Breaking Defense – Readiness rates for the US Army’s fleet of watercraft have steadily declined over the past four years, highlighting a significant weakness in the service’s ability to move personnel and equipment as it prepares for a fight in the Indo-Pacific, according to a new independent government audit.
Yearly Archives: 2024
CMSI Note #10: China’s Summer of 2024: The Missing Chapter
China Maritime Studies Institute – In the summer of 2024, two Chinese oceanographic survey ships—the Xiang Yang Hong 01 and Kexue—conducted marine scientific research activities in the Bering Sea. Their actions represented a significant expansion of PRC marine data collection in this region.
The Bering Sea is a key segment in the sea lanes connecting China with the Arctic Ocean. Thus, the operations of these two vessels should be understood as part of the unprecedented ramp-up in Beijing’s Arctic endeavors that occurred in 2024.
The main purposes of the two Bering Sea cruises are unknown. However, both ships were built to meet military requirements, at least in part. Even if they were just conducting basic marine science, the data they collected is inherently dual-use and will be shared with the Chinese military, improving its awareness of the operating environment.
The Xiang Yang Hong 01 operated in Russia’s EEZ and visited a Russian military port, demonstrating a high degree of Russian support for PRC activities in the region.
Both ships conducted marine scientific research in waters above the U.S.-claimed extended continental shelf. If their operations involved surveys of the seabed, they would constitute a direct challenge to the U.S. maritime claim.
China Isn’t Giving Up on the South China Sea
National Interest – James Holmes says that once upon a time, China went out of its way to allay anxieties roused by its power and ambition. Then it stopped. Its new charm offensive would prove likewise perishable, to be scrapped once the party felt at liberty to resume its campaign for sovereignty within the nine-dashed line.
Japan Joins European Efforts For Railgun Research Project
Naval News – The French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL) in charge of research and development for railgun technology has seen mid-April the visit of an ATLA delegation – Japanese Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency – paving the way for an agreement for further cooperation on electromagnetic gun technology.
The Houthis and Hybrid Maritime Warfare
Wavell Room – The Houthis’ actions perfectly align with what leading US defence intellectual Frank G. Hoffman once called hybrid maritime warfare. Hoffman has defined hybrid maritime warfare as ‘a form of warfare combining asymmetric naval tactics, sophisticated weapons, and terrorist activity’. He argued that Iran and Iraq’s systematic attacks against merchant vessels in the late 1980s, which became known as the Tanker War, exemplified maritime hybrid warfare.
Australia Invests Heavily To Expand Shipbuilding Precinct In The West
Naval News – Australia will plunge billions of dollars into a revamped defence shipbuilding precinct in Western Australia. A government announcement on 16 October said the Henderson precinct would gain infrastructure suitable for building new landing craft and general-purpose frigates, as well as depot-level maintenance for nuclear-powered submarines.
In Defense of Conventional Punishment: Why Japan’s Defensive Realism Requires Offensive Capability – Part 1
Center for Maritime Strategy – Japan must recognize that purely defensive technologies are insufficient to ensure its own security and uphold the rules-based regional order. To credibly deter revisionist powers armed with offensive capabilities, Japan must move beyond the flawed mindset that draws a sharp distinction between offensive defense and defensive defense and strategically shift towards the acquisition of counterstrike capabilities that can impose significant costs on potential aggressors.
The UK’s Surrender of Chagos is a Symptom of Strategic Ineptitude
RUSI – The UK has made a foolish trade of hard power for soft, which will quickly evaporate, and gained nothing in return.
PLA Navy eyes recruiting more carrier-borne pilots with loosened criteria
Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has loosened the criteria for recruiting pilots for carrier-based aircraft by including young candidates who have received vision correction surgeries.
First ex-Royal Navy nuclear submarine to be disposed of enters final dismantling phase
Navy Lookout – Work has started on the third and final phase of the project to dismantle ex-HMS Swiftsure. As the demonstrator project for the dismantling programme, she will be the first former RN SSN to be fully disposed of.
Army Looking To Shrink Typhon Missile System After Lessons Learned From First Deployment
The War Zone – The U.S. Army is already interested in scaling down its new Typhon ground-based missile system, if possible, to help make it easier to deploy and operate. The service only sent Typhon, which currently uses large tractor-trailer launchers to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 multi-purpose missiles, overseas for the first time to the Philippines earlier this year.
Russia rolls out last 636.3 Project submarine, the ‘Yakutsk’
Bulgarian Military – The last of the Russian Navy’s six Project 636.3 submarines for the Pacific Fleet, Yakutsk, was launched today, October 11. Yakutsk is of the Varshavyanka class, and this class already includes the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Volkhov, Magadan, Ufa, and Mozhaisk submarines. They were all built at Admiralty Shipyards JSC.
