I USA:s nya maritima strategi anges kravet att kunna uppträda med marina enheter i farvatten från havet intill kusten. För att kontrollera det kustnära havsområdet krävs effektivitet inom krigföring på och under ytan.  Den nya maritima strategin har lyft fram minkrigföringens roll. Minvapnet framställs dels som ett hot men också som en möjlighet att utnyttja i offensiva och defensiva syften. Med de nya strategiska kraven har amerikanska marinen vidtagit åtgärder för att förbättra kapaciteten inom minkrigföringen. En historisk jämförelse mellan USA som enda kvarvarande supermakt och Sverige som en småstat belägen vid ett innanhav idealiskt för minkrigföring kan ge intressanta aspekter på minkrigföringens strategiska roll.Denna studie fokuserar på USA:s och Sveriges syn på minkrigföringens strategiska roll under 100 år, 1900 – 2000. Under denna period fick minkrigföringen sitt absoluta genombrott i sjökriget. Studien ger en översikt hur synen på minkrigföringen påverkas av erfarenheter från olika konflikter, krig och den tekniska utvecklingen. / The post world war period demands new maritime strategies for the New Century. U.S. military will play an essential role in building coalitions and shaping the international environment through means such as the forward stationing or deployment of forces. This requires significant forward presence involving naval forces in crisis-prone regions. Forward presence and engagement require capability to manoeuvre naval forces from the sea into the littoral waters. With the shift in focus by naval forces from the open ocean strategies of the Cold War to the littoral regions, the potential for mines to frustrate naval plans has increased. Naval forces must have an effective MCM capability to operate in littoral waters. A comparative historic study between U.S. and Sweden can give new prospects in the strategic importance of mine warfare.    This study focuses on U.S. and Swedish reflections on the strategic importance of mine warfare. During the 20 th century mine warfare made a definite breakthrough in sea warfare. This study attempts to give an outline of how attitudes of naval strategy are influenced by conflicts, war and technical development. / Avdelning: ALB - Slutet Mag 3 C-upps.Hylla: Upps. ChP 99-01

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are now being introduced into the fleet to improve Mine Warfare capabilities. Several AUVs are under government-contracted development. Mission planning and data reporting vary between vehicles and systems. This variance does not pose an immediate problem, as only one AUV is currently in production. However, as more AUVs are put into production, commands will begin to get multiple AUVs. Without a single mission command language, multiple systems will require familiarity with multiple languages. Extensible Markup Language (XML) and related technologies may be used to facilitate interoperability between dissimilar AUVs and extract and integrate mission data into Navy C4I systems. XML makes archive maintenance easier, XML documents can be accessed via an http server, and, in root form, XML is transferable on the fly by stylesheet. This thesis presents an XML-based mission command for the command and control of AUVs. In addition, this thesis discusses XML technology and how XML is a viable means of achieving interoperability. Furthermore, this thesis provides an example mission file using existing software, and demonstrates the future of XML in AUV technology. Finally, this work ends with a compelling argument for the use of an XML-based mission command language to command all AUVs. / Ensign, United States Navy / Captain, United States Air Force