War on the Rocks – Could Japan see an increase in the presence of U.S. military capabilities and personnel in the years ahead? It’s looking possible.
Yearly Archives: 2021
A Problem of Commitment
Defense and Aerospace Report – Chris Cavas writes that when it comes to big things the U. S. Navy has no problem with commitment…But when it comes to the small stuff, forget it. While there are passing fancies, the passion soon flames out and Big Navy is on to the next Big Thing.
What Napoleon Can Teach Us About the South China Sea
War on the Rocks – In trying to understand America’s “great power competition” with China, observers have offered a range of historical analogies. Graham Allison invoked the “Thucydides Trap,” referring to Athens and its war with Sparta, while a recent compilation asked, in reference to World War I, if a U.S.-Chinese clash could be the next great war. But perhaps the Napoleonic Wars offer a better analogy.
China’s Desert Storm Education
USNI Proceedings – China took lessons from Operation Desert Storm and remade itself with foreign technology to build a formidable joint military force with expeditionary ambitions.
Turkey Confirms U.S. Destroyers Are Headed For The Black Sea Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis
WarZone – Two U.S. Navy destroyers will enter the Black Sea as a Russian military buildup around eastern Ukraine continues to grow.
U.S. Carrier Strike Group, Amphibious Warships Massed in South China Sea as Regional Tensions Simmer
USNI News – A U.S. carrier strike group and amphibious ready group are in the South China Sea as tensions increase between Manilla and Beijing over a Chinese maritime militia incursion into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Narco Sub Production Moves To Europe
StrategyPage – In southern Spain (Malaga province, just east of the Straits of Gibraltar), a March 2021 police raid on a drug gang coastal warehouse found a ten-meter (31 foot) narco-sub (drug smuggling submersible vessel) under construction and nearly completed.
US spies peer into the future – and it doesn’t look good
BBC – The US Intelligence Community has issued a survey of where the world may end up in 2040.
Read the report here: Global Trends 2040
Russian Gunboats Head To The Black Sea To Join Military Buildup Near Ukraine
War Zone – The deployment of additional naval assets to the Black Sea comes as other signs, including a spike in GPS jamming, point to a new looming crisis.
Delivery Of Russia’s Upgraded Kirov-Class Cruiser Admiral Nakhimov Delayed To 2023
Naval News – The delivery of Kirov-class nuclear powered cruiser (project 11442M) Admiral Nakhimov to the Russian Navy won’t be possible until 2023, a defense industry source told TASS. The vessel, which is being upgraded by Sevmash Shipyard, was supposed to be handed over in late 2022.
Now China Has Cruise Missile Carrying Catamarans Chasing Away Ships In The South China Sea
War Zone – The appearance of the Chinese catamaran fast-attack missile craft adds a significant new player to these disputed waters.
Conventional Deterrence and the US Navy: Why the Future Needs to Happen Now Part 1
CIMSEC – Deterrence represents one form of coercive diplomacy, which the DoD defines as the “prevention of action by the existence of a credible threat of unacceptable counteraction and/or belief that the cost of action outweighs the perceived benefits.” Compellence constitutes a different form of coercive diplomacy, representing the “use of threatened force, including the limited use of actual force to back up the threat, to induce an adversary to behave differently than it otherwise would.” States can employ these coercive approaches through various instruments of power in their pursuit of national interests.
Virtual Training: Preparing Future Naval Officers For 21st Century Warfare
CIMSEC – The Naval Academy must return to the warfighting mentality of its past. In 2007, the Naval Academy not only removed its only tactics and strategy course from the Midshipmen core curriculum, it stopped offering it altogether. Until recently, this decision signaled the end of a rich history of wargaming at USNA, which included Academy-wide games held at varying levels of classification. VTEs offer the Naval Academy an opportunity to reprioritize warfighting by providing the “ready, relevant learning” future naval officers will need to conduct 21st century warfare.
Navy Installing More Directed Energy Weapons on DDGs, Conducting Land-Based Laser Testing This Year
USNI News – The Navy continues to learn more about a pair of directed energy weapons, as the service installs the fourth and fifth dazzler system this year and begins land-based testing of a high-energy laser weapon.
China’s New Aircraft Carriers: Should We Be Impressed?
1945 – A common refrain in these pixels is that strategic competition is an armed debate in which debaters—great powers, usually—flourish implements of war in an impressive way to mold opinion among audiences that matter. Positioning oneself as the stronger contender in the minds of influential observers helps cow opponents give heart to allies and partners, win new allies to the cause, and rally the faithful back home.
5 Ways The Russian Navy Could Target Undersea Internet Cables
Naval News – Few corners of the submarine world are seen as sneakier than covert operations against undersea communications cables. It is estimated that 97% of global communications are transmitted by undersea cables. This includes trillions of dollars of financial transactions. These cables have been described as ‘Indispensable but insecure’. They are thought to be particularly vulnerable to the Russian Navy’s seabed warfare platforms. And it is not just internet traffic which could be under threat, but energy infrastructure, military communications and sensor networks.
Navy Large Unmanned Surface and Undersea Vehicles: Background and Issues for Congress
Congressional Research Service – A nice overview of this topic.
(Thanks to Alain)
PLA carrier, warplanes surround Taiwan in drills, in show of capability to cut off foreign intervention
Global Times – A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft carrier task group was training in the east of Taiwan island as at least 10 PLA warplanes appeared in the west of the island in a routine exercise on Monday, indicating that the island is surrounded from the east with an aircraft carrier task group and by land-based PLA forces on the west.
Turkish Coast Guard vessel crashes into Greek patrol boat
Greek City Times – A Turkish coast guard vessel crashed twice into a Greek port authority patrol boat six days ago.
(Thanks to Alain)
5 Ways The Russian Navy Could Target Undersea Internet Cables
Naval News – Few corners of the submarine world are seen as sneakier than covert operations against undersea communications cables. It is estimated that 97% of global communications are transmitted by undersea cables. This includes trillions of dollars of financial transactions. These cables have been described as ‘Indispensable but insecure’. They are thought to be particularly vulnerable to the Russian Navy’s seabed warfare platforms. And it is not just internet traffic which could be under threat, but energy infrastructure, military communications and sensor networks.
Type 212CD: Germany’s Stealth Submarine That Could Sink Anything?
National Interest – In a press release, the German Ministry of Defense announced the conclusion of a contract agreement between Norway, Germany, and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems for six new Type 212 submarines to be delivered to the German and Norwegian navies. Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is a German shipbuilding company that also designs and builds some of the world’s most advanced non-nuclear submarines.
(Thanks to Alain)
Iranian ship thought to be used as military base attacked, says Tehran
Navy ‘Struggling’ to Modernize Aging Cruiser Fleet As Tight Budgets Push Pentagon to Shed Legacy Platforms
USNI News – A plan to keep the Navy’s guided-missile cruiser fleet operating through the end of the 2030s is struggling as the ships show there’s a very real cost in time and money to keep old platforms around for the sake of having a larger fleet.
China’s Maritime Militia and Fishing Fleets: A Primer For Operational Staffs and Tactical Leaders, Part 2
CIMSEC – The surge of propaganda notwithstanding, several issues confront Beijing before the maritime militia can effectively function as the third arm in collaboration with the PLAN and Chinese Coast Guard.
Do Russia Or China Have ‘Limited’ Or ‘Unlimited’ Political Goals?
1945 – James Holmes asks – Riddle me this: does a contender intent on overthrowing the international system harbor “limited” or “unlimited” political goals?
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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