircraft, artificial intelligence, and long-range precision strike missiles that can close the “kill chain” at sea and beyond. The asymmetrical use of merchant ships and blockchain shipping in naval operations, opening the seabed as a new dimension of undersea warfare, and sophisticated attacks against submarine cables and space satellites pose new operational and legal dilemmas. Navigating this broader conception of the international law of naval warfare requires an understanding of emerging operational capabilities and concepts throughout the spectrum of conflict and the selection and integration of distinct legal regimes.

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