Breaking Defense – The US Navy answers questions about its roadmap for employing electric and battery power for lasers, radars, and propulsion over the next two decades.
Yearly Archives: 2021
Pushing or Overstepping? Legal Boundaries in the Fight Against Maritime Drug Smuggling Part 1
CIMSEC – Every day, U.S. Coast Guard cutters patrol the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea for drug smuggling vessels, seizing more cocaine than all other American law enforcement agencies combined. Federal prosecutors then bring charges against the detained smugglers under a controversial and confusing legal regime. By analyzing the lifecycle of a case – from interdiction to detention to prosecution – this two-part article explores (1) the extraterritorial jurisdiction established by the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA); (2) the practice of detaining suspected smugglers aboard Coast Guard cutters for weeks without formal arrest; and (3) the interaction between intelligence gathering and the trial penalty. In each of these instances, a different branch of the federal government is pushing against – if not overstepping – legal constraints in order to empower the Coast Guard in the fight against maritime drug smuggling. This is a fragile system, however, and should one of these government branches become squeamish, the whole apparatus could collapse.
China Builds Missile Targets Shaped Like U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Destroyers in Remote Desert
USNI News – The Chinese military has built targets in the shape of an American aircraft carrier and other U.S. warships in the Taklamakan desert as part of a new target range complex.
Winning the Fight Taiwan Cannot Afford to Lose
National Defense University Press – Taiwan has begun to embrace a new asymmetric defense approach focused on fighting in the littoral with smaller, more survivable systems. This is key to defeating a Chinese invasion. Support from President Tsai Ingwen has been high but there is resistance from some senior members of Taiwan’s defense establishment who favor more expensive conventional systems.
Japan, Germany expand military ties as German warship sails through region
Defense News – Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Friday the country will step up military cooperation with Germany in the Indo-Pacific region as he welcomed a port call by the first German warship to visit Japan in about 20 years.
HMS Queen Elizabeth: Life on board Royal Navy aircraft carrier
BBC – Watch Able Rating William Augustine, who deals with the ship’s payroll, as he takes the BBC around to show us what life is like on board.
Britain tracked Chinese submarines and was ready to intercept jets in South China Sea, officers reveal
Sky News – Frigates and helicopters operating with HMS Queen Elizabeth were able to locate Chinese submarines, allowing the UK’s largest warship to steer clear.
China’s New Ballistic Missile Subs Could Strike The U.S. Without Sailing Into The Pacific
War Zone – The ability to launch their ballistic missiles from the South China Sea or Bohai Sea would be a huge capability increase for China’s SSBN force.
A Gnawing Hunger: Food Policy and Great Power Conflict, A U.S.-China Case Study
The Strategy Bridge – While much analysis has focused on how fishing and other related maritime resource disputes play into great power competition and the national security implications for the U.S., comparatively little analysis has focused on the impacts of any disruption of not only the Chinese fishing fleet but China’s international food imports in the event of a Pacific conflict. Although China remains more vulnerable than the U.S. to food disruption in such a scenario, the ripple effects of a Pacific war will force China, regional actors, and even the U.S. to carefully manage national food policies, with drastic consequences should their attempts fail. In a future Pacific conflict, food policy and management by all parties is, to paraphrase Sir Michael Howard, a likely root of either victory or defeat for any unprepared participants.
A Japanese Seaplane Could Be The Difference-Maker For the US Military
War On The Rocks – As the United States increasingly focuses on competition in the Indo-Pacific, and as elements of the U.S. military look specifically to amphibious aircraft, it would do well to consider acquiring handy Japanese seaplanes.
Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2021
Office of the Secretary of Defense – Annual Report to Congress.
First Submarine To Use New Stealth Technology
Naval News – The Royal Navy’s new Dreadnought Class submarine promises to be the stealthiest yet. The first two boats, HMS Dreadnought and HMS Valiant, are already under construction. They are destined to take over Britain’s nuclear deterrent from the 2030s. They incorporate significant changes in the design compared to other types.
