RUSI – Long-range strike capacity is essential to ensuring that the Royal Navy is fit for any future conflict, but the fleet is currently lacking in this area. Q-Ships could provide an effective solution.
Author Archives: Naval Open Source Intelligence (NOSI)
U.S. and China wage war beneath the waves – over internet cables
Reuters – Subsea cables, which carry the world’s data, are now central to the U.S.-China tech war. Washington, fearful of Beijing’s spies, has thwarted Chinese projects abroad and choked Big Tech’s cable routes to Hong Kong, Reuters has learned.
Maldives election: Pro-China candidate Muizzu wins presidency
BBC – A pro-China candidate has won presidential elections in the Maldives, defeating an incumbent who had strengthened relations with India.
Refining the Fleet Solid Support ship design
Navy Lookout – The three companies comprising Team Resolute all recently unveiled models of the Fleet Solid Support ships while BMT provided some insight into the ongoing design process.
China Maritime Report No. 31: China’s Submarine Industrial Base: State-Led Innovation with Chinese Characteristics
Chinese Maritime Studies Institute – In recent years, China’s naval industries have made tremendous progress supporting the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) submarine force, both through robust commitment to research and development (R&D) and the upgrading of production infrastructure at the country’s three submarine shipyards: Bohai Shipyard, Huludao; Wuchang Shipyard, Wuhan; and Jiangnan Shipyard, Shanghai. Nevertheless, China’s submarine industrial base continues to suffer from surprising weaknesses in propulsion (from marine diesels to fuel cells) and submarine quieting. Closer ties with Russia could provide opportunities for China to overcome these enduring technological limitations by exploiting political and economic levers to gain access to Russia’s remaining undersea technology secrets.
The Navy Must Rediscover Its Roots and Recommit to Small Combatants
CIMSEC – The U.S. Navy faces myriad challenges in a dynamic multipolar world, yet risks a sclerotic response to threats. This is most apparent in the surface force where a predilection for high-end multi-mission platforms risks an unbalanced fleet unable to meet threats across the spectrum of conflict. To rectify this, the Navy must recommit to the vital role of small ships in meeting its obligations.
Revamp Force Design For Sea Control and Joint Integration
CIMSEC – Given how 20 to 30 percent of the fleet’s platforms could be replaced by 2045, a thoughtful and imaginative force design process must go beyond measuring the relative importance of existing and planned platforms and capabilities. The Navy needs to divorce itself from its affinity of conceiving capability as a function of traditional naval platforms, such as surface combatants or range-hobbled carrier air wings, and pursue a more holistic concept.
Capitalize On Allied Capabilities to Succeed at Sea: A View From Spain
CIMSEC – With an increasingly complex strategic environment, and a fleet struggling to meet its many operational requirements, the next CNO must strive to find new ways to capitalize on allied naval capabilities to succeed at sea. Prominent options include strengthening naval cooperation with partners to ensure a permanent presence in all strategically relevant theaters, and bolstering the sharing of naval knowledge among allied naval war colleges.
Rebalance the Fleet Towards Being a Truly Expeditionary Navy
CIMSEC – My recommendations to the next Chief of Naval Operations are based on the difference between the kind of navy we have today and the kind of navy our nation needs. Today we have a forward-based navy, not an expeditionary navy. This distinction is important for remaining competitive against modern threats and guiding force design.
Del Toro says Disruptive Capabilities Office to solve Navy challenges
Defense News – Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced initiatives aimed at making the service more responsive to warfighter challenges: the creation of the Disruptive Capabilities Office to quickly apply new technologies to operational problems, and a pilot program that would help programs of record be more agile.
Countering China’s Goal of Displacing American Command of the Sea
CIMSEC – It is not enough for the U.S. Navy to focus on projecting power ashore at specific times and places, supported by sea control. The Navy, in conjunction with allies, must create a capability to command the sea that China dares not challenge. This calls for capabilities and methods that are much more than just iterations upon current trends and legacy systems. The U.S. Navy must conduct urgent investigations and research into what novel capabilities and warfighting concepts can offer enduring command of the sea, and develop both a global maritime strategy and derivative fleet design based on the most promising approaches.
Navy Looking To Operate Air Combat Drones From Wide Range Of Ships
The Drive – The US Navy is looking for ways to launch and recover advanced drones from aboard everything from expeditionary sea bases to destroyers.
Empowering Division Officers and Enhancing Sailor Stability
CIMSEC – There are two key areas that, if addressed strategically, can enhance the effectiveness of our Navy – empowerment of division officers and stability for our sailors.
Haikun: Taiwan unveils new submarine to fend off China
BBC – Taiwan has unveiled its first domestically-made submarine as it bolsters its defences against a possible Chinese attack.
