– Breaking Defense – The Navy is sending two high-altitude MQ-4C Triton drones to Guam on their first overseas deployment, placing the sophisticated surveillance platform deep within the Indo-Pacific at a time of rising tensions with China and stepped-up Navy patrols through the Taiwan Strait.
Russia’s Naval Strategy in the Mediterranean
– Russian Military Reform – The Mediterranean will play a key role in Russian naval strategy because of its strategic significance as an access point to southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. For Russia, the Mediterranean symbolizes the larger competition between Moscow and Washington.
Competitors Get a Say in Readiness, Too
– USNI Proceedings – The first installment of Professor James Holmes’ new regular column “Strategy Matters”.
Marine Planners Using Commandant’s Guidance to Start Crafting Future of the Corps
– USNI News – Two months after new Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger released his commandant’s planning guidance, the Marines charged with plotting how the service will operate in the future showed a glimpse into how the new guidance is shaping their work.
Arleigh Burke Destroyers Are Most Viable Option for Near-Term Navy Presence in Arctic
– USNI News – In the high latitudes, where presence increasingly equals power, the U.S. Coast Guard shoulders much of today’s mission load. But experts think the Arleigh Burke destroyers of the future could share the operational burden.
The Strategic Implications of Israel’s Turn to the Sea
– War on the Rocks – Israel is in the midst of a “turn to the sea”: a systematic allocation of national, corporate, and civil society resources toward the nation’s maritime domain. As many regional actors, including Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, are naval powers, and as global actors such as Russia and the United States have a naval presence in the region, Israel’s evolution has broader implications for regional security.
The US military has triggered a massive surge of its wartime sealift ships
– Defense News – The command in charge of U.S. military logistics worldwide on Tuesday triggered one the largest surges of its aging sealift ships in decades, a critical test of the country’s ability to move heavy equipment overseas in the event of a major conflict.
Electric Boat Preparing for Columbia-Class, But Supply Base Remains a Challenge
– USNI News – General Dynamics Electric Boat broke ground on a Columbia-class submarine assembly facility at its Groton yard on Friday, kicking off one of the final facilities improvement projects the company needs ahead of a massive increase in submarine construction work in the coming decades.
Russian Navy To Be First To Field Hypersonic Cruise Missiles On Submarines
– Forbes – The Russian Navy is expected to be the first country to field hypersonic cruise missiles on its submarines, potentially giving it some strategic advantages in naval warfare.
(Thanks to Alain)
Learning From Success: Advancing Maritime Security Cooperation in Atlantic Africa
– CIMSEC – The M/T MAXIMUS and the M/T ANUKET AMBER are vessels that have tested the cooperative architecture for maritime security in West and Central Africa. The MAXIMUS is considered a great success story, and the ANUKET AMBER was at least a partial success.
Sea Hunter’s Autonomous Controls Could Support Unmanned Beach Landings
– USNI News – Autonomous control systems developed for the Pentagon’s Sea Hunter unmanned ship could also help keep Marine Corps logisticians out of harm’s way during future amphibious landings.
Enough Nuclear: All of the Reasons the U.S. Navy Needs Diesel Submarines
– National Interest – They’re cheap, defensible, and punch above their weight in the right setting—what’s not to love?
“Adaptable Deck Launchers”:The Best Counter to China’s Missile Strategy?
– National Interest – Over at The Drive, the redoubtable Tyler Rogoway relates the feel-good story of the summer, an instant classic: the defense firm BAE Systems says it has developed an “adaptable deck launcher” (ADL) that can be bolted onto any ship of war with deck space to spare. Weaponeers can load up the four-cell launcher with the same missile canisters used in the Mk 41 vertical launch system (VLS), the standard launcher installed aboard U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers and ships from a handful of allied navies. BAE’s add-on deck launcher is a mundane piece of kit with strategic promise.
What Does China Want with the Arctic?
– National Interest – Hint: It isn’t just about defense and oil.
U.K. Crafting New Command and Control Regime as Royal Navy Grows
– USNI News – The Royal Navy’s metamorphosis from a provider of lone warships to the world’s maritime hotspots into a service deploying carrier strike and amphibious task groups will be accompanied by an equally transformation in command and control (C2).
How to Seize Islands, Set Up a Forward Refueling Point: Marine Corps Recipes for Expeditionary Operations
– USNI News – The U.S. Marine Corps has been refining a pair of related concepts, Expeditionary Advance Base Operations (EABO) and the overarching Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment, for the past couple years.
How Marine Security Cooperation Can Translate Into Sea Control
– War on the Rocks – The Commandant’s Planning Guidance has the potential to radically transform the Marine Corps into a naval expeditionary force that is prepared to operate inside actively-contested maritime spaces in support of fleet operations. Core to Gen. Berger’s vision is the insertion of forces inside an adversary’s weapons engagement zone to provide sea denial and sea control by countering anti-access/area denial systems. Strangely absent from this new guidance, however, is a critical aspect of the Marine Corps ― security cooperation and foreign security force advising.
China Is Building Better ICBMs (And Hospital Ships)
– National Interest – Beijing’s military is improving but so are its contributions to global problems like fighting Ebola or piracy.
Navy Training Squadron Receives First E-2D Hawkeye With New Aerial Refueling Capability
– War Zone – The unit will now begin training aircrews to make use of the plane’s new capabilities ahead of plans to begin converting operational units next year.
Taiwan Wants Updated Submarine Force
– USNI News – A modern submarine force to deter China’s ambitions to take over Taiwan tops the island’s unmet defense needs.
Escorts Deploy Without USS Harry S. Truman as East Coast Carrier Shortage Persists
– USNI News – Surface escorts from the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group left their homeports today to kick off an overseas deployment…Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) did not.
The US Navy says it’s doing its best to avoid a ‘Terminator’ scenario in quest for autonomous weapons
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy will try to prevent Skynet — the fictional intelligence computer network that attempts to destroy humanity in the “Terminator” series — from becoming a reality as it continues efforts to field evermore capable robots.
Britain goes with Danish design for new Type 31 frigates
– Defense News – Britain has chosen a Danish design to equip the Royal Navy with a new fleet of general-purpose frigates in a deal with Babcock International.
PLA conducts joint land assault exercises near Taiwan
– Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently conducted a joint land assault exercise featuring multiple military branches near the island of Taiwan, which military experts said on Sunday shows the Chinese military is ready to unleash its full potential against Taiwan secessionist forces and intends to send a stern warning to countries that intervene in China’s internal affairs.
China to build warship for Thailand
– Global Times – China and Thailand have signed a deal that will see a Chinese shipbuilding company build a Type 071E landing platform dock (LPD) warship for the Thai navy, a move which shows deepened arms trade cooperation between the two countries.
