– BBC – Lower oil prices, reflected in falling petrol prices at the pump, have been a boon for Western consumers. Are they also a potent US weapon against Russia and Iran?
Author Archives: Naval Open Source Intelligence (NOSI)
Piracy – Maritime piracy on the rise in Southeast Asia
– Nikkei – Maritime piracy continues to be a major threat to global supply chains, though the pirates have moved to different oceans.
Chinese Navy – Chinese Subs Lurk Under the Indian Ocean: Cause for Concern?
– National Interest – The visit of the Chinese Type 039 Song class submarine to Colombo, Sri Lanka, earlier this month passed with little notice, but it’s the first time one of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy’s (PLA-N) diesel-powered submarines has emerged in the Indian Ocean, and its a rare PLAN submarine visit to a foreign port. Naturally, this visit, and an Indian Ocean patrol by a Chinese nuclear submarine at the start of this year, is prompting discussion about the expanding reach and capability of China’s navy.
Chinese Navy – Here Comes China’s Great White Fleet
– National Interest – China’s “rights protection fleet” has grown tremendously in recent years. That could mean trouble in the East and South China Seas.
Chinese Navy – US confident of countering nuclear threat of PLA’s Type 94 sub
– Want China Times – China’s Global Times says the United States has studied various ways to counter the nuclear threat of China’s Type 94 Jin-class submarine.
Iraq – The Secret Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons
– New York Times – C.J. Chivers fascinating story on the extensive chemical weapons stores unearthed in Iraq by the US, and the casualties they caused.
Israeli Navy – Nukes on the High Seas: Israel’s Underwater Atomic Arsenal
– National Interest – Israeli submarines—if reports are accurate—will carry a portion of Israel’s nuclear deterrent under the sea. Can these subs provide a practical deterrent?
US Navy – Navy Moving Two Additional BMD Destroyers To Japan
– USNI News – Two guided missile destroyers with the U.S. Navy’s latest ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems will be added to the service’s forward deployed forces in Japan by 2017.
Geopolitics / North East Asia – Australia May Not Be Prepared for North-East Asia Conflicts
– Epoch Times – Desmond Ball has spent over a quarter of a century as a special professor at the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. For Professor Ball, the recent Australian deployment of air power and military personnel to northern Iraq represents a familiar scenario – the Middle East has once again become a distraction from what is needed to defend Australian shores.
US Navy – Navy Declares IOC For E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
– USNI News – The U.S Navy has declared initial operational capability (IOC) with the Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.
Miscellaneous – It’s a Rough World Out There For a Small Navy
– The Diplomat – Modern warfare is shifting to a competition between two “system-of-systems,” and smaller navies can’t compete.
US Navy – The Navy’s Battle Command Ship Patrols the Black Sea
– War is Boring – The U.S. Navy has sent its most advanced battle command ship the USS Mount Whitney into the Black Sea to reassure allies rattled by an aggressive Russia. And while she’s there, the ship also has a chance to snoop on Moscow’s military moves.
US Navy – Carl Vinson Strike Group Enters U.S. 5th Fleet
– USNI News – The five ships of the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group (CSG) have entered the U.S. Navy’s Middle East area of operations — U.S. 5th Fleet.
US Navy – A Naval Disaster in the Making
– Weekly Standard – The misbegotten plan to shrink the U.S. submarine fleet.
US Navy – Watch the Navy’s Robotic Gunboats Swarm the James River
– War is Boring – The Navy has long wanted to get into the robot game. The admirals are envious of the Air Force’s hundreds of flying drones, and the sailing branch is working on a carrier-launched drone of its own. But now the Navy is creating swarms of robotic gunboats and testing them on the James River in Virginia.
US Navy – Two U.S. Ships in Black Sea, French Surveillance Ship Due Friday
– USNI News – The U.S. command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) entered the Black Sea on Saturday — a day after guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67) — bringing the total of American naval ships in the region to two, according on a release from U.S. 6th Fleet. The French signals intelligence ship — Dupuy de Lôme (A759) — is also due in the Black Sea by Friday.
US Marines – Marine Corps develops new equipment built for the Osprey
– Marine Corps Times – New equipment being developed by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab is tailor-made to fit inside the service’s most expeditionary aircraft — the MV-22B Osprey.
US Navy – Meet the Zumwalt
– Defense News – The US Navy’s stealth destroyer will go to sea next spring.
US Marines – Marines Emphasize Advantage of Sea Basing
– Defense News – US Marine Corps’ officials told reporters they are very focused on sea basing, particularly as a means of dealing with the “anti-access, area denial” problem.
Indonesian Navy – Dear US Navy: The Futuristic X3K Is What Littoral Combat Ships Should Be
– Foxtrot Alpha – The X3K was built by Indonesian-based Swedish boat builder North Sea Boats, and designed in part by renowned exotic boat builder LOMOcean Design LTD. The goal was to build a very stealthy, high-speed, multi-role missile boat that could dominate the complex littorals around Indonesia while still being affordable to procure and operate.
US Navy – 3 Major Decisions Loom for US Navy
– Defense News – Congress again is hung up on a budget, but lawmakers have left town to fight the midterm elections, leaving the Pentagon to wait and see what happens in one budget year before it can nail down the next. Meanwhile, there’s work to do, and the US Navy has several major decision points coming up — questions that need to be decided regardless what Congress ultimately comes up with.
Royal Navy – First in New Class of British Attack Boat Completes Maiden Deployment
USNI News – HMS Astute (S-94) — the first in class of the U.K. Royal Navy’s nuclear attack boats (SSNs) — has returned to Scotland after its first operational deployment.
Royal Navy – Royal Navy Sends Its Weirdest Ship to Fight Ebola
– War is Boring – The British Royal Navy is deploying the auxiliary ship RFA Argus to Sierra Leone in West Africa in order to help health officials contain the deadly Ebola virus.
US Navy – USS Cole to Enter Black Sea On Friday
– USNI News – The U.S. is sending the guided missile destroyer USS Cole into the Black Sea on Friday as part of an ongoing presence mission in the region since Russia seized the Crimea region of Ukraine in March.
Chinese Navy – Here’s a Peek Inside a Chinese Submarine
– War is Boring – ‘Song’-class sub causes a stir in the Indian Ocean
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