U.S. revives Cold War submarine spy program to counter China
Reuters – The U.S. Navy is carrying out the biggest overhaul of its top-secret undersea surveillance network since the 1950s as China’s naval power surges and new technologies are fast reshaping maritime warfare. Beijing has similar plans of its own.
Key details behind Nord Stream pipeline blasts revealed by scientists
Guardian – Researchers in Norway reveal further analysis of 2022 explosions as well as a detailed timeline of events
Focus on Culture for Success in the AI Era
CIMSEC – The ability to harness and use AI is critical, but Navy culture must change to realize its potential. Military members must remain the masters – never the servants – of technology.
The battle-hardened ARC “Pijao” sailed with bow to the DESI operation
El Snorkel – The ARC “Pijao” Submarine of the Colombian Navy will participate in the thirteenth version of the Diesel Electric Submarine Initiative operation. (In Spanish)
(Thanks to Alain)
Ukraine’s Magura V5 USV On The Stage At DSEI 2023
Naval News – Ukraine’s Magura V5 unmanned surface vessel which was used for kamikaze attacks against Russia during the ongoing war, was showcased at DSEI 2023 exhibition in London.
Beijing Protests Removal of Scarborough Shoal Barrier, Warns Manilla ‘Not to Stir Up Trouble’
USNI News – Beijing is protesting the Philippine Armed Forces’ removal of a floating barrier installed by Chinese forces to block access to the contested Scarborough Shoal.
Dusting Off the Z-Gram: Getting Real With Retention and Recruiting
CIMSEC – Despite enlistment bonuses, recruiter rodeos, a renewed focus on influencers, and modest policy changes from PERS, the U.S. Navy continuously fails to keep Sailors from walking out the door and to convince would-be recruits from stepping in. This problem has gotten so severe that the Navy is on target to miss recruiting goals by over 7,000 personnel for FY23, and gapped billets at-sea continue to exceed 750. This shortage will continue as overworked enlisted Sailors leave, refusing the possibility of being sent TAD on additional deployments, and officers resign, rejecting uncertain billet assignments.
German Navy completes successful sea trials of 100-kW laser weapon
New Atlas – Laser weapons have begun to spread throughout NATO, as the German Navy has completed a year-long trial under realistic sea conditions of a 20-kW MBDA Deutschland/Rheinmetall Laser Weapon Demonstrator. It was installed aboard the 5,800-tonne (6,393-ton) frigate Sachsen.
(Thanks to Alain)
Russian Forces Are Bolting Old Anti-Submarine Rocket-Launchers On Equally Old Armored Tractors
Forbes – The longer Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds on, the more desperate Russian forces get for replacement combat vehicles—and the weirder those vehicles become.
(Thanks to Alain)
PLAN Special Mission Aviation Air Base Renovation and Expansion Activities
China Aerospace Studies Institute – The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Naval Aviation forces have been undergoing a large scale divestment of its shore based aviation capabilities through 2023. However, since then, PLAN Aviation has clearly sought to retain not only is fixed wing anti-submarine warfare (ASW) assets, but also its other shore based special mission aircraft (SMA), notably its intelligence collection aircraft and airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) fleet of KJ-200s and KJ-500s. These aircraft enable the PLAN to conduct modern combined arms tasks such as ASW, supplement a currently non-operational carrier based fixed wing AEW capability, continue to collect electronics intelligence (ELINT) and signals intelligence (SIGINT), and enable further range and jointness when fulfilling air defense and domain awareness tasks in the last PLAN controlled air defense area, the South China Sea. Given the importance of these capabilities, the PLA has been undertaking an effort to expand the land-based facilities which support these aircraft to allow for more airframes to operate from these bases. Since 2021, airfields supporting PLAN SMA in the Eastern Theater Command (ETC) and Northern Theater Command (NTC) have completed or started renovations of their runways or expansions of apron space to enable airfields to house more aircraft or to otherwise continue to generate sorties. Southern Theater Navy (STN) subordinate airfields supporting this type of aviation do not appear to have started renovations within this time frame targeted at supporting SMA.
Create a New Doctrine For Applying Learning Strategies to Warfighting Challenges
CIMSEC – The Get Real Get Better initiative has been a near-term effort to increase the effectiveness of how Sailors do things, to include problem-solving – which could be described as the science of warfighting. To holistically improve Sailors, the “Navy-wide culture renovation” must also inculcate learning strategies – the art of warfighting. A supplement or revision to NDP-1, tentatively entitled Naval Warfighting, would accomplish this by integrating the art and science of warfighting into an enduring doctrine on learning strategies.
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