– Defense News – As the U.S. Marine Corps shifts its focus toward the Asia-Pacific region, the business of lift and logistics also shifts — from the fairly straightforward process of supplying troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to the enormous challenge of operating in a vast hemisphere of oceans and islands.
Monthly Archives: September 2012
Chinese Navy – The Calm Before The Storm
– Foreign Policy – China’s about to find out how hard it is to run an aircraft carrier.
Royal Navy – Inside the Navy's new £1billion supersub
Daily Mail – Deadly Hunter Killer submarine is capable of hearing a ship leaving port in New York… while sat underwater in the English channel.
Thanks to Dave for the link!
Chinese Navy – China's first aircraft carrier enters service
– BBC – China’s first aircraft carrier has entered into service, the Defence Ministry says.
Geopolitics / Caspian Sea – Arms Race on the Caspian Sea Heats Up
– German Radio – The countries bordering the Caspian Sea are increasingly flexing their military muscles. The Iran crisis and unresolved conflicts over natural resources have added to the tensions in the region.
Geopolitics – The Interview: Robert Kaplan
– The Diplomat – In his new book, The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate, Robert Kaplan (Stratfor Global Intelligence) contends that current global conflicts, including wars, political instability, and clashes over religion, can be better understood and even forecasted through close examination of the maps that chart our world. In this Q&A, The National Bureau of Asian Research’s Abraham Denmark asks Kaplan how this theory relates to the Asia-Pacific and what challenges geography will present for the United States’ policy toward the region.
Geopolitics / South China Sea – Could Asia really go to war over these?
– Economist – The bickering over islands is a serious threat to the region’s peace and prosperity.
Iran – The Vegetarian
– New Yorker – A look at why Israel’s notorious ex-spymaster, Meir Dagan, has become a dissident against an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
US Navy – Beastly Drone Sub May Test Next-Gen Undersea Sensors
– Wired – One of the largest unmanned submarines ever built is finally performing sea trials. But don’t expect the U.S. Navy, which dreams of undersea drones that can span oceans, to proclaim the Proteus its drone sub of the future. Instead, Proteus’ manufacturers want to work with the Navy to test the software, sensors and power systems that will define those next-gen drone subs — and maybe use the Proteus as a stopgap solution until someone develops those long-range submarines.
Chinese Navy – U.S., Chinese navies in joint anti-piracy drills off Somalia
– Reuters – The U.S. and Chinese navies have carried out drills to combat pirates off the Horn of Africa in a rare joint military exercise between the powerful nations.
US Navy – Armada of international naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike
– Daily Telegraph – An armada of US and British naval power is massing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons programme.
US Marines – Afghanistan air base attack kills 2 Marines, destroys 6 Harrier jets from Arizona base
– Associated Press – The attackers destroyed six Harrier jump jets assigned to Yuma’s Marine Attack Squadron 211 and heavily damaged two others.
Information Warfare – Russia’s Top Cyber Sleuth Foils US Spies, Helps Kremlin Pals
– Wired – A look at Eugene Kaspersky, whose company is a worldwide leader in anti-virus software, and friend of Vladimir Putin and the Russian FSB.
Chinese Navy – Storm Clouds Over the South China Sea
– Air Force – Mistrust, international military buildups, and competing territorial claims bring plenty of tension to a vital waterway that China considers an internal sea.
Philippine Navy – Tension Between Philippines And China Grows
– Aviation Week – Drive fast enough down the well-built coastal road in Barangay Buenavista, a stone’s throw from the waters of Ulugan Bay on the Philippine island province of Palawan, and you might miss the doorstep for a future amphibious invasion force. Were China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and marine forces ever to be tasked with teaching the Philippines a “lesson,” much as Deng Xiaoping taught such a lesson to Vietnam and its former Soviet ally during a brief 1979 war, that coastal road provides a crucial western access that would put PLA mechanized forces about an hour north of Palawan’s capital of Puerto Princesa.
US Navy – 'Deadly Serious' Navy Wrestles With Mine Warfare Modernization
– AOL Defense – Improving the Navy’s long-neglected capability to hunt mines is a top priority for the fleet — but it still gets less than 1 percent of the Navy budget.
Chinese Navy – China sends patrol ships to disputed East China Sea islands
– BBC – Two Chinese patrol ships have been sent to islands disputed with Japan, which has sealed a deal to purchase the territory, Chinese state media say.
US Navy – Coasting
– Foreign Policy – Was the U.S. Navy really better in 1917 than it is today?
Geopolitics – Geography Strikes Back
– Wall Street Journal – To understand today’s global conflicts, forget economics and technology and take a hard look at a map, writes Robert D. Kaplan.
Royal Navy – HMS Ark Royal to be sold off as scrap metal
– Daily Telegraph – Former Navy flagship HMS Ark Royal will be sold on as scrap metal for £3 million as part of a move that the Ministry of Defence has described as “difficult but necessary.
Nigerian Navy – Nigerian navy frees hijacked Singapore-owned oil tanker
– BBC – Nigeria’s navy says it has rescued a Singapore-owned oil tanker hijacked by pirates on Tuesday night with 23 Indian sailors on board.
US Navy – U.S. Navy’s Newest Ship Gets 8,000-Mile Shakedown
– Defense News – As storms go, it wasn’t a biggie. Eight-to-12-foot waves, 40 mph winds. But the ocean’s saltwater was a baptism of sorts, as the U.S. Navy’s latest littoral combat ship (LCS) left behind more than 2,000 miles of Great Lakes freshwater sailing and entered the Atlantic on Aug. 17 for the first time.
US Navy – Net-Enabled Weapons Drive Sea Warfare Change
– Aviation Week – Maritime missiles are in a period of rapid evolution. Warships and submarines are persistent platforms with deep magazines, for long-range attacks on land targets and hostile ships. But more warships now carry effective missile-defense gun and missile systems and countermeasures, while sea traffic has continued to grow rapidly worldwide—creating a major challenge in terms of collateral damage. Some of the biggest decisions in the past year involve the U.S. Navy, which is moving toward an arsenal of “net-enabled” weapons—missiles that take advantage of other sensors to find and hit targets, but can still function if communications are down. Two quick-reaction missile programs have been started recently, along with a large, expensive and remarkably low-profile airborne radar to support them.
Chinese Navy – The Master ‘PLAN’: China’s New Guided Missile Destroyer
– The Diplomat – China’s navy appears on the verge of creating a new class of warship. It could eventually alter the balance of naval power in the region.
US Navy – Zap, crackle and pop
– US Navy – Zap, crackle and pop – Energy weapons are finally moving from the laboratory to the real world. But they are hardly the super-weapons of science fiction…and the US Navy is leading the pack in terms of weaponizing them.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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