US Navy – the USS Kitty Hawk has formally deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. It is without many of its fixed-wing aircraft.

• CNN: Carrier heads to SW Asia without all its fighters

Royal Navy – HMS Illustrious has arrived off Oman. Meanwhile, the nuclear attack submarine HMS Triumph has joined the task force.

• Daily Telegraph:
  Illustrious to take command in Swift Sword manoeuvres

• The Times: US plans for battle on multiple fronts

US Navy – An essay by William Arkin on how we must plan for a new type of unconventional war and take our time to do so — and that taking such time has the added benefit of putting terrorists on the defensive for once.

• Washington Post: Rumsfeld’s Difficult Mission