International Business Times – In a bid to boost its maritime interest in the Indo-Pacific, China has been sending survey ships into the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of its neighbors.
Yearly Archives: 2021
Japanese Shipyard Launches First Yard Oiler Tanker For JMSDF
Naval News – Shin Kurushima Hashihama Dockyard, located in Hashihama, Imabari city, Ehime prefecture today launched the first of two Yard Oiler Tankers for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.
Storm Warning: Chinese Gray Zone Futures Inbound
CIMSEC – Understanding the direction towards which Chinese gray zone activities may evolve could give early warning about China’s likely next steps. Suitable responses could then be considered and implemented in a measured manner, without the time pressures induced by a sudden, unexpected crisis.
The Skies Over the South China Sea
Reuters – What weeks of mass air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone say about China’s airpower.
North Korea confirms ‘successful’ submarine-launched missile test
BBC – North Korea has successfully tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, state media say, confirming earlier reports by South Korea.
The U.S. Coast Guard: A Global Force for the Greater Good
USNI Blog – The global value of the U.S. Coast Guard to the nation and U.S. combatant commanders has never been higher, but it remains the least-funded U.S. armed force, making it difficult to keep pace with the increasing demands placed on this multimission, military, and maritime agency.
China’s Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Missile: How Should America Respond?
1945 – James Holmes writes that there is no cause for panic. Let’s think strategically, allocate resources, and reply to the China challenge.
10 Chinese, Russian Warships Sail Through Japanese Islands
USNI News – A combination of 10 Russian Navy and Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy ships sailed from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean through the Tsugaru Strait between Japanese home islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, Joint Staff of the Japan Self Defense Force said in a press statement.
A New Maritime Strategy, Part 2 – A Theory of Victory?
CIMSEC – A new strategy must first deal with how to defeat a Chinese attack in the short term and then how to deal with a protracted war in the long term, all the while maintaining and exercising global command of the sea.
Long Chain of Failures Left Sailors Unprepared to Fight USS Bonhomme Richard Fire, Investigation Finds
USNI News – A cascade of failures – from a junior enlisted sailor not recognizing a fire at the end of their duty watch to fundamental problems with how the U.S. Navy trains sailors to fight fires in shipyards – are responsible for the five-day blaze that cost the service an amphibious warship, according to an investigation into the July 2020 USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) fire.
A big future for UK shipbuilding
Navy Lookout – The second iteration of the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSbS) is due to be published soon. Here we consider the ambitions for the long-term naval construction programme and revival of the maritime enterprise.
General Anthony Zinni (ret.) on Wargaming Iraq, Millennium Challenge, and Competition
CIMSEC – This is the second part of our conversation series with General Anthony Zinni, USMC (ret.) on leadership, strategy, learning, and the art and science of warfighting. In this installment, General Zinni shares his experiences with wargames, Desert Crossing and Millennium Challenge 2002 in particular, and discusses how the differing objectives of service chiefs and combatant commanders manifest in wargames. Gen Zinni then touches on the U.S. military’s overreliance on technology and draws parallels from the business world to inform approaches to great power competition.
French Navy, Army Drill to Launch Helicopter Attacks From the Sea
USNI News – The French Army and Navy last week completed the Cormoran 21 exercise after more than two weeks of drills in the Mediterranean. Cormoran 21 is a power projection exercise involving the joint amphibious and airmobile capabilities of the two services where 24 Army helicopters join amphibious operations commandoes embarked on French Navy ships to form the Groupe Naval Aéromobile (Naval Airmobile Group).
Chinese Power Projection; A Role for Arsenal Ships?
Wavell Room – First considered by the US in the 1990s, China is reported to be evaluating potential arsenal ship concepts.
Estonia Selects Blue Spear Anti-Ship Missile For Coastal Batteries
Naval News – Estonian Centre for Defence Investment (ECDI) has signed a contract with Proteus Advanced Systems Pte. Ltd., a joint venture company of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) and ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd. (ST), to equip the Estonian Defence Forces with Blue Spear (5G SSM) missile systems
What Should A $100 Billion Japanese Military Look Like?
