Navy Outlook – The much-delayed National Shipbuilding Strategy ‘refresh’ document was finally published on 10th March. Here we examine the plan in the context of the future Royal Navy fleet.
Yearly Archives: 2022
Colombian Navy Finds Clandestine Cartel Shipyard With 2 Narco Submarines
Newsweek – The Colombian Navy says it has uncovered a clandestine shipyard housing two “semi-submersible” vessels and other equipment for shipping tons of illegal drugs in a rural village of a municipality along the Pacific Ocean.
(Thanks to Alain)
Data as an Approach to Yemen’s Maritime Security Challenges
CIMSEC – Data can provide a strategic framework for addressing Yemen’s maritime security challenges while also strengthening partnerships and improving maritime domain awareness in the wider Red Sea Region. Specifically, data is an instrument for addressing three security challenges: maritime enforcement, coastal welfare, and rule of law.
Qatar signs deal with Leonardo for first ever Navy Operations Center
Breaking Defense – The Qatari Navy has signed a new contract with Italy’s Leonardo to develop a Naval Operation Center (NOC) for the military service, the first of its kind in the country. The center will ensure navy forces monitor and control Qatar’s territorial water, Exclusive Economic Zone and adjacent waters. The center, which will control radars and sea-based tracking in real time, will include electronic warfare systems.
(Thanks to Alain)
The Russian Baltic Fleet – Organisation and role within the Armed Forces in 2020
Swedish Defense Research Agency – The role of the Baltic Fleet has varied over time – ranging from projecting naval power on the world’s oceans, to being a force predominantly adapted for coastal defence. In this report, the role in 2020 of the Baltic Fleet within the Armed Forces is thoroughly examined, detailed and analysed. The result is more complex than that represented by the dichotomy between an oceangoing and a coastal naval force. In 2020, paradoxically, shore-based capabilities in the Kaliningrad region constitute a large part of the Baltic Fleet’s organisation, reflecting the significant role of the Baltic Fleet in the defence of Russia’s western border. However, this is at the same time only partly reflected in the Baltic Fleet’s ship inventory, as it retains a firm capability to conduct out-of-area operations. In addition, in the ongoing modernisation of the Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet takes a prominent position due to its proximity to several key Russian naval educational and shipbuilding facilities in the Russian naval capital of Saint Petersburg.
US Navy considers alternatives to unmanned boats with missiles
Defense News – The U.S. Navy is nearly done assessing whether to put missile tubes on an unmanned surface vessel, comparing the idea to other options for getting missile launchers out to sea.
New Mogami-Class Frigate ‘Kumano’ 「くまの」Commissioned With JMSDF
Naval News – The Mogami-class / 30FFM (also known as FFM and previously known as 30DX) is the next generation multi-mission frigate designed for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). A total number of 22 Frigates are expected to be procured for the JMSDF.
Fighting, Fishing, and Filming: The Islamic State’s Maritime Operations
CIMSEC – Even with the loss of land control in Iraq and Syria, IS guerrillas continue to operate along the region’s river systems. And with the organization’s international expansion and the establishment of a global network of insurgent hubs, the group’s branches, from the Sulu-Celebes Sea to the Lake Chad Basin, are more actively incorporating maritime activities into their insurgency campaigns.
US admiral says China fully militarized isles
AP – China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby, a top U.S. military commander said Sunday.
Gliders With Ears: A New Tool In China’s Quest for Undersea Security
CIMSEC – Scientists and engineers based in the People’s Republic of China are developing a new generation of gliders that could play a far more direct role in naval combat by detecting enemy submarines. Since 2014, experts at the PLAN Submarine Academy, working with colleagues at civilian institutions, have been equipping Chinese gliders with passive acoustic sensors. Chinese language records of their activities show a determined effort to adapt this technology for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), an enduring weakness for the PLAN—one that, if remedied, could shake U.S. conventional deterrence in the Western Pacific.
Navy moving ahead with HII for small UUV program
Breaking Defense – The selection of Remus 300 for the Lionfish program is a big win for HII, which has spent much of recent years positioning itself for the unmanned systems market.
Retention of Women in the Naval Officer Corps
USNI Proceedings – Female Naval Academy graduates tend to leave active duty long before their male counterparts; the Sea Services must reverse this trend.
