Midrats Episode 748: The 21st Century Battleship, with Robert Farley
Feb 23, 2026
Dr. Robert Farley, security and diplomacy scholar and author of The Battleship Book, breaks down the modern battleship debate. He explores doctrine and survivability questions, compares concentrated firepower to distributed lethality, and weighs nuclear, railgun, and propulsion tradeoffs. The conversation also covers political risks, shipbuilding impacts, and how large hulls reshape force structure.
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Episode notes
Battleships Break Distributed Lethality
- Battleships contradict distributed lethality by concentrating offensive power in a few platforms rather than many.
- Robert Farley notes this implies a different concept of operations and uncertain integration with existing fleet doctrine.
Heavy Armor Can't Save Sensor Networks
- Armor and size improve buoyant survivability but fail to protect delicate sensors and communications.
- Farley warns a ship could remain afloat but lose targeting and comms, becoming a disabled floating battery.
Design For Posthit Communications
- Prioritize protecting sensors and communications when planning survivable combatants.
- Farley recommends asking how a ship will continue talking after multiple missile hits, not just whether it remains afloat.