1945 – James Holmes writes that Tokyo must refuse to succumb to the allure of prestige platforms.
Can’t Sail Away From Cyber Attacks: ‘Sea-Hacking’ From Land
War on the Rocks – The warnings had been issued for years. The techniques were simple enough — penetrate the platform through the onboard navigation system and then go horizontally across the onboard networks to gain control of key systems such as steering and the throttle. The hackers did exactly this — surprisingly without foreknowledge of the specific systems they were to hack prior to beginning the penetration. They were in and through the navigation interface in a remarkably short time and had control of both the steering systems and the throttle in quick succession. From this effort came a coveted “Black Badge” from the Maritime Hacking village of the annual cyber security conference DefCon, held in August 2021 in Las Vegas.
Navy Denies Russian Claims of Expelling U.S. Destroyer From Territorial Waters In Sea of Japan
USNI News – The U.S. Navy on Friday refuted Russian claims that it prevented a U.S. destroyer from crossing into its territorial waters in the Sea of Japan.
China, Russia hold joint naval drill in Sea of Japan, display ‘higher level of trust, capability’
Global Times – With China’s advanced Type 055, a 10,000 ton-class large destroyer, for the first time joining an exercise with a foreign navy, China and Russia on Thursday kicked off a joint naval drill in the Sea of Japan, in a move that Chinese experts said not only displays the two sides’ high level of strategic mutual trust, but also will enhance their capability to jointly deal with maritime security threats and safeguard regional peace and stability, at a time when Western countries are building antagonistic regional security organizations like the Quad and AUKUS.
China forges ahead in full-time training of carrier-borne fighter pilots
ChinaMilitary – China has preliminarily possessed the capability of full-time training of carrier-borne fighter pilots.
The 4 Submarines Competing For The Indian Navy’s P-75I Program
Naval News – The Indian Navy’s P-75I submarines will be larger and much more potent than the Kalvari Class now entering service. They will be the bedrock of India’s submarine fleet at a time when the strategic focus is leaning towards China as well as the traditional adversary, Pakistan. There are 4 contenders.
Does Taiwan Need Nuclear Weapons To Deter China?
1945 – James Holmes writes that Taiwan can take a pass on nuclear weapons—and husband defenses better suited to the strategic surroundings.
Why the Moskva-Class Helicopter Cruiser is Not the Best Naval Design For the Drone Era
CIMSEC – The Moskva-class represented the largest and most obvious failure of the helicopter cruiser concept. Their weapons were inflexible and their air group too small, compounded by horrible seakeeping. Beyond the failings of the design itself, their doctrinal role was made obsolete before the first ship commissioned. While the proposed ‘Modern Moskva’ avoids these failings, the concept does not address the problems which doomed all helicopter cruisers. Efficiently operating large numbers of aircraft requires as much flight deck as possible. Surface combatants require deck space for weapons and sensors. Trying to combine the two requirements yields a ship that does neither well. A ‘Modern Moskva’ finds itself in a position of being larger and more expensive than a normal surface combatant, but wholly worse than a carrier at flight operations.
Two French LHDs And 25 Helicopters Take Part In Large Amphibious Exercise
Naval News – The French Navy and French Army are currently conducting a joint, large scale, amphibious exercise named Cormoran 21. The goal is to train both services in a high intensity combat scenario representative of what the French Military may face tomorrow.
China Maritime Report No. 15: The New Chinese Marine Corps: A “Strategic Dagger” in a Cross-Strait Invasion
Chinese Maritime Studies Institute – Since 2017, the People’s Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps (PLANMC) has undergone significant expansion, growing from two brigades to eight. The major impetus behind these efforts is a desire to build the service arm into an expeditionary force capable of operating in most environments at short notice. However, PLANMC reform has also bolstered its ability to contribute to major campaigns along China’s periphery, including a Taiwan invasion scenario. This report examines the PLANMC’s role in a cross-strait amphibious campaign and analyzes how new additions to the force could be used against Taiwan.
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