2nd aircraft carrier to test in S.China Sea

– Global Times – China’s second aircraft carrier successfully sailed through the Taiwan Straits on Sunday and headed toward a designated area in the South China Sea for testing and training. Experts said that the trip from Northeast China could be the last step in the trial phase of the warship, which is expected to enter naval service, possibly at a naval base in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province.

The Next Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: Building a Stand-In Naval Force

– CIMSEC – The Naval Services must develop and train a naval expeditionary force that is tailored to support stand-in forces within the adversary’s weapons engagement zone…new force packages that are better aligned with future missions and force structure will make for a more preferable interim solution. One solution is a set of stand-in force constructs that are complementary to current formations and fleet tactics – the Littoral Combat Team (LCT), the Littoral Combat Group (LCG), and Littoral Strike Squadron (LSS).