(Thanks to Alain)
New China algorithm puts US warships in clearer view
Asia Times – China has developed a new algorithm to use low-resolution satellite images to track US warships globally, marking a significant development in maritime surveillance capabilities and military strategy.
Building Resilient Killchains for the Stand In Force
CIMSEC – As the Marine Corps prepares to contest the regional superiority of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Indo-Pacific alongside the Navy and the joint force, the service must strengthen its organic killchains and ensure that each new capability acquisition aligns to the concepts that the service must execute.
‘It’s Never Going to Be Easy’
USNI News – Gulf Coast Shipyards Have Plenty of Orders, But Workforce Challenges Persist.
Taiwan Deploys Navy, Air Force As Response To Chinese Drills
Naval News – China announced that it had launched military drills code-named “Joint Sword 2024B” around Taiwan early in the morning on October 14, 2024. In response, Taiwan’s defense ministry revealed that it had deployed warships, fighter jets, UAVs, and mobile anti-ship missile batteries.
China Targets Taiwan in Major Military Exercise, Pentagon Condemns ‘Irresponsible’ Action
USNI News – China launched a large-scale, one-day military drill Monday that simulated a blockade of Taiwan. The exercise, code-named “Joint Sword – 2024B,” involved the People’s Liberation Army Navy, PLA Air Force, PLA Rocket Force and China Coast Guard. The drill was a response to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s National Day speech, in which he asserted Taiwan’s independence from China.
“The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” Lai said on Thursday and “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan.”
HEXAGON vs. Kirov: American satellite reconnaissance and the Soviet Union’s most powerful warship
The Space Review – In early 1974, American reconnaissance satellites spotted something unusual on a large shipway at a Leningrad shipyard—the first signs of a new major surface warship. Over the next several years they photographed the ship as it took shape, noting that it would be the Soviet Union’s first nuclear-powered warship. The ship launched in late 1977, sliding down the ramp into the Neva River, where it was moored for additional work. The US intelligence community designated it BALCOM-1, for Baltic Combatant, and it was the largest surface combatant in the world at that time, bigger than any American cruiser. High-resolution reconnaissance images showed that it had large hatches on its bow covering what were obviously big missiles, and intelligence analysts determined that it was intended to attack American aircraft carriers. Other hatches concealed anti-aircraft missiles. The ship’s pagoda-like superstructure was covered with numerous radar and communications antennas. Eventually, the US intelligence community determined that the ship was named Kirov.
Chinese Type 09IIIB Nuclear Powered Attack Submarine Surfaces In Clearest Image Yet
Naval News – A new image circulating on Chinese social media and subsequently on “X” (formerly Twitter) revealed more details on the new Type 09IIIB nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) produced at Chinese shipyard Bohai in Huludao for the Chinese Navy (PLAN). The image shows the new submarine underway, presumably taken from a boat or coastal location nearby. It is only the second ground-based photo of the new generation SSN, with previous imagery being exclusively satellite-sourced.
U.S. Navy Holds First TRAM At-Sea VLS Loading Test
Naval News – The U.S. Navy held its first at-sea test of a new reloading mechanism, beginning a path that the service claims will allow warships to rearm while underway by 2027.
China Maritime Report No. 42: Invasion Plans: Operation Causeway and Taiwan’s Defense in World War II
China Maritime Studies Institute – During World War II, the United States and the Empire of Japan each developed plans and marshaled forces for a climactic battle over Taiwan. Both sides regarded the island as an area of strategic consequence…By revisiting the history of Taiwan-focused war plans, we may better assess current challenges and develop insights that could inform future strategic, operational, and tactical decisions.
France’s Radical-Looking New Frigate Has Gone To Sea
The War Zone – The first of France’s Defense and Intervention Frigates is a new-generation multi-mission warship that features an inverted bow.
Carrier Cavour’s Pacific Deployment Extends Italy’s Reach in the Pacific, Say Admiral
USNI News – The Itatlian Navy’s extended deployment to the Pacific resulted in its sea-based F-35B Lightning II fighter achieving initial operational capability and exercising with partners in the Indo-Pacific deployment, said CSG commander Rear Adm. Giancarlo Ciappina.
Recent deadly strikes on ships in Black Sea could scare away commercial traffic, warn analysts
CBC – After three cargo ships were hit in Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian ports this week, killing at least 10 and injuring several others, maritime analysts are warning that ship operators could start refusing to transit that stretch of the Black Sea due to the increased threat.
Mauritius One Step Closer to Diego Garcia Sovereignty
War on the Rocks – After almost 59 years of controversial existence, the last vestige of the British Empire in the Indian Ocean, the British Indian Ocean Territory, is set to be wound up. On Oct. 3, Britain and Mauritius released a joint statement detailing a historic agreement via which sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, will be transferred to Mauritius. The sun is setting on the British Indian Ocean Territory and borders in the Indian Ocean are set to shift.
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