War Zone – SEWIP Block III is much more than just a naval electronic warfare system. Northrop Grumman’s Mike Meaney breaks down its real potential for us.
Yearly Archives: 2021
How Russia’s Yasen-M Submarine Compares To The U.S. Navy’s Block-V Virginia
Naval News – Russia is rapidly modernizing its cruise-missile submarine fleet. At the same time, the U.S. Navy is building larger and more capable versions of the Virginia Class which carry more missiles. How do the latest submarine classes compare in terms of weapons load?
Russian Nuclear Submarine Broke Down In Danish Waters
War Zone – The Danish Navy described the situation as “dramatic” as the submarine Orel drifted towards its territory following an unknown propulsion malfunction.
USS Bonhomme Richard fire: Suspect identified as 20-year-old Navy sailor
BBC – A 20-year-old US Navy sailor has been identified as the prime suspect charged with starting a fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard warship in 2020.
India’s Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Has Gone To Sea For The First Time
War Zone – India has joined the select group of countries to have designed and built their own aircraft carriers, with its first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, or IAC, named INS Vikrant, having begun sea trials today. While the program has suffered delays and cost overruns, the milestone is still a significant one for the Indian Navy and its air arm and is the next step toward India fielding its planned multiple-carrier force.
Ukrainian official reveals number of Ada-class corvettes on order from Turkey
Defense News – A December 2020 deal between Turkey and Ukraine for the sale of an unknown batch of Turkish-built corvettes has turned out to involve two vessels.
(Thanks to Alain)
Navy Will Test Freedom-class LCS Gear Fix Next Month; Years Before Repair Reaches Rest of Fleet
USNI News – The Navy is putting Littoral Combat Ship Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS-21) back together after completing a repair to beef up the complicated gearing mechanism that links the ship’s gas turbines to its diesel engines…but how the rest of the fleet of Freedoms will be repaired and who will pay for it is still an open question. The complexity of the repair, as currently devised, will take years to trickle into ships already in the fleet…
MV Asphalt Princess: Ship hijacked off UAE ordered to sail to Iran
BBC – A Panama-flagged ship has been hijacked by armed men in the Gulf of Oman and ordered to sail to Iran, Lloyds List Maritime Intelligence has confirmed.
British Littoral Response Group ships to be based in Oman
UK Defence Journal – The UK will operate two Littoral Response Groups, one deploying to the Euro-Atlantic region and the other deploying to the Indo-Pacific.
Spectrum Warfare Integration: Information Superiority For Marine Stand-In Forces
CIMSEC – The Marine Corps is not prepared for a battle of signatures. Despite being smaller and lighter than the Army, the Marines are no less vulnerable to attacks from spectrally aware adversaries.
Sea Duty: Still Wanna Do It?
USNI Proceedings – With fewer Coast Guardsmen choosing to go to sea, the cutter fleet is facing rough waters. Without intervention, it could be difficult to man, maintain, and operate the future fleet.
French Navy’s La Fayette-Class Frigate Mid-Life Update
Naval News – FS Courbet is the first of three French Navy La Fayette-class frigates (known as FLF for Frégate Légère Furtive – Light Stealth Frigate) to receive a mid-life update. The Commanding Officer of the ship and the program director at Naval Group gave Naval News a tour of the ship, focusing on the new upgrades.
Israel accuses Iran over deadly oil tanker attack
BBC – Israel has accused Iran of being behind an attack on an oil tanker in which two crew members – a British national and a Romanian citizen – were killed.
France’s Indo-Pacific Strategy
Government of France – France’s latest on its strategy for the Indo-Pacific region.
To Beat China In The Gray Zone, You Have To Be There
1945 – If you want to control something you have to be there to control it. Showing up intermittently and going away will not cut it if your opponent is there, in force, all the time, to impose its will.
US sailor charged over massive USS Bonhomme warship blaze in 2020
BBC – The US Navy has filed charges against a sailor over a massive blaze aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in 2020 that destroyed the amphibious warship.
Keeping Littoral Combat Ships Nimble Key to Pacific Deployments, No Plans for 1st Fleet in Singapore
USNI News – The Navy is making Littoral Combat Ship deployments in the Indo-Pacific region more flexible and unpredictable, allowing the service to respond to impromptu engagement opportunities and ensuring the LCS are not tied to any fixed location for too long.
NATO Must Shore Up Control of a Key Maritime Chokepoint
Defense One – One of NATO’s geographic advantages—control of the lands around a key maritime chokepoint—may be in peril. For decades, alliance forces have used nearby bases to keep tabs on Russian submarines, surface ships, and aircraft transiting the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom, or GIUK, Gap, which consists of a 200-mile stretch of ocean between Greenland and Iceland and a 500-mile gap between Iceland and Scotland. But strong independence movements in Greenland, the Faroe Islands southeast of Iceland, and Scotland could soon jeopardize this position.
China is building a new type of unmanned research ship
South China Morning Post – A Chinese shipbuilder has begun work on an unmanned scientific ship that could be a “game changer” for the country’s marine research. The vessel – said to be the first of its type – will carry drones and be equipped to conduct air, sea surface and underwater monitoring remotely, China Ship News reported on Tuesday.
Egypt receives fourth submarine
Israel Defense – During a ceremony at a shipyard in Germany, the fourth 209/1400 submarine was handed over to the Egyptian Navy. The handover of the submarine, which set off in the direction of Egypt, marked the end of an Egyptian project to upgrade its underwater warfare capabilities that started about a decade ago.
(Thanks to Alain)
Blockade: Military-Economic Warfare vs. China
Clio’s Musings – This post assesses the potential of naval blockade as the principal component (along with cyber – not addressed) of a US national strategy of military-economic warfare versus China.
Turkey delivers first armed drone to Ukrainian Navy, much to Russia’s ire
Defense News – The Ukrainian Navy has accepted delivery of the first Bayraktar TB2 drone from Turkish defense company Baykar, according to Ukraine’s Defence Ministry.
(Thanks to Alain)
A New U.S. Navy Planning Model For Lower-Threshold Maritime Security Operations, Part 1
CIMSEC – This article asserts that the U.S. Navy will increasingly be called upon to operate in the constabulary end of activities short of war and proposes a 4-part constraints, restraints, enablers, and imperatives (C-R-E-I) analytical model for preparing the staff estimate to inform the mission analysis phase of the Navy Planning Process (NPP), when utilized to plan for such activities.
Royal Thai Navy confirms its plan to acquire two S26T submarines from China
Navy Recognition – According to information published by the “The Haiger” website, the Royal Thai Navy confirms its plan to acquire two more S26T submarines from China.
(Thanks to Alain)
Adaptability remains a constant — even as the ‘character of war’ changes
The Hill – James Holmes writes that a fighter pilot of bygone decades could help us make sense of recent remarks from Gen. Mark Milley to the NATO Joint Force Command in Norfolk, Va. In the course of his remarks, Gen. Milley offered some intriguing prophecies about the “character” of future war.
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