StrategyBridge – The line between celebrating heritage and creating a fully rounded history can be a fine one in many institutional histories. Appreciating this tendency, Royal Air Force-insider John Shields reassesses the 1982 Falklands Conflict, seeking to explode multiple myths while also providing a better assessment of the air campaign by focusing on the operational rather than the tactical level of war.
Author Archives: Naval Open Source Intelligence (NOSI)
Upgrading the Mindset: Modernizing Sea Service Culture for Trust in Artificial Intelligence
CIMSEC – Winning on the future battlefield will undoubtedly require an organizational culture that promotes human trust in artificial intelligent systems.
NATO Navies in Review
USNI Proceedings – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the accession of new members have reenergized NATO and increased unity.
The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Blocking Access to the Black Sea
US Naval War College Review – Turkey’s prohibition of passage through the Black Sea straits by all foreign warships—including NATO’s—is difficult to justify under the Montreux Convention; Ankara more likely invoked it to mitigate repercussions from Moscow. Doing so tarnishes the country’s status as an honest broker and faithful guardian of the convention, which could have unintended long-term consequences.
David vs. Goliath: Southeast Asia Can Resist China’s Gray Zone Aggression in the South China Sea . . . with Help
USNI Proceedings – The efforts of Southeast Asian nations to push back against Chinese aggression at sea should be recognized and bolstered.
Friends, Partners, but Not Allies
USNI Proceedings – The U.S. Navy must maximize its relationship with Singapore—while respecting Singapore’s delicate position in the region.
Naval Considerations in the Russo-Ukrainian War
US Naval War College Review – Russia’s grand military strategy has a distinct maritime bent, the Ukrainian south coast is Russia’s most tangible strategic prize, and naval forces are crucial to holding it. Since the war’s beginning, Ukraine’s carefully planned strategy has applied stress to key elements of Russia’s maritime strategy, and Ukraine’s theory of victory is shaped by maritime considerations as thoroughly as Russia’s.
Naval Escalation in an Unmanned Context
CIMSEC – In practice, interactions-at-sea can escalate due to hyper-local misperceptions, influenced by factors like command, control, and communications, situational awareness, or relative capabilities. All of these factors are changing with the advent of unmanned and autonomous platforms. Escalation in this context cannot be an afterthought.
Beware the Allure of Mission Modularity
USNI Proceedings – Mission modularity has its place in a modern fleet, but it is not a panacea.
China: Growing and Going to Sea
USNI Proceedings – In 2022, the PLAN demonstrated why it may be the most dominant naval force in the western Pacific.
A Strategy of Denial for the Western Pacific
USNI Proceedings – China aspires to dominate the Indo-Pacific region—the impact of which would dramatically undermine Americans’ security, freedom, and prosperity. The only workable strategy is to deny China this goal. The naval services will play a central role.
Fighting DMO Part 9: China’s Anti-Ship Firepower and Mass Firing Schemes
CIMSEC – China’s ability to mass fires against warships is a product of a truly historic evolution. China was a third-rate maritime power only two decades ago, but it has transformed into a force that heavily outguns the U.S. Navy in major respects. China has clearly stolen a march on the U.S. when it comes to developing advanced anti-ship firepower, and now the U.S. is racing to close the gap. But it will still be many years before the U.S. has the tools in place to have decent options for massing fires. By then, the Chinese naval arsenal may have become something even more fearsome.
Xi Jinping’s Worst Nightmare: A Potemkin People’s Liberation Army
War on the Rocks – A worst-case Taiwan scenario for Chinese leader Xi Jinping would be a major military operation in which the People’s Liberation Army fails spectacularly or displays shocking incompetence akin to Russia’s in Ukraine. Could this happen?
Hard Truths: The Navy and Marines Need Another #METOO Moment: Part Two
CIMSEC – In Part One we shared our experience and gave some interpretations of the data. In this part we will finish that discussion and proceed to a set of recommendations. In the spirit of the discussion, it is important to understand that the trends are all heading in the wrong direction, indicating that policy and procedure changes are not enough. A culture change is required, starting at the unit level, if these trends are to be reversed.
Hard Truths: The Navy and Marines Need Another #METOO Moment: Part One
CIMSEC – This article is a collaboration between two authors with very different experiences, in the hopes that some combination of their views – one as a former Commanding Officer and the other as a federal agency chief counsel with 30-plus years of Sexual Assault/Harassment (SASH) experience – will resonate and drive tough conversations among mid-grade leaders. The Department of Defense has received over 65,000 reports of sexual assault since 2010 and each of us has a role in holding individuals who commit sexual assault and sexual harassment accountable for past crimes and creating an environment where sexual assault and sexual harassment are not tolerated.
Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters develop surface strike tactics in Norway
Navy Lookout – Exercise Tamber Shield saw four RN Wildcat helicopters deployed in Norway to develop tactics for the use of Martlet and Sea Venom missiles against fast attack craft.
The operational — and political — benefits of Turkey’s new warship
Defense News – The Turkish Navy has received the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu, its largest vessel ever, from which the military will deploy heavy helicopters, drones and light-attack aircraft, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Fleet Forces chief wants to make a smaller Navy more lethal
Defense News – The head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command operates a fleet smaller than the Navy planned, due to delays in ship and submarine construction and maintenance. But Adm. Daryl Caudle said reducing operations isn’t an option, as Navy forces routinely find themselves in contact with their Russian and Chinese counterparts and demand for their presence is on the rise. So the admiral has put together a four-part plan meant to maximize the fleet’s usefulness.
Iran Seizes Second Oil Tanker in Less Than a Week
USNI News – Iranian forces have seized the second oil tanker in less than a week.
Thermal leak in lithium-ion batteries in submarines
El Snorkel – Currently, batteries play a fundamental role in underwater operations, a role that will only increase in the future. (In Spanish)
(Thanks to Alain)
The submarine “Mozhaisk” of project 06363 was launched
BMPD – On April 27, 2023, a ceremony of launching a large diesel-electric submarine B-608 “Mozhaisk” (fatary number 01618) of project 06363, which is under construction for the Russian Navy, was held in St. Petersburg at JSC Admiralty Shipyardyards (part of JSC (partnery Corporation” – JSC “USCJSC) of project 06363. This is the fifth of six project 06363 submarines under construction for the Pacific Fleet. Its delivery by the Russian Navy is scheduled for the end of the year. (In Russian)
(Thanks to Alain)
Marines want 31 amphibious ships. The Pentagon disagrees. Now what?
Defense News – Today, the Navy has 31 amphibious ships — what the Marine Corps considers the bare minimum it needs — but the Pentagon plans to shrink the fleet below that number in fiscal 2024. As a result, there is anticipation that the Corps will be more challenged to respond to global crises.
Navy’s mine-hunting package gets green light, ready for use on LCS
Breaking Defense – The Navy has given the official green light for its package of capabilities focused on defeating undersea mines to begin operations in the fleet.
The Need to Invest in Long-Range Fires
War on the Rocks – With the advent and adversary deployment of long-range cruise and ballistic missiles, the distances across which belligerents can attack United States and allied forces has grown considerably. We believe that the era of short-ranged ordnance expended in near-peer conflict above the waterline is all but over.
Nord Stream: Report puts Russian navy ships near pipeline blast site
BBC – Russian ships able to perform underwater operations were present near to where explosions later took place on the Nord Stream pipelines, according to an investigative documentary.
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