Royal Navy and partners rehearse protecting NATO’s Northern Flank from Russian attack
Navy Lookout – NATO Exercise Cold Response 2022 (CR22), the largest cold-weather exercise in Norway since the 1980s began this week.
Navy Pilots Flying Dozens of Daily Russian Deterrence Missions from USS Harry S. Truman
USNI News – Since December, the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, Carrier Air Wing 1 and its escorts have been operating in the Adriatic and Ionian seas launching 80 to 90 sorties a day as far north as Lithuania for a variety of missions with NATO-allied aircraft from Romania, France and Italy. Some fighters launched from Truman are training, while some are set to police NATO’s airspace and prevent Russian aircraft from violating those borders.
Marines To Test Lightning Carrier Concept With 20 F-35Bs Aboard USS Tripoli This April
War Zone – Early this coming April, United States Marine Corps F-35Bs from three squadrons will converge aboard the USS Tripoli (LHD-7) to fully test the ‘Lightning Carrier’ concept. The idea to basically turn big-deck “Gator Navy” amphibious assault ships into light aircraft carriers packed with F-35Bs first emerged five years ago, but it has its roots in AV-8 Harrier operations going back decades. A whopping 20 F-35Bs will be conducting sustained operations followed by surge operations from the USS Tripoli. The event will test the ability of the Marines to operate two full F-35B squadrons from one ship at one time and could have major impacts on what the stealthy jets, and the ships they deploy on, can bring to the fight in the future.
Japan Spotted Loaded-Up Russian Amphibious Warships That May Be Headed To Ukraine
War Zone – According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, four heavily laden Russian amphibious warships recently sailed by the country’s Home Islands and were heading west. The idea here is that they may be headed to Europe to bolster Russia’s struggling invasion operation in Ukraine. The Japan MoD released an image of one of the ships showing it packed with military vehicles on its deck.
Littoral Disaster: Navy Wants To Retire 10 Littoral Combat Ships According To Report
War Zone – The U.S. Navy will reportedly seek to decommission between eight and 10 Freedom class Littoral Combat Ships, or LCSs, as part of its budget proposal for the 2023 Fiscal Year. This would despite the oldest example still on active duty being only seven years old. Last year, the service admitted that it would take years to implement critical fixes to the propulsion systems on all of the Freedom class vessels it has acquired to date.
Manning the Unmanned Systems of SSN(X)
CIMSEC – The submarine force needs sailors with specialized skills to maintain, operate and integrate UUVs into SSN(X) operations. Because the submarine force and the United States Navy at large lack a documented, repeatable, and formalized process for training UUV operators and maintainers, the qualitative concept and computational model presented in this article offers a bridge to scaling multi-UUV operations. The Navy needs to develop codified training and manning requirements for UUV operations and the infrastructure, both physical and intellectual, to support unmanned systems operations. The recommendations discussed here are focused on the specific use case of UUVs deployed from manned submarines.
Russian Warships Shelling Towns Near Odesa as Naval Activity Increasers in Northern Black Sea
USNI News – Russian ships are shelling targets in the suburbs of Odesa as naval activity ticks up in the Black Sea.
General Anthony Zinni on Staying Honest With the Troops and Translating Experience
CIMSEC – This is the third part of our conversation series with General Anthony Zinni, USMC (ret.) on leadership, strategy, learning, and the art and science of warfighting.
Top Navy official says service needs a larger fleet and a larger share of the budget
Defense News – If you’re confused about the size of the future U.S. Navy fleet, you’re not alone.
As US Navy rethinks its fleet, Ingalls Shipbuilding faces uncertain future
Defense News – Over the past three years, the service has tightened its budget and changed its requirements, making the future look far less rosy for Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.
The Betrayal
The Atlantic – America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan added moral injury to military failure. But a group of soldiers, veterans, and ordinary citizens came together to try to save Afghan lives and salvage some American honor.
The Taliban Confront the Realities of Power
New Yorker – They fought for decades to retake Afghanistan, but promises of a new start are already colliding with internal divisions and external opposition.
‘Limited’ Wars Could Make a Bloody Return
USNI Proceedings – “Flexible response” plans can help prevent prolonged fighting and devastation.
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