– USNI News – A French frigate entered the Black Sea on Wednesday, growing the number of NATO surface warships in the region to three.
Author Archives: Naval Open Source Intelligence (NOSI)
Indian Navy – India Is Trying to Get Serious About Carrier Air Power
– Was is Boring – Since China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning began sea trials in summer 2011, naval and air power observers have been closely watching the development of Beijing’s once-secretive carrier program. Meanwhile, India—an established flattop operator—has also been making important progress deploying air power at sea.
Ukranian Navy – Ukrainian Navy is Slowly Rebuilding
– USNI News – Ukraine has recovered 28 ships from the Russian government following the Russian occupation of Crimea in March, according to information from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
US Navy – USS Bataan moves into Mediterranean
– AP – The US Navy warship USS Bataan has moved into the Mediterranean Sea and could be used, if needed, for any possible evacuation of American personnel from Libya.
Chinese Navy – China’s Underwater A2/AD Strategy
– The Diplomat – New research suggests China is deploying a fixed ocean-floor acoustic arrays system for anti-submarine warfare.
US Navy – Sailors drive potent new riverine boat in Persian Gulf
– Navy Times – It’s small, fast, heavily armed, networked and one of a kind. But the new coastal command boat just starting to operate in this region is giving sailors in the Persian Gulf a taste of the swift and bad-ass boats coming to the brown-water Navy.
Dutch Navy – The Dutch Were Powerless When Russian Warships Entered Their Waters
– War is Boring – Russia’s only aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov recently passed through the English Channel and into The Netherlands’ exclusive economic zone. But the Dutch navy had no ships available for escort duty.
Swedish Navy – Tomorrow’s Stealthy Subs Could Sink America’s Navy
– Aviation Week – The U.S. military is relying on sub-hunting tech that’s decades old. Meanwhile, the targets they’re trying to find are getting quieter and more invisible by the day.
Geopolitics – The Gift of American Power
– Real Clear World – Robert D. Kaplan states that great powers are rarely appreciated in their own time, for the benevolent order they spread goes unacknowledged by those who benefit most from what they provide. Global civilization — and the system of legal norms that arises from it — survives to a significant extent because the American military remains robust and widely deployed. And that, in turn, is not a situation that is necessarily permanent, or one that can ever be taken for granted.
US Marines – Pacific Pathways: Army prepares new tack for deploying forces in Pacific
– Stars and Stripes – Analysts and some military leaders have questioned whether the US Army’s Pacific Pathways initiative will duplicate Marines’ skills and assets and is a “solution in search of a problem.”
US Navy – U.S. Sends Guided Missile Cruiser to Black Sea, 2 NATO Ships in Region
– USNI News – A Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser will enter the Black Sea on Friday “to promote peace and stability in the region,” the Navy announced on Thursday.
Iranian Navy – The Pasdaran have published on Twitter how they would attack a US ship in the Strait of Hormuz
– The Aviationist – The IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), the branch of Iran’s military whose role is to protect Tehran’s Islamic system, have published on Twitter an interesting drawing showing how they imagine an attack to an enemy warship entering the Persian Gulf.
Russian Navy – China and Russia Kick Off Joint Naval Drills
– USNI News – The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the Russian Navy kicked off a week of naval exercises. Joint Sea Exercise 2014 — which will be held in the East China Sea —is the third bilateral exercise between Russia and China in as many years.
Chinese Navy – Can China’s New Destroyer Find U.S. Stealth Fighters?
– USNI News – Can China’s new Type 052D Luyang III destroyers successfully see through the stealth of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter?
Piracy – The World’s Most Violent Pirates
– USNI News – West Africa is home to the world’s most violent pirates—who are now capable of overwhelming armed guards. Last month pirates killed a crewmember during an attack on German-owned oil tanker. Instead of fighting off the pirates, the embarked security team retreated to the ship’s citadel safe room.
For the shipping and insurance worlds, the widespread adoption of armed guards aboard vessels essentially “solved” Somali piracy, as no vessel employing them has been hijacked by pirates. An attempt to transfer this panacea to the pirate-prone waters of West Africa, however, has proved inadequate and ill-suited to local conditions.
Ukraine’s hobbled navy: “Times are not the best”
– AP – Ukraine’s navy is in Odessa’s harbor, though it can be hard to spot. It’s tucked behind a collection of storage tanks and overshadowed by immense cargo vessels docked nearby. There are a couple dozen boats, few much larger than a decent-sized yacht and many in desperate need of repair. The government is begging the public to help pay their bills. This is what’s left of Ukraine’s fleet since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula two months ago, taking with it the navy’s key base and most of its ships.
US Navy – Is There a Frigate in Your Future?
– USNI News – Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s recent direction to the Navy to develop proposals for a “capable and lethal small surface combatant, generally consistent with the capabilities of a frigate” could have a major affect on several Navy programs.
US Navy – US Navy releases ‘stealth’ e-reader for sailors
– BBC – The US Navy is to provide custom e-readers, dubbed the Navy eReader Device (NeRD), to some of its sailors.
North Korean Navy – New NKorea warships seen in satellite images
– AP – Recent satellite images show two new North Korean frigates, the largest surface combat ships the nation’s navy has constructed in a quarter-century.
Royal Navy – British Destroyer Versus the Russian Navy
– Was is Boring – The Royal Navy’s high-tech warship HMS Dragon has sortied twice in recent weeks to find and escort eight Russian naval vessels steaming through British waters.
Chinese Navy – Philippines says photos show China airstrip work
– AP – The Philippine government said it released on Thursday military surveillance pictures of Chinese land reclamation on a reef claimed by Manila in the South China Sea that show Beijing violated a regional agreement not to escalate territorial disputes.
Royal Australian Navy – Australia Is Getting Aircraft Carriers, Sort Of
– War is Boring – Pretty soon, the Royal Australian Navy will take possession of HMAS Canberra, a 27,000-ton-displacement, flat-deck amphibious assault ship. The RAN plans to use Canberra and her sister HMAS Adelaide to manage crises across the South Pacific. But could the Canberras also give Australia an offensive naval air capability that it has lacked since the early 1980s? Could the assault ships, in other words, also be aircraft carriers?
French Navy – J’Arrive! French Spy Ship Heads Into the Black Sea
– War is Boring – The French spy ship Dupuy de Lome is in the Black Sea. Which also happens to be an excellent location for snooping on Russian military communications.
Chinese Navy – China’s Cruise Missiles: Flying Fast Under the Public’s Radar
– National Interest – The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) numerous, increasingly advanced cruise missiles have attracted far less attention than its ballistic missiles—yet their impact on regional security, deterrence, and potential military operations may be similar in magnitude. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has limited itself severely in both the type and quantity of its own anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs). It is therefore simply amazing that such a formidable set of weapons has generated so little open source analysis; indeed that may be precisely part of its appeal for China. This article attempts to rectify this surprising foreign neglect by surveying PRC cruise missile programs and their implications for broader People’s Liberation Army (PLA) capabilities, especially in a Taiwan scenario—although they can also have significant impact elsewhere on China’s increasingly contested maritime periphery.
Geopolitics / Russia – Why is Russia going after the Crimea? It’s just a hostile acquisition
– Global Guerrillas – John Robb’s interesting take on Russia’s grand strategy – Russia is an energy company with all the trappings of nation-state…Everything Russia does militarily is aimed at expanding it’s energy interests.
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