The Comparative Defense Studies Program presents

The Military Technology Series: Number 11

When submarines first entered into service at the beginning of the 20th century, they dramatically revolutionized naval warfare. Over the following decades, they have become a central component of many navies’ force structures. This presentation will discuss the evolution of submarine warfare over the past century. Given the central role played by technology, the presentation will focus primarily on the technological challenges submarine production has entailed, on the growing roles and missions submarines have acquired thanks to technological evolution, and to the diffusion of submarine (and anti-submarine) technology – and their implications for international politics.

Andrea Gilli is currently a Visiting Scholar at the SIWPS. He is a PhD candidate at the European University Institute in Florence where he works on technological change, armaments cooperation, and defense industry transformation in Europe. His primary research interests concern military technology, the defense industry, and defense policy. In the past, he has held different research affiliations – among others – with the NATO Defense College in Rome, the Royal United Services Institute in London and the Center for Transatlantic Relations (SAIS-Johns Hopkins University) in Washington, DC. Most recently, with the European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris, he advised the EU Military Committee for the 2013 December meeting of the European Council.

The Military Technology Series is sponsored by the Comparative Defense Studies Program, an affiliate of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies.  It is designed to help bridge the gap between the theoretical concerns of academia and the applied field of military technology.