– National Interest – Rebranding the Pacific Command represents an effort to recast how military folk assigned to the command regard their theater and how to manage it.
Monthly Archives: June 2018
Upgrading US Navy ships is difficult and expensive. Change is coming.
– Defense News – The Navy’s front-line combatants ― cruisers and destroyers ― are incredibly expensive to upgrade, in part because one must cut open the ship and remove fixtures that were intended to be permanent when they were installed.
Here Is the Advanced Attack Submarine the U.S. Navy Never Built
– Popular Mechanics – The submarine, never built, would have been smaller than other subs and a mothership to drones.
More NATO warships to Northern Norway
– Barents Observer – Several naval vessels are sailing in the Ofoten area and will make port calls to Jarvik.
Keep Ships Longer To Boost Fleet Size: 355 Ships By 2035
– Breaking Defense – Instead of growing from 284 ships now to 355 in 2052-2055, the timeframe officials cited in the past, the Navy could reach its goal in 2032-2035, said Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, chief of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).
BAE Beats Upstart SAIC To Build Marine Amphibious Combat Vehicle
– Breaking Defense – The initial contract announced today was just $198 million for the first 30 vehicles, to be delivered by next fall, but Marines want to replace approximately 870 existing AAVs with better-protected, more mobile ACVs “as rapidly as we can,” which will take into “the mid to late ’20s.”
In 1895, Japan Crushed China in a War (And the Impact Is Still Felt to This Day)
– National Interest – Japan only needed a small-scale triumph over imperial China to fulfill its aims in 1894-1895. It saw no need to overthrow the Qing regime, occupy China or even vanquish the entire Qing navy. Today, likewise, China need not utterly defeat American arms to achieve modest goals. Capability sufficient to Beijing’s purposes may soon fall within the PLA’s grasp. Heck, it may already be within reach.
China Lands First Bomber on South China Island
– Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative – The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) announced on May 18 that it had landed bombers, including the top-of-the-line H-6K, on an outpost in the South China Sea for the first time.
The £6 billion Royal Navy fleet that hardly ever went to sea: Warships that can’t sail in the heat spent 80 per cent of the year in dock
– Daily Mail – The British Royal Navy’s six Type 45 £1 billion destroyers barely ever leave their docks.
The US Navy is fed up with ballistic missile defense patrols
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s top officer wants to end standing ballistic missile defense patrols and transfer the mission to shore-based assets.
Manning the Distant Rampart: Maritime Strategy in an Age of Global Competition
– CIMSEC – Great power competition has clearly returned. But nontraditional issues have retained their relevance, with great powers using them as strategic facilitators in their quest to gain marginal advantages. In this international environment, the sea has retained its unbroken importance. The overwhelming majority of humankind’s physical trade is still transported on maritime highways, while the geography of contemporary global flashpoints, and the ambitions of great powers and nonstate actors, makes the sea central to international competition.
Countering Hybrid Threats in the Maritime Environment
– CIMSEC – Today, there are state and non-state actors challenging nations, institutions, and private companies through a wide range of overt and covert activities targeted at their vulnerabilities. Both NATO and the European Union refer to these as “hybrid threats” and the maritime domain has proven to be especially vulnerable.
The Dawn of Artificial Intelligence in Naval Warfare
– War on the Rocks – The U.S. Navy is investing real money to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the force, requesting $62.5 million in the FY19 Defense Department budget for AI and rapid prototyping.
The Wounds of the Drone Warrior
– New York Times Magazine – Even soldiers who fight wars from a safe distance have found themselves traumatized. Could their injuries be moral ones?
Amphib USS Iwo Jima Now in Persian Gulf; First U.S. Capital Ship in Region Since March
– USNI News – Amphibious warship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) crossed into the Persian Gulf this week, returning a U.S. Navy capital ship to the region for the first time since late March.
The Discrepancy Between US Administration Rhetoric and Navy Strategy
– CIMSEC – The challenge facing the United States is building a 21st century navy, operating in 19th century-styled great power competition, and upholding a 20th century world order while urrently led by an administration which seems to challenge the foundation of that very order.
In the Baltic, shadowed by Russia, NATO allies focus on great power competition
– Defense News – For the last two weeks, more than 40 NATO ships and 60 NATO aircraft have been operating in the Baltic Sea, with Russian observers never too far behind.
What Do The New National Security and Defense Strategies Mean for Maritime Security?
– CIMSEC – The recently released U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) and National Defense Strategy (NDS) have major implications for maritime security.
China Adds Advanced Missiles to South China Sea Islands
– Washington Free Beacon – China’s military has stepped up militarizing disputed islands in the South China Sea by deploying advanced missile systems on the Spratly islands.
UAE Naval Vessel Attacked By Houthi Rebels Off Yemeni Coast During Amphibious Operation
– War Zone – The attack is one in what has become a long string of strikes by Houthi rebels on vessels transiting the Red Sea.
US Navy pushes ahead with bid to extend the range of its sub-killer torpedo
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy, aiming to make its attack submarines even more stealthy and lethal at extended ranges, took a big step forward with a contract announcement Tuesday.
Norway’s Coast Guard stares down big challenges in Arctic
– Defense News – During the three weeks the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel Harstad sailed around Svalbard in late May, it was the only military ship available to respond to a crisis in the vast waters surrounding the island. But that reality is the norm and likely will be for a long time, even as demands on the service grow by leaps and bounds.
Why landlocked Ethiopia wants to launch a navy
– BBC – When Eritrea gained independence in 1993, Ethiopia suddenly found itself without a coastline and so it took the logical step of disbanding its navy. Now, it is reconsidering its decision and its latest manoeuvres in the region suggest it could be shopping around its neighbourhood to find a naval base it can use.
Concrete and coral: Tracking expansion in the South China Sea
– Reuters – U.S. military officials now say China’s military bases on man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea are virtually complete. Exclusive data and satellite imagery shows the pace of construction on reefs and reclaimed land in the Spratly and Paracel Islands.
Donald Trump’s New World Order
– New Yorker – How the President, Israel, and the Gulf states plan to fight Iran – and leave the Palestinians and the Obama years behind.
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