Extending That ‘Loving Feeling’ To Undersea Warfare
War on the Rocks – The Hollywood blockbuster “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise was a potent recruiting advertisement for aviators. One of its most memorable scenes was of a chorus of pilots at the bar of an Officer’s Club singing “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” to a bemused Kelly McGillis…It is time to extend that “loving feeling” to submarine warfare — including, and perhaps especially, to the submarine forces of U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
Delivering a stronger Navy, faster
Australian Strategic Policy Institute – Serious risks are being realised in the Royal Australian Navy’s twin transitions in its surface combatant and submarine fleets. As Australia’s strategic circumstances become more dangerous, Defence needs to adopt hedging measures to actively address the capability risks in its acquisition plans.
(Thanks to Alain)
The Implications of Simultaneous Conflicts in South Korea and Taiwan
CIMSEC – Although the United States was able to deter China from invading Taiwan in 1950 despite its concurrent commitment of forces to defend South Korea against North Korean aggression, it may not be so successful today or in the near future given the current trend in the balance of military power.
Navy Deployed USS Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams Near Major African Drug Trafficking Routes
USNI News – The Navy is taking its sole ship assigned to U.S. Africa Command to places the service hasn’t been in almost a decade – including a key chokepoint that’s become a major opioid drug trafficking route.
The Navy Isn’t Prepared To Face The Growing Diesel Submarine Threat
War Zone – A veteran submarine hunter explains how the proliferation of ever more capable diesel-electric submarines is a major problem for the U.S. Navy.
More Than Just a Fire: The Bonnie Dick Reveals a Navy in Shambles
War on the Rocks – The final assessment of the USS Bonhomme Richard fire reveals that the U.S. Navy is hobbled by questionable training, a shortage of personnel, and a general unpreparedness to fight and prevail in a war. If they are to play a meaningful role in a cross-strait conflict, U.S. ships must be able to fight in range of Chinese missiles. The Bonhomme Richard disaster, a fire in the port of San Diego, might not seem relevant here, but it is: It demonstrates the Navy’s egregious damage-control inadequacies. If these are left unaddressed, the Navy will face a serious erosion of its combat power after only a handful of Chinese missile barrages.
New Stealth Fighters, Aircraft Carriers And UCAVs: Dissecting The Real State Of China’s Naval Aviation
The Aviationist – We interviewed Chinese military aviation expert Andreas Rupprecht to learn more about the progress of the PLAN Naval Aviation.
How War With China Begins
The Atlantic – A cold war is already under way. The question is whether Washington can deter Beijing from initiating a hot one.
Investigation Concludes USS Connecticut Grounded on Uncharted Seamount in South China Sea
USNI News – Investigators have determined USS Connecticut (SSN-22) hit an uncharted seamount that grounded the nuclear attack submarine on the underwater feature in the South China Sea Navy
Chinese Ferry Tales: The PLA’s Use of Civilian Shipping in Support of Over-the-Shore Logistics
Chinese Maritime Studies Institute – The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has long provided indications it will use civilian shipping in direct support of a cross-strait invasion of Taiwan. To date, however, there has been little effort to gauge the PLA’s actual ability to leverage China’s commercial fleet in the most challenging part of any such campaign—operations over-the-shore. Drawing from ship tracking data, satellite imagery, media reporting, and the writings of PLA experts, this report analyzes recent military-civil fusion exercises and training to assess current capabilities.
What’s At Stake In The Indo-Pacific
USNI Proceedings – What happens at sea will determine what happens on land across the region.
Don’t Trust China In The South China Sea
1945 – James Holmes writes that history has proved, time and again, that CCP commitments to lofty principles are perishable. The leadership honors them as long as it needs them, and discards them when it doesn’t.
‘Lightning Carriers’ Could Be Lightweights in an Asian War
War on the Rocks – Earlier this month, U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighters embarked on the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force ship JS Izumo as a capability validation…It is also a milestone on a path that is establishing smaller aircraft carriers equipped with the F-35B Lightning II, or “Lightning carriers,” as the new capital ships of Asia.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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