Breaking Defense – The senior officer overseeing the testing and fielding of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship mission packages said on Thursday that fielding the mine countermeasures portion of those systems has become a “key priority.”
Monthly Archives: July 2021
Hostile Harbors: Taiwan’s Ports and PLA Invasion Plans
Project 2049 Institute – The scale of an all-out Taiwan (Republic of China, ROC) invasion by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military—the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—defies human comprehension and would likely eclipse any historical comparison. In this important contribution to the field, Senior Director Ian Easton analyzes Chinese military studies frameworks and internal PLA documents to answer pressing questions that will help Taiwan and the United States both understand and better plan for potential crisis scenarios. He highlights the centrality of ROC port facilities—and Taiwan’s ability to defend them—in the PLA’s potential invasion plans for Taiwan, illustrating likely operational strategies explored by PLA leadership. In addition to postulating ports likely targeted in a PLA invasion, he provides recommendations that the Taiwanese government could undertake to ensure its port infrastructure security, as well as recommendations for the United States on how to be a supportive partner to Taiwan in that effort.
Putting the Sting in the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy: A Vision For the Future of the MAGTF
Modern War Institute – The newest US maritime strategy, Advantage at Sea, fails to include the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) as a viable operational component for competition in the gray zone. Though Advantage at Sea recognizes the ever-growing Chinese maritime threat, it does not provide a practical way for the United States to address that threat. As the Marine Corps reshapes itself through the guidance in Force Design 2030,it must take the opportunity to create a forward-deployed, commando-like force to fill the gaps present in Advantage at Sea. Doing so offers a way to counter China by using disruptive and asymmetric means to both coexist with and deter competitors and, if necessary, fight at sea.
Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth Drills with Indian Navy Ahead of More Pacific Exercises
USNI News – The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (RO8) and its carrier strike group carried out a two-day exercise called Exercise Konkan with the Indian Navy from July 21 to 22 in the Bay of Bengal. The exercise was designed to hone the ability of the two navies to operate together in the maritime domain, according to an Indian Ministry of Defence release. The exercise included anti-submarine warfare, anti-air and anti-surface warfare drills.
Submarine leaders want to tap into JADC2 network without giving away their position
Defense News – The Navy’s submarine force of the future will have to balance its need to remain stealthy against a need for information from the joint force.
Submarine industry is growing less fragile, but it needs stability going into SSN(X), increased repair work
Defense News – The U.S. Navy will ask the submarine industrial base to do a delicate dance in the coming decade: continue building two Virginia-class attack subs a year, ramp up the pace of building the much-larger Columbia-class ballistic missile sub, and begin designing and building the SSN(X) next-generation attack sub, all while restarting a submarine repair capability.
ODIN dazzler destined for more destroyers
Shephard – Additional USN vessels are to receive the AN/SEQ-4 Optical Dazzler Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) directed-energy weapon for C-UAS operations.
Shots fired from Turkish vessel at Cypriot coastguard: reports
EuroNews – A Turkish Coast Guard vessel fired warning shots at a Cypriot Coast Guard vessel that was on patrol near the port of Kato Pyrgos, on the northwest coast of the contested island.
(Thanks to Alain)
Marine UH-1Y Venom Helicopters Have Been Assisting In The Hunt For Submarines
War Zone – The adaptable UH-1Y Venom is now playing a role in the Marine Corps’ pivot toward the anti-submarine warfare mission.
Drone disguised as a manta ray will be deployed by Royal Marines to spy on warships and submarines with sleek design to avoid enemy radar and silent fish-like propulsion
Daily Mail – A near undetectable drone disguised as a manta ray will soon be deployed by the Royal Marines for surveillance of warships and submarines.
(Thanks to Alain)
Frigate Bayern in the Pacific: The Return of German Gunboat Diplomacy?
CIMSEC – The German government recently announced the deployment of the frigate Bayern to the South China Sea. With this deployment, Berlin is aiming to send a strong signal to its European and American allies. However, it is one that comes with an exit strategy of a kind that is unique to the use of naval forces. On one hand, Germany wants to be seen as standing up against unilateral Chinese appropriation of international waters. On the other hand, China’s potential counterreactions need to be closely monitored and dangerous escalation avoided, especially in light of China’s current conventional and nuclear capabilities, and Germany’s economic dependence on the Middle Kingdom.
