Navy Lookout – The Type 45 Destroyer is the Royal Navy’s primary Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) vessel. Other than the propulsion issues discussed in depth elsewhere, this article documents what has already been done to upgrade the class and the potential improvements to be applied later in their service lives.
Yearly Archives: 2022
China gains a foothold in Australia’s backyard
BBC – Late last week, a proposed security treaty between China and a tiny chain of islands in the Pacific sent shock waves across the ocean.
War Studies Primer
We invite you to try War Studies Primer – an introductory course on the study of war and military history. Its purpose is to provide an introduction to the study of war.
War Studies Primer is presented as a lecture curriculum at the university level. It is a free, non-credit, self-study course that consists of 28 topics and over 1,900 slides and is updated on a yearly basis.
Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.
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Stand-in Forces: Adapt or Perish
USNI Proceedings – Small, mobile, and lethal, Marine Corps stand-in forces will be ready to deploy on short notice to disrupt an adversary’s plans at every point.
Frogmen Solve Hard Problems—From and on the Sea
USNI Proceedings – Naval special warfare is the nation’s naval commando force.
Navy Wants To Cut Two Nearly New Sea Base Ships That Are Like Nothing Else
War Zone – The U.S. Navy wants to decommission both of its Montford Point class expeditionary transfer dock ships as part of its budget plans for the 2023 Fiscal Year. Cutting these vessels, which are both less than a decade old, relatively young by ship standards, is ostensibly part of a broader reorganization of the Navy and Marine Corps to focus more on distributed operations. This logic seems highly questionable given that these floating logistics nodes, which are unlike anything else the service has now, offer capabilities that would be ideal for those new concepts of operations.
Insights For Marine (And Beyond) Force Design From the Russo-Ukrainian War
War on the Rocks – While it is too soon to reach any definitive lessons learned from the ongoing war in Ukraine, some immediate insights can inform ongoing U.S. and NATO military force design and defense investment priorities.
US Navy deploys 3 spy ships near China at once ‘in support of submarine warfare’
Global Times – The US Navy has reportedly deployed three spy ships simultaneously to sensitive waters near China over the past week in a provocative move experts said on Thursday aims to boost its submarine and anti-submarine warfare capabilities against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The UK’s Defence Contribution in the High North
U.K. Ministry of Defence – As the 2021 Defence Command Paper makes clear, the High North and maintaining security in the defence of the North Atlantic remains of great importance to the UK. The MOD will continue to ensure that it remains capable of protecting the UK’s interests as the region opens up in the coming years.
Turkey defuses stray naval mine in Black Sea amid Ukraine war
Retuers – A military diving team deactivated a stray naval mine off Turkey’s northwest coast on Monday, Turkey’s defence ministry said, the second such device to be defused in the area in days amid the war in Ukraine.
(Thanks to Alain)
Send Simmers to the Skirmish: A Case For A Wing-In-Ground Effect Attack Craft
CIMSEC – A wing-in-ground maritime attack craft (WMAC) would present an opportunity to field a cost-effective, survivable asset that can punch above its weight and cost. Such a platform would assist the United States naval battlegroups in attriting adversarial surface platforms and shore-based area denial systems to pursue maritime superiority in a contested environment. The United States Navy should pursue the acquisition, experimenting with, and eventual conversion of commercially produced wing-in-ground craft to fill an anti-surface warfare role until purpose-built designs can be developed, tested, and fielded.
Royal Marines launch commando raid from Astute class submarine during Arctic exercise
Navy Lookout – This brief photo and video essay shows Royal Marines of Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron, 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group conducting a small boat raid from a Royal Navy Astute class submarine.
US Navy wants to cut nine LCSs, eliminate their anti-submarine mission
Defense News – The U.S. Navy wants to decommission nine of its Freedom-variant littoral combat ships and eliminate the anti-submarine warfare mission for the ships, citing a trade-off between the cost of the ships and equipment versus the warfighting capability they’d actually deliver.
Assessing Russia’s first major naval loss of the war in Ukraine
Navy Lookout – In the early morning of 24 March, a Russian tank landing ship unloading in the occupied port of Berdyansk in Ukraine was destroyed by explosions and fire. Here we look at the background, the loss of this vessel and its potential implications.
Is There A Serious Sea Mine Threat In The Black Sea?
Naval News – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had a significant impact on the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. While blockades of areas off the coast of Odessa restricted maritime routes, a NAVTEX message from the Russian station of Novorossiysk revealed a new threat: floating sea mines…
Sizing the Carriers—A Brief History of Alternatives
US Naval War College Review – In the end, the debate over aircraft carriers always boils down to cost; their acquisition costs are much higher than for any other single-item defense program, making them a natural target for criticism. Combined with a simplistic perception of vulnerability, high costs tend to cause critics to declare aircraft carriers unaffordable—but “compared to what?”
Cargo Ships As Missile Carriers Is One Of The Navy’s Options To Offset Cruiser Retirements
War Zone – The Navy needs more ships to carry missiles in order to overcome the loss of Ticonderoga cruisers, five of which could be retiring this year.
Satellite Images Confirm Russian Navy Landing Ship Was Sunk at Berdyansk
USNI News – The Russian landing ship attacked by Ukrainian forces this week at in the southern port city of Berdyansk has sunk, Pentagon officials confirmed on Friday.
New Heights of Russian Hypocrisy and “Unlawfare” in the Black Sea
CIMSEC – Despite Russia continuing to bomb civilians and target hospitals amid an aggressive war that is itself illegal, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has taken the time to issue a press statement complaining about Ukrainian mines in the Black Sea. Specifically, the FSB claims that the Ukrainian Navy has violated international law because a storm broke loose some of the submarine mines used to protect Ukrainian ports from the Russian invasion. Interestingly, Russia is claiming that Ukraine has contravened the provisions of the 1907 Hague Convention (VIII) on submarine mining, yet neither Russia nor Ukraine is actually a party to that Convention.
Chinese Investment Near Panama Canal, Strait of Magellan Major Concern for U.S. Southern Command
USNI News – Restrictions to the passage of traffic through the Panama Canal and the Strait of Magellan as China moves aggressively to expand its footprint across Central and South America are the top concerns of the current U.S. Southern Command head told a Senate panel.
A Generational Change in Naval Aviation Has Begun Amidst Tight Budgets, Fighter Gaps
USNI News – The Navy is making the first major changes to the carrier air wing in a generation. The service just wrapped up the first carrier deployment of the F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters – the first new fighter jet on a carrier in 20 years – and is a few years away from introducing the first unmanned aircraft into the air wing. But while the Navy is moving ahead with new platforms and ways of fighting, it is still wrestling with maintenance gaps and a fighter inventory too small to deploy and train efficiently. The service is also shifting its strategy to focus on the Indo-Pacific, a vast region for the carrier air wing to operate in, after two decades of providing close-air support for combat missions in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Russian Landing Ship Destroyed in Ukrainian Port
USNI News – The Ukrainian military destroyed a Russian Alligator-class landing ship in the port city of Berdyansk on Thursday, Ukrainian officials claimed.
How Japan Can Help Save Taiwan: Securing the First Island Chain
War on the Rocks – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has taught Taiwan many lessons about preparing for a possible Chinese invasion. Japan should also take this opportunity to learn. What more can Japan’s Self-Defense Forces do to prepare given their inevitable participation in any potential conflict over Taiwan?
France raises its alert level and deploys three nuclear submarines at sea
France Inter – France has just raised its level of alert on nuclear deterrence. Now, three of the submarines equipped with this weapon are at sea, an unprecedented situation.
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