Submarines are ideal for a case study in technology diffusion. The submarine was largely an American invention, although the development of the technology can trace its origins back to Alexander the Great. In 1900, the US Navy bought the first successful submarine, as we know it, from John Holland who then founded the company that is today known as General Dynamics Electric Boat. These submarines quickly spread to the United Kingdom, France, and Russia, while Germany developed the U-Boat based on a competing American design by Simon Lake. Submarines played key roles in both World Wars, and the nuclear submarine, also fust developed by the US, spread to the other major nuclear powers during the Cold War. In the post Cold War era, submarines are likely to play even more important roles as the vulnerability of surface ships and associated aircraft increases. As one Chinese PLA officer stated the battleship dominated the seas in World War I, and the aircraft carrier in World War 11, while the submarine will be dominant in future wars.


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    Title :

    Enemy Below the Global Diffusion of Submarines and Related Technology


    Contributors:
    K. G. Weiss (author)

    Publication date :

    2002


    Size :

    21 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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