Britain to permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters
Reuters – Britain said on Tuesday it would permanently deploy two warships in Asian waters after its Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and escort ships sail to Japan in September through seas where China is vying for influence with the United States and Japan.
America’s Strategy in Oceania: Time For a Better Approach
War on the Rocks – Despite the Biden administration’s growing interest in Oceania, the U.S. government does not have a comprehensive strategy for the Pacific island nations, and time is running out.
Flattops from space: the once (and future?) meme of photographing aircraft carriers from orbit
The Space Review – In 1984, Samuel Loring Morison, an analyst at the Naval Intelligence Support Center outside of Washington, DC, picked three photos off the desk of a colleague. He clipped the security classification stamps off the sides of the photos and provided them to Jane’s Defence Weekly, which had only recently begun publishing. The photos were taken by a satellite of a Soviet Union military shipyard. Knowing that they had a real scoop, the editors at Jane’s put one of the photos on the cover of the magazine and featured the other two in a short article about the latest Soviet naval developments…
Ramping the Strait: Quick and Dirty Solutions to Boost Amphibious Lift
Jamestown Foundation – The apparent shortage of amphibious lift required to execute large-scale landing operations leaves many wondering whether China is serious about its threats against Taiwan. But the PLA may have other plans for transporting troops and equipment across the Strait: the growing capabilities of its merchant roll on-roll off (RO-RO) ships.
Two Iranian Warships Spotted Near English Channel
USNI News – Two Iranian warships are nearing the English Channel, according to satellite photographs reviewed by USNI News. The ships are thought to be headed to the Baltic Sea to represent Iran in a July 25 naval parade off the coast of St. Petersburg to commemorate the 325th anniversary of the Russian Navy.
The Navy Must Hide in Plain Sight
USNI Proceedings – China has been infiltrating U.S. networks for years. A comprehensive, preemptive cyber attack on the U.S. Navy is not hard to imagine.
A Toxic Brew Of Careerism And Fear: Why The Navy Could Lose A War To China
1945 – How do you change a culture? That question courses through a new congressionally mandated report from retired marine Lt. Gen. Robert Schmidle and retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery. The coauthors warn that failing to renovate the surface navy’s culture would court defeat against an increasingly well-equipped, increasingly rowdy Chinese navy.
U.S. Navy’s Virginia Class Submarines To Get 76% More Firepower
Naval News – Quantity has a quality all of its own. And when the quality relates to U.S. Navy missiles, having more of them is inevitably a massive increase in capabilities. The latest Block V Virginia Class submarine will greatly increase the number of missiles which can be carried. In effect this will make it a cruise missile submarine (SSGN). Yet it will not take away from this otherwise flexible anti-ship, anti-submarine, intelligence and special forces platform.
‘Sense Of Crisis’ On China-Taiwan: Japan Defense White Paper
Breaking Defense – Japan’s new Defense White Paper warns that China’s growing military muscle, overflights and naval incursions “have become a matter of grave concern to the region including Japan and the international community,” one which will require new capabilities and doctrine to counter.
Royal Canadian Navy to start process of replacing aging submarine fleet
Global News – The Royal Canadian Navy is launching its long-anticipated push to replace Canada‘s beleaguered submarine fleet, setting the stage for what will almost certainly be an extremely controversial debate around the need for such vessels.
Sailors, Sailors Everywhere and Not a Berth to Sleep: The Illusion of Forward Posture in the Western Pacific
War on the Rocks – Given the very real limitations on deploying additional personnel or platforms to existing forward bases or to aspirational new ones in the Western Pacific, Washington ought to adopt a more peripheral approach to conflict management in the region. An emphasis on platforms that do not require new basing rights would offer a more mobile and survivable posture.
PLA fighter bombers practice maritime mine blockade
Global Times – Fighter bombers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Aviation Forces recently held training exercises to practice setting up maritime blockades by airdropping sea mines.
New light-duty tank delivered to PLA Navy’s amphibious force
China Daily – China’s ZTQ-15 light tank has been delivered to the amphibious force of the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
US attempts to monitor PLA submarines with increased spy ship activities in S.China Sea
Global Times – A Beijing-based think tank is keeping an eye on an increase in close-range reconnaissance activities this year by US Navy ocean surveillance ships in the South China Sea, saying in a report released on Tuesday that the US is attempting to monitor Chinese submarine activities in the region and provide anti-submarine intelligence support.
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