MQ-4C Triton Has Arrived In Europe, Could Impact Black Sea, Red Sea Operations

The War Zone – The global operational reach of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton fleet has expanded