CIMSEC – Navies constantly evolve due to new challenges, objectives, visions, and realities. However, analysts rarely witness a sharp evolution of a Navy and its fleet. The Uruguayan Navy is undergoing that process, and as a reliable U.S. ally, Washington needs to understand what is going on and why.
Monthly Archives: October 2023
What are the takeaways from Ukraine’s fight in the Black Sea?
Defense News – Ukraine has shown surprising naval capability in the Black Sea, helping to protect its shores and shipping while keeping its predator’s fleet at bay. This achievement is remarkable because Ukraine is virtually bereft of warships. It has succeeded through the skillful use of emerging technologies, such as explosive-laden uncrewed surface vessels, and of older ones, such as land-based missiles and naval mines.
New Zealand Contemplates How To Best Manage A Small Fleet Of Ships
Naval News – The Royal New Zealand Navy commenced an industry engagement exercise with the release of a request for information on 8 September. The document, entitled Maritime Fleet Market Research for the Defence Capability Plan, revolves around how the navy can better manage its fleet with limited dollars.
Is Russia Expanding its Battlefront to Georgia?
RUSI – Russian plans to establish a naval base in Abkhazia would render the region a legitimate target for Ukrainian military strikes, creating major risks for Tbilisi.
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Now in the Mediterranean Sea, Bataan ARG in the Red Sea
USNI News – The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is headed toward the mass of U.S. naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea after transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on Saturday. Meanwhile, two ships of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group are now in the Red Sea.
U.S. Army Expanding Watercraft Footprint in the Pacific
USNI News – When asked if he looked forward to having additional watercraft under his command, the commanding general of the Army’s 8th Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) said: “We know that in our exercises, having more capability would really give us flexibility, and a lot of better options,” he said.
How The U.S. Army Can Talk To The Navy About War With China
1945 – James Holmes writes that a friend serving in the U.S. Army asks: how can army leaders get their message about the army’s role in Pacific strategy to “resonate” with their sea-service counterparts?
‘Blue Africa’ Partnership Seeks to Curb Annual $10B Loss from Illegal Fishing
USNI News – Faced with an annual $10 billion loss from Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, West African nations are moving to work together to better understand and police their exclusive economic zones as a group.
US Navy mulls timing of new double-carrier award amid Enterprise delay
Defense News – The U.S. Navy intends to buy its next two aircraft carriers in a single contract, but factors including delays on carriers now under construction are influencing discussions about when to begin the process.
Runaway ship Newnew Polar Bear, suspected of sabotage in Baltic Sea, is sailing into Russian Arctic waters
Barents Observer – The container ship that is suspected of having damaged a gas pipeline and two communication cables in the Baltic Sea on the 25th of October left the north Russian port of Arkhangelsk with course towards Arctic waters. The Newnew Polar Bear will this week sail through the Kara Sea and make it through the icy strait of Vilkitsky. Escorted by a Russian state-owned icebreaker it will subsequently sail eastwards along the North Siberian coast towards the Bering Strait and into Pacific waters.
Lawmakers worried Navy’s ongoing sub spending hasn’t fixed fleet woes
Defense News – As the government’s spending on the submarine industrial base grows, so too is concern among lawmakers.
Navy test-fires missile from mobile launcher aboard LCS Savannah
Defense News – The littoral combat ship Savannah on Tuesday fired a SM-6 missile from a “containerized launching system” at a target in the Pacific Ocean, signaling a way that the lightly armed ship class could one day contribute to a conventional naval battle.
The Sinking Submarine Industrial Base
War on the Rocks – Submarines are an integral part of the U.S. Navy’s future force design, and rightly so. The United States needs more submarines if it is to deter China in the Indo-Pacific, particularly given the Chinese navy’s growing undersea fleet. But the question remains — can America build and maintain the number of submarines it needs?
France Deploys One LHD, Two Frigates To The Eastern Mediterranean
Naval News – The French Navy Mistral-class LHD Tonnerre departed its home port of Toulon yesterday. The vessel is now en route to the Eastern Mediterranean, an area where naval vessel presence is getting increasingly busy…
UK lawmakers say ‘limited’, ‘modest’ Indo-Pacific presence not enough to address China threat
Breaking Defense – A new report from the UK’s Defence Committee criticizes Britain’s Indo-Pacific military presence, judging it “limited” and the UK’s strategy “unclear” in the face of a potential conflict with China over Taiwan.
The laidback Australian city key to countering China
BBC – When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets US President Joe Biden in Washington this week, deterring an assertive China will be on the agenda. At home, Darwin – a city key to the US-led defence alliance in the Pacific – will be watching.
China is Fighting the Third Opium War With Fish
CIMSEC – China is reaping huge economic benefits by selling fish to the United States in a manner that is directly funding its military and diplomatic buildups to be able to out compete the United States.
HMS Prince of Wales crosses the Atlantic and begins developmental flying trials
Navy Lookout – HMS Prince of Wales headed to the United States in September and has now begun a series of test flights with various aircraft to inform the development of future Royal Navy carrier aviation. Here we cover the first part of the deployment and the start of these trials.
Thailand Shelves Attack Submarine Purchase Plans
Naval News – Thailand’s defense minister Sutin Klungsang has announced Thailand’s suspension of its purchase of a Chinese-built S26T diesel-electric attack submarine, with the government accepting the Royal Thai Navy’s proposal to instead procure a frigate from China with the funding allocated for the submarine.
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Midway Across Atlantic, En Route to the Middle East
USNI News – The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as it heads to the Middle East, instead of joining the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Getting Sporty in Russia’s Arctic
War on the Rocks – The U.S. Navy and its NATO allies may be gearing up to challenge Russia’s excessive legal claims to the Northern Sea route by conducting a freedom of navigation operation. Multinational naval exercises have been taking place in the Barents Sea, and at some point they might include a freedom of navigation operation. The stakes are high, given the tensions following Russia’s reinvasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Russian government’s warnings about naval operations in the area have become more bellicose and the political leadership appears more willing to take risks. As a result, the fallout from any freedom of navigation operation could rapidly escalate.
Philippines rethinks military modernization plan after China clashes
Defense News – The Philippine military is realigning its modernization program to strengthen territorial and coastal defense amid escalating tension with China.
South China Sea: Why the Philippines and China are on a collision course
BBC – The confrontation between Manila and Beijing over submerged shoals in the South China Sea has been going on for decades. But in recent months something has changed. The spats at sea are now unfolding in the full glare of the television media
China Coast Guard Vessel Collides with Filipino Supply Ship in South China Sea
USNI News – A Philippine supply boat collided on Sunday with a China Coast Guard vessel attempting to block it during an operation to resupply the grounded LST BRP Sierra Madre (LS57) at Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed Spratly Islands.
It’s Russia’s (Maritime) World – We’re Just Living in It
RUSI – In Russia’s recently updated Foreign Policy Concept, the concept of the ‘World Ocean’ takes centre-stage as a tool for achieving Moscow’s objectives.
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