– National Interest – A “ship” is more than a hunk of steel that rides the bounding main. It is an expression of human ideas and history in steel. It’s a composite of materiel, human beings, and history. Therein lies its allure.
United Kingdom Maritime Strategy
– CIMSEC – A conversation with Dr. Eric Grove on the UK’s maritime strategy, the evolution of its national security strategy in the post-9/11 era, and force structure debates in the current era.
Essex Amphibious Ready Group Quietly Deployed on Tuesday with Marine F-35s
– USNI News – The three-ship Essex Amphibious Ready Group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit left San Diego, Calif., on Tuesday with little fanfare for an expected Western Pacific and Middle East deployment.
New US Pacific Fleet Commander backs away from ‘3rd Fleet Forward’
– Defense News – The new head of U.S. Pacific Fleet is walking back from a throw-back command structure championed by his predecessor that had the San Diego-based head of U.S. 3rd Fleet take tactical control of ships in the Asia Pacific region, a role usually taken over by the Japan-based U.S. 7th Fleet once ships sail west of Hawaii.
US Navy adding new training to pre-deployment work-ups
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is steadily rolling out a new phase of work-ups for carrier strike group and amphibious ready group deployments aimed at boosting its surface warfare skills.
Destroyers Maxed Out, Navy Looks To New Hulls: Power For Radars & Lasers
– Breaking Defense – The Navy has crammed as much electronics as it can into its new DDG-51 Flight III destroyers now beginning construction, Rear Adm. William Galinis said this morning. That drives the service towards a new Large Surface Combatant that can comfortably accommodate the same high-powered radars, as well as future weapons such as lasers, on either a modified DDG-51 hull or an entirely new design.
German Navy’s Woes Continue With Its Pair of Ex-Liberian Tankers Stuck Broken In Port
– War Zone – The service can’t meet near-term NATO obligations and has no ships in reserve to rapidly support any extended naval operations in a crisis.
U.S. Navy Command Ship, Destroyer in Black Sea for Annual Sea Breeze Exercise
– USNI News – Command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) and guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) entered the Black Sea over the weekend, crossing through the Bosporus Strait into the Black Sea in support of the Sea Breeze 2018 exercise.
The Surface Navy: Still in Search of Tactics
– CIMSEC – Where have tactics gone in the modern surface Navy? Whatever the cause, the loss of tactics – and the subsequent appearance of hundreds of publications which masquerade as tactics – is a problem that reaches the very heart of our profession. Tactics must be resurrected.
Has the US Navy thought this new frigate through? New report raises questions.
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is rapidly moving toward procuring the first hull in its new class of frigate in 2020, but a new report is raising questions about whether the Navy has done detailed analysis about what it needs out of the ship before barging ahead.
New Zealand to buy Boeing P-8 patrol planes to boost South Pacific surveillance
– Reuters – New Zealand has agreed to buy four Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes, Defence Minister Ron Mark said on Monday, strengthening surveillance capabilities as it works to counter the rise of new powers, such as China.
US Navy destroyers make a rare passage through the Taiwan Strait
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy sent two destroyers through the Taiwan Strait, the first U.S. warships ships to pass through the strait since 2017.
China & Russia In The Arctic: Axis Of Ambivalence
– Breaking Defense – So are Chinese ambitions racing ahead of Arctic realities? “It seems the chickens are being counted before the eggs are hatched,” Sun admitted, “but the Chinese position is, ‘if the eggs are going to hatch, we want to make sure we’re there to collect the chickens.'”
USNS Carson City Proves EPFs Can Conduct MCM Work, Handle Harsh North Atlantic Weather
– USNI News – The Navy continues to expand its uses for the Expeditionary Fast Transport class of ships, as USNS Carson City (T-EPF-7) last month conducted the first high-latitude operations and the first mine countermeasures mission for the ship class.
China Looks To Replace Its J-15 Carrier Fighter Jets Amid Reports Of Crashes
– War Zone – The People’s Liberation Army Navy will need significantly more jets anyway if it wants to make good use of their new carriers.
Japanese helicopter carrier Kaga to embark on two-month tour of South China Sea and Indian Ocean
– Japan Times – Japan will send a large helicopter carrier to the South China Sea and Indian Ocean for a second straight year as it looks to bolster its presence in the strategic maritime region with annual tours.
Nordics Mobilize To Send Russians Clear Message: We Shall Not Be Cowed
– Breaking Defense – Russia’s threats have not cowed the Nordic states. Instead, they have strengthened their relationship with Washington, with each other through enhanced cooperation and plan focused to mobilize their entire societies to deal with the Russian efforts to intimidate.
NATO Allies Partner Up for High-End Anti-Submarine Warfare Exercise
– USNI News – NATO partners are teaming up for a high-end anti-submarine warfare exercise that will test the ability of surface ships and ASW aircraft to find attack boats in deep water.
China’s Naval Expansion Is No Threat
– National Interest – Treat Beijing as an enemy, and it is quite certain to emerge as an enemy.
War Studies Primer
– Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.
Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.
Ways to Follow NOSI
– You can also follow NOSI via RSS at nosi.org/feed or receive an email every time a blog post is published by entering your email address and clicking on the Follow button in the right hand column of the site or on Facebook at facebook.com/nosintel or on Twitter at twitter.com/nosintel
The Next Pacific War: Lessons From Wake Island For The PLA
– Breaking Defense – China’s increasingly aggressive rise puts the Pacific theater in play in a way it hasn’t been since 1945. In this essay, Singaporean scholar Ben Ho Wan Beng and retired US Marine Gary Lehmann look at what a critical but overlooked World War II battle has to tell us about the potential strengths — and weaknesses — of the Marine Corps’s new concept for waging the next Pacific war.
US trying to make friends, counter China with massive naval exercise
– CNN – The Pentagon kicked off the world’s largest naval war games last week, the biennial, month-long Rim of the Pacific exercises, known as RIMPAC, bringing together 46 ships and submarines, 200 aircraft and 25,000 troops from 25 nations.
A Spymaster Steps Out of the Shadows
– New York Times Magazine – John Brennan quietly ruled the national-security state under President Obama. Now he’s coming forward to rail against Trump — and to defend his own legacy.
PLA Navy’s hospital ship Peace Ark sets sail for “Harmonious Mission 2018”
– China Military Online – The PLA Navy’s hospital ship Peace Ark (Hull 866) set sail from its homeport in Zhoushan in east China’s Zhejiang Province on Thursday morning to embark on the voyage of “Harmonious Mission 2018”.
