CIMSEC – 11 articles on the Red Sed, which has become arguably the most hotly contested maritime region in the world. A vital maritime chokepoint is being fought over by a coalition of naval powers and a heavily armed Iranian proxy group, the Houthis. These events offer useful lessons on the exercise of naval power, as well as the crisis decision-making of militaries, commercial firms, and nation-states.
Small Ocean, Big Hype: Arctic Myths and Realities
War on the Rocks – The Arctic Ocean may be the world’s smallest but it looms large in the imagination. Remote and unique, the Arctic is, for some at least, the most romanticized ocean in the world. It has been fueling legends and ambitions for centuries, and continues to fuel new geopolitical myths today.
It’s Still the Indian Ocean: Parsing Sino-Indian Naval Competition Where it Counts
War on the Rocks – Comparing Indian and Chinese military capabilities in isolation from the broader transregional context can lead to inaccurate assessments. China faces security challenges at a much larger scale than India. Moreover, India currently also benefits from strategic partnerships with countries such as the United States, Japan, and France that give it greater latitude in the Indian Ocean, which is its principal area of interest. Growing power disparity will certainly keep Indian strategic thinkers worried for some time to come, but they should not lose sight of the strategic advantages India currently enjoys. These reflect India’s fewer supply-chain vulnerabilities in its own backyard, the nature of other security threats the two countries face, and, most important, the enormous geographical advantage India has over China in the Indian Ocean. Any Chinese naval flotilla sent to engage the Indian navy would be without reliable air cover and, due to logistical constraints, would only be able to sustain combat operations for a few weeks.
The East and South China Seas: One Sea, Near Seas, Whose Seas?
War on the Rocks – One Sea, Two Seas, Far Seas, Near Seas? For all the attention they receive as contested Indo-Pacific maritime regions, the strategic differences between East and South China Seas do not always get their due. Each of these bodies of water contains land features claimed by the People’s Republic of China and at least one ally or partner of the United States. To Beijing, the East and South China Seas are all part of its “near seas,” and China continues to take steps to assert control over this space as one unified maritime periphery — which we refer to colloquially as China’s “One Sea.” The disputed land features in these seas are small — islands, reefs, and rocks — but the economic, maritime, and security stakes associated with them are large. Countries around the East and South China Seas, however, are not taking China’s actions passively. In their own unique ways that reject the notion of a single “One China Sea,” these countries are adapting and exploring new methods to assert their own maritime rights.
China Maritime Report No. 38: PLAN Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft – Sensors, Weapons, and Operational Concepts
China Maritime Studies Institute – The PLA Navy recognizes the importance of a robust anti-submarine warfare (ASW) system to counter adversaries seeking undersea asymmetric advantages, and its aviation component is a key part of that system. This report discusses the PLAN’s efforts to improve its airborne ASW platforms and equipment and describes how PLAN-affiliated sources discuss the employment of those assets. The PLAN’s significant buildup and growing employment of fixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft in recent years are key indicators of the importance it attaches to the airborne ASW mission set, as is its push to acquire improved sensors on both fixed and rotary wing ASW platforms. PLAN-affiliated authors show that its academic and operational components are coordinating to explore best practices and maximize the effectiveness of these assets across a wide array of ASW scenarios.
Island-Hopping with Chinese Characteristics—What the PRC Is Doing in the Pacific Islands, Why It Matters, and Why the Time Has Come to “Block and Build”
US Naval War College Review – China’s engagement with western Pacific island nations and its pursuit of influence over their affairs are driven by its conception of comprehensive national power and a need for reliable access from which it might challenge the U.S. military and eventually displace it from the region.
Reluctant Retrenchment—America’s Response to the Rise of China
US Naval War College Review – China’s rise augurs a power transition that challenges the preeminent security position of the United States in East Asia and has led to an incoherent retrenchment that both undermines that position and complicates efforts to recapitalize the Navy to face that challenge effectively.
Office of Naval Intelligence’s Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, Coast Guard Ship Identification Guide
US Navy Office of Naval Intelligence – The following is the Office of Naval Intelligence’s 2024 People’s Liberation Army Navy, China Coast Guard and maritime law enforcement recognition and identification guide.
How The Marines Plan To Fly The MV-22 Osprey Into The 2060s
The War Zone – Software, cockpit, and maintenance improvements are all on the cards, as is a potential optionally piloted configuration.
Panda Express: A Proposed Convoy Operation in the Red Sea
CIMSEC – China does indeed have influence over Iran and, by extension, the Houthis in what has now become an “Axis of Insecurity.” Panda Express would reduce the likelihood of new attacks like that on M/V True Confidence and M/V Huang Pu and put direct pressure on China to either explain to the court of international opinion why shadowing Chinese vessels is a safe tactic, or influence Iran and the Houthis to end their aggression in the Red Sea altogether. Either way, China loses, and the rest of the world wins. It’s time to order Panda Express.
