– BBC – Canada’s navy has imposed a near-total ban on its sailors from drinking while at sea.
Author Archives: Naval Open Source Intelligence (NOSI)
US Navy – U.S. Navy Allowed to Use Persian Gulf Laser for Defense
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy is has declared an experimental laser weapon on its Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) in the Persian Gulf an operational asset and U.S. Central Command has given permission for the commander of the ship to defend itself with the weapon.
US Navy – Navy spy “fish” could be operational next year
– Virginian Pilot – Project Silent Nemo is under way this week at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, where a team of civilian engineers and military officers are testing the capabilities of a 5-foot, 100-pound experimental robot that’s designed to look and swim like a bluefin tuna.
US Navy – Up Gunned LCS Hulls Picked for Navy’s Next Small Surface Combatant
– USNI News – The Navy will beef up the weapons, armor and sensors on its two existing classes of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) in an answer to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s call for a tougher Small Surface Combatant (SSC).
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan Takes Another Step in Building Marine Force
– The Diplomat – An announcement that it would be procuring the MV-22 Osprey adds another element to a future amphibious marine force.
Chinese Navy – China’s CX-1 Missile Now Exportable
– Defense News – China’s new CX-1 supersonic anti-ship cruise missile is ready for export to America’s friends and foes alike, with potential markets including Iran, Pakistan and African and South American countries.
Russian Navy – Russia Accepts Third Borei-class Boomer
– USNI News – The Russian Navy has accepted its third Project 955 Borei-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) ahead of a formal ceremony next week.
Chinese Navy – China’s Checkmate: S-400 Looms Large Over Taiwan
– Defense News – Taiwan’s F-16s face a growing threat from China’s arsenal of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). The latest and gravest is the Russian sale of 400-kilometer-range S-400 Triumf road-mobile SAM systems to China. If fielded in Fujian Province, the SAM system will be able to cover the whole of Taiwan airspace, thus finally solving the “problem of air superiority for the Chinese.”
US Navy – This Destroyer Is The World’s Largest Remote Controlled Vehicle
– FoxTrot Alpha – What does the Navy do when it needs to know for sure that a new weapon system or electronic countermeasure works, not just under stringent lab-like settings or at a land based range, but in its intended operating environment? They put it to sea on a giant remote controlled Destroyer and throw live missiles at it.
Russian Navy – Russia to France: Give Us the Mistrals or a Refund
– USNI News – Russia has given the French government a choice, either deliver the two promised Mistral-class amphibious warships to the Russian Navy or refund the purchase price of the $1.53 billion program.
Royal Navy – U.K. to Relocate Two Attack Boats to Scotland by 2020
– USNI News – The U.K. Royal Navy plans to relocate two Trafalgar-class nuclear attack boats (SSN) from the Southern England to the service’s primary submarine base in Scotland.
Geopolitics / ISIS – ISIS: What the US Doesn’t Understand
– New York Review of Books – Ahmed Rashid writes that the crisis ISIS has created for the West and the Arab world cannot be effectively addressed until there is a broader understanding of what ISIS wants. The first thing we need to recognize is that ISIS is not waging a war against the West…ISIS wants to destroy the near enemy, the Arab regimes, first. This is above all a war within Islam: a conflict of Sunni against Shia, but also a war by Sunni extremists against more moderate Muslims—between those who think the Muslim world should be dominated by a single strand of Wahhabism and its extremist offshoot Salafism and those who support a pluralistic vision of Muslim society. The leaders of ISIS seek to eliminate all Muslim and non-Muslim minorities from the Middle East—not only erasing the old borders and states imposed by Western powers, but changing the entire ethnic, tribal, and religious composition of the region.
North Korean Navy – North Korea’s Sea-Based Deterrent
– USNI News – Recent reports that North Korea is developing submarines based on obsolete Golf-II class Soviet-era submarines has gained worldwide attention. However obsolete, it is reported that North Korea had invested its time in “examining and replicating” the missile-launch system of the Soviet-era subs. Hence, these submarines would be able to fire ballistic missiles. In fact, reports confirm that Pyongyang already is developing a vertical-launch system for submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). Raising further concerns about that is the fact that North Korean ballistic missiles could be armed with nuclear warheads.
Chinese Navy – A Potent Vector: Assessing Chinese Cruise Missile Developments
– Joint Forces Quarterly – The numerous, increasingly advanced cruise missiles being developed and deployed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have largely flown under the public’s radar. This article surveys PRC cruise missile programs and assesses their implications for broader People’s Liberation Army (PLA) capabilities, especially in a Taiwan scenario.
Iraq – In and Out of Time in Iraq
– New Yorker – Thomas Ricks on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Royal Navy – UK to establish £15m permanent Mid East military base
– BBC – Britain is to establish its first permanent military base in the Middle East since it formally withdrew from the region in 1971. The base, at the Mina Salman Port in Bahrain, will host ships including destroyers and aircraft carriers.
Geopolitics – K of the Castle
– The Times Literary Supplement – Niall Ferguson’s take on Henry Kissinger’s new book “World Order”. Ferguson asks: Does America have a foreign policy? Is this a New World Disorder?
US Navy – The Navy’s Smart New Stealth Anti-Ship Missile Can Plan Its Own Attack
– Foxtrot Alpha – America’s primary anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, has been in service now for close to 40 years and the Navy has been very reluctant to evolve when it comes to its anti-ship capabilities. Times are changing, with China’s Navy on the rise and Russia flexing its muscle, the Cold War staple just won’t do. Enter Lockheed’s ninja-like Long Range Anti-Ship Missile to save the day.
US Navy – East Asian waters to be US aircraft carrier-free for a time
– Nikkei Asian Review – Defense policymakers in Japan and the U.S. are privately voicing concern about the total absence of U.S. aircraft carriers from East Asian waters for four months next year.
Royal Australian Navy – The muddy waters of Australia’s submarine project
– Aviation Week – It seems as though every day brings a different “definitive” story about the Australian submarine requirement to replace its troubled Collins-class submarines.
US Marines – Don’t call me ‘POG’: The push to end the Corps’ most damaging divide
– Marine Corps Times – The service rivalry between infantry Marines, or grunts, and support Marines, sometimes called “persons other than grunts” or “POGs” for short, is a ubiquitous part of Marine Corps culture. It’s fed by grunts’ pride in their elite training and dangerous work — and the perception that support Marines enjoy better living conditions and easier work, particularly when deployed to combat zones.
US Navy – A U.S. Flattop Bombed Militants, Thwarted Hijackers and Stared Down Russia
– War is Boring – USS George H.W. Bush has been busy
Geopolitics / Middle East – Why is Saudi Arabia using oil as a weapon?
– BBC – The question is why the Saudis would risk the goodwill of other Opec members, simultaneously emasculating the organisation and undercutting their ability to use it in the future to serve their interests. The answer is to hurt Iran and Russia…
Royal Australian Navy – Australian sailors on asylum operations ‘traumatised’
– BBC – Sailors from the Royal Australian Navy say they have suffered trauma after having to pull dead asylum seekers from the ocean while on border patrol.
US Marines – High Water-Speed Still a Priority for Marine Corps’ Amphibious Assault Vehicle
– National Defense – The Marine Corps spent $3.5 billion and 25 years developing an amphibious assault vehicle that can skim on top of the water at high speeds. Even though four of its attempts floundered, the service has not given up on creating a vehicle with that capability.
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