The Belgian Navy.

The United States Navy no longer possesses the number of ships required to execute all its responsibilities under existing military security agreements. Therefore, the assets and capabilities of Americas smaller naval allies could weigh heavily in the balance determining the success or failure of an East-West confrontation. Unfortunately, the bulk of knowledge comprising Western naval literature lacks the detailed information on small navies which is necessary to evaluate their ability to make a meaningful contribution to NATO. Through a descriptive analysis of the Belgian Navy, this paper attempts to show that a small navy can make a significant contribution to the allied naval effort. In addition, this thesis is submitted as a contribution to the body of Western naval literature by presenting in English a comprehensive description of the Belgian Navy heretofore available only in Dutch and French language sources. Author