Naval Interoperability and NATO’s Naval Presence: Lessons From the Red Sea
CIMSEC – In short, the Red Sea crisis has reminded the world once again about the importance of maritime commercial connectivity for the global economy. It has, together with the ongoing naval war in the Black Sea, reminded NATO navies that the challenges of this “maritime century” will require bigger and stronger navies, capable of deploying together and addressing threats against them in a joint fashion, including in the highly contested littorals.
‘Everything needs to be smaller, lighter’: Marines seek robust, deployable tech for future combat
Breaking Defense – “No matter what theater we talk about – PACOM, Europe – everything needs to be smaller, lighter [and] very modular, so…we can throw it in the back of a pickup truck,” said Col. Devin Licklider, program manager for MAGTF Command & Control.
What Marines may be learning from Houthi tactics in the Red Sea
Defense News – The Houthis have imposed costs on a powerful navy by tracking down ships, threatening them with drones and missiles, and disrupting travel through vital waterways, while lurking near shore. To some observers of the Marine Corps’ modernization plans, that sounds familiar.
China launches Pakistan’s Hangor submarine, despite engine row with Germany
Defense News – The first of eight Hangor II submarines for Pakistan was recently launched at the Wuchang Shipbuilding yard in Wuhan, China, though it’s uncertain what could be powering the boat given Germany’s block on an engine export.
Russia launched first-of-its-kind helicopter pilot training ship
Bulgarian Military – According to sources from Izvestia, the Nikolay Kamov project of 14400 special naval vessels is scheduled to join the Navy by the end of the year. This vessel is a nod to Soviet-era aircraft designer, Nikolay Kamov, esteemed for his creation of the Ka helicopters. Its primary purpose is to train naval aviation helicopter crews.
(Thanks to Alain)
Marine KC-130Js May Lose Their Missile-Firing Harvest Hawk Kits
The War Zone – The future of the Harvest Hawk armament kit for Marine Corps KC-130J Herculestanker/transport aircraft is facing uncertainty as the service questions whether this capability would be relevant in a future high-end fight. Other new capabilities, like the Intrepid Tiger II electronic warfare system, are on the horizon for Marine KC-130Js, and these aircraft could potentially make use of the Air Force’s Rapid Dragon palletized cruise missile launching system down the line.
Chinese Aircraft Carrier Fujian Leaves for First Set of Sea Trials
USNI News – China’s third aircraft carrier Fujian (18) left Shanghai on Wednesday morning to conduct its first sea trial.
Keeping Up with the Pacing Threat: Unveiling the True Size of Beijing’s Military Spending
American Enterprise Institute – Beijing’s publicly released military budget is inaccurate and does not adequately capture the colossal scope and scale of China’s ongoing military buildup and wide-ranging armed forces modernization.
Multiple British warships to get laser guns
UK Defence Journal – The Ministry of Defence has confirmed its commitment to outfitting multiple Royal Navy ships with the DragonFire Laser Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) by 2027.
(Thanks to Alain)
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Evaluating the Naval Response to the Red Sea Crisis
CIMSEC – This analysis evaluates the naval response to the Red Sea Crisis so far, from cooperating with merchant shipping, the cost effectiveness and vulnerabilities of using warships and missiles to counter drones, and the role of allies, to the potential implications for a future conflict with China and current efforts in defense innovation to prepare for it.
The Forgotten Part of the Contest: Army Logistics in the Pacific
War on the Rocks – As Gen. Omar Bradley is credited as saying, “Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.” Unfortunately, when it comes to how the American defense community plans for and talks about the future of competition and conflict in the Pacific, it isn’t measuring up to Bradley’s metric. For instance, at the Army’s annual meeting, the secretary of the Army gave a powerful speech on how “we have got to ask the tough questions and make the hard decisions on what our force needs to fight in the future.” Yet, there was no mention of “logistics,” and the only discussion of “sustainment” was of barracks repair.
A Chinese ship remains the focus of the investigation into Baltic Sea gas pipeline damaged last year
Reuters – A Chinese container ship remains the focus of an investigation into what caused the damage last year to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline between NATO members Finland and Estonia, Finnish authorities said Thursday.
Forging the Force: A Joint Task Force in the Indo-Pacific
War on the Rocks – Referring to the People’s Liberation Army, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command recently reported to Congress that “we haven’t faced a threat like this since World War II.” The nature of this threat should compel allied militaries to strengthen their efforts in the Indo-Pacific. One way to do so is by creating a standing joint task force headquarters. The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directed the establishment of such a headquarters in the Indo-Pacific by 1 Oct. 2024, but congressional leaders have conveyed concern with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s current approach.
Fighting in the Spectrum With Navy and Marine Corps Electronic Warfare Aircraft
CIMSEC – A discussion of the value of electronic warfare capability, deadly shootdown incidents involving electronic reconnaissance aircraft, and how the Joint Force came to rely so heavily on the Navy for airborne EW.
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