China Is Practicing How to Sever Taiwan’s Internet

Foreign Policy – As the United States was watching the skies in the aftermath of the spy balloon incident, China may have been acting at sea. In early February, maritime vessels disabled the two undersea cables connecting Taiwan’s Matsu Islands, a tiny archipelago just 10 nautical miles off China’s coast, to the internet. Now residents of the islands face highly reduced internet connectivity until the cables are repaired. The activity looks like targeted harassment by Beijing—or an exercise in preparation for cutting off the whole of Taiwan.

Fighting DMO Part 7: The Future of the Aircraft Carrier in Distributed Warfighting

CIMSEC – The aircraft carrier has been the main striking arm of the U.S. Navy for decades, but distributed warfighting demands something new. Anti-ship missile firepower is proliferating across the force structure of both friendly and competitor forces, creating larger demands for the tactical information required to leverage these long-range weapons. Massed fires heavily depend on information to work, and air superiority is a powerful enabler of information superiority. By focusing on a set of critical information functions and fleet air defense, the aircraft carrier can serve as a powerful enabler and force multiplier for distributed fleets and massed fires. These roles foreshadow how nations who engage in naval salvo warfare without naval aviation will be at a sore disadvantage.

Turkey’s ‘Drone Carrier’ Amphibious Assault Ship Enters Service

War Zone – The Turkish Navy on Monday celebrated the entry into service of its new flagship, the TCG Anadolu, now the country’s largest warship, with an inauguration ceremony held about three months after the ship’s actual delivery due to scheduling conflicts. The Anadolu is classed as an amphibious assault ship, but officials in Turkey say they have big plans to also use the vessel as a carrier for different tiers of armed drones.

Has the Russian submarine threat been diminished by the Ukraine war?

Navy Lookout – Head of the US Northern Command recently told Senators that Russia could have its most powerful Yasen (NATO name Severodvinsk) class attack submarines on persistent patrols off either of America’s coasts within two years which will “reduce decision space for a national senior leader in a time of crisis”. Here we look at these boats and the wider Russian submarine threat that is equally applicable to the UK and Europe.

Fighting DMO Part 6: Naval Platform Advantages and Combined Arms Roles

CIMSEC – Massed fires and naval warfighting are greatly enhanced when different platform communities form combined arms relationships. Combined force development and shared platform fluency will strengthen integration between communities. Warfighters will better understand their role in the combined arms team and the operational dynamics that govern the behavior of their cross-community partners. While these relationships will not be without friction or challenging tradeoffs, they will create a force that is far more effective than one that struggles to rise above its silos and parochialism. 

New Chinese Carrier Concept Looks A Lot Like U.S. Navy’s Ford Class

War Zone – Two pieces of artwork from China’s Jiangnan Shipyard have recently emerged depicting what appears to be a new aircraft carrier design. This could be a glimpse at one concept for a planned future Chinese carrier commonly referred to as the Type 004. The images show a vessel that is distinct from the Chinese carrier Fujian, also known as the Type 003, which Jiangnan is building now. It also has some broad external similarities to the U.S. Navy’s Ford class and France’s future New Generation Aircraft Carrier.