Anti-surface warfare (ASUW or ASuW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's surface ships. Before the adoption of the submarine and naval aviation, all naval warfare was, of course, anti-surface warfare. The distinct concept of an ASuW capability therefore is post-WW2, and literature on the subject as a distinct discipline is inherently dominated by the dynamics of the Cold War.