1945 – Russia’s Black Sea Fleet just absorbed another serious blow beneath the surface. A Project 636.3 Kilo-class submarine—believed to be B-271 Kolpino—was struck while tied up at Novorossiysk, the base Moscow relied on after Sevastopol became a recurring target.
(Thanks to Alain)
ArmyRecognition – The U.S. Navy has completed a Service Life Extension Program refueling overhaul for USS Cheyenne (SSN 773) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, marking the first submarine to undergo an SLEP overhaul. The milestone extends Cheyenne’s service life beyond 44 years and highlights the Navy’s strategy to ease attack submarine shortages by sustaining existing platforms.
(Thanks to Alain)
Australian Strategic Policy Institute – Bill Sweetman writes that Ukraine’s massive drone strike against Russian air bases on 1 June should reverberate across all theaters of conflict. But there is one Western Pacific scenario where it could be very relevant indeed: a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Ready Aye Ready – As climate change accelerates the melting of Arctic ice and opens up new strategic vulnerabilities in Canada’s vast northern territories, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is revisiting a long-dormant idea: the acquisition of amphibious assault ships tailored for polar operations.
(Thanks to Alain)
China Daily – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Monday started joint drills involving its Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force troops in five areas surrounding Taiwan Island.
Codenamed “Justice Mission 2025,” the drills were conducted in the Taiwan Strait and waters to the north, southwest, southeast, and east of the island, to combat “Taiwan independence” separatist activities and external interference.
Military experts summarized three key takeaways of the drills.
Sri Lanka Guardian – British defence officials have revealed that Russian submarines are being deployed alongside the Moscow-based spy vessel Yantar to monitor and potentially sabotage critical undersea infrastructure near the UK, according to a report in Times UK. The operations, first observed in November last year, included a submarine shadowing the Yantar as it surveyed a gas pipeline connecting Britain and Ireland.
(Thanks to Alain)
Navy Lookout – 2025 was a year in which the RN continued to demonstrate a measure of operational credibility while, at the same time, long-standing structural weaknesses became harder to ignore. Major deployments and visible progress in some programmes sat alongside a shrinking fleet, delayed decisions and an increasingly narrow margin for error.
Militarnyi – Russia has expanded the 336th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, based in Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region, between Poland and Lithuania, into a division.
(Thanks to Alain)
The War Zone – Finnish authorities have seized a Turkish-owned cargo vessel suspected of damaging an undersea telecommunications cable running from Helsinki to Tallinn, Estonia. This marks the first incident involving suspected sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure in the region since the creation of a NATO task force nearly a year ago to defend those cables, a NATO official told us.
EuroNews – ran’s Revolutionary Guard naval forces seized a foreign oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz over alleged fuel smuggling.
(Thanks to Alain)
U.S. Congressional Research Service – Ronald O’Rourke analyses this new US Navy program.
The Guardian – The plummeting price of cocaine is forcing drug-traffickers to reuse the “narco-submarines” they would previously have scuttled once the custom-built vessels had completed their cargo runs from South America to Europe, according to a senior Spanish police officer.
(Thanks to Alain)
The ten most significant naval news stories / trends / themes this year included:
Naval News – In early November, the French Navy’s Modernised Tripartite/Éridan-class minehunter arrived in the Baltic region for a two-month deployment, joining NATO Allied Maritime Command’s (MARCOM’s) Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1 (SNMCMG1). The group is MARCOM’s Northern European-focused mine countermeasures (MCM) force. Since Sagittaire arrived, SNMCMG1 has participated in the Finnish Navy-led, multinational ‘Freezing Winds’ exercise.
Naval News – In December 2025, Japan responded in an unusual manner to activities conducted by Chinese Navy vessels in waters near Japan: JASDF F-2 fighters were observed with a combined total of 64 anti-ship missiles.
Naval News – The German Navy will receive four Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for maritime long-range reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare. Each system consists of two MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, as well as other components and a command and control system, meaning the German Armed Forces will procure a total of eight MQ-9Bs.
1945 – Earlier today, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) launched its latest military exercise around Taiwan and nearby areas: “Justice Mission 2025” (正义使命-2025). Combat readiness patrols are already underway, with sea and air exclusion zones designated for live-fire exercises tomorrow. This makes it all the more urgent to consider the most important revelations from the Pentagon’s China Military Power Report, released on December 23, 2025.
The War Zone – The People’s Liberation Army Navy claims the ship-killing missile capable of hypersonic speeds has completed its “finalization test.”
Covert Shores – North Korea’s first nuclear submarine was initially revealed to the public in March 2025. At the time only partial images of the hull were shared. Now new images, published on December 25, show the largely complete submarine.
The War Zone – A key part of the latest maneuvers is dissuading international “interference” in any future Chinese move against Taiwan.
Breaking Defense – The White House in 2024 and 2025 prioritized rebuilding America’s icebreaker fleet. But how long will that last?
Sky News – Former senior politicians, including Sir Ben Wallace, Jack Straw and Amber Rudd, play a fictional British government pitched against an imagined Kremlin.
A podcast series worth listening to.
Navy Lookout – France’s Frégate de Défense et d’Intervention (FDI) represents a deliberate attempt to concentrate a balanced mix of air defence, anti-submarine and digital resilience capability into a compact but high-end frigate. Here, we look at the development and construction of this combatant and consider the merits of its design philosophy.
Maritime Executive – Among the 2025 Pentagon report’s greatest revelations, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has fielded a conventional intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) able to range parts of America’s homeland. This makes China the first nation publicly assessed to have fielded an operational, conventionally-armed ICBM—the DF-27—albeit at the low end of the ICBM range band and with variant-dependent roles. America’s homeland is not a sanctuary from either PRC nuclear or conventional missiles.
The War Zone – China has packed a deck of a medium-sized cargo ship with 60 containerized vertical launch cells, radar, and close-in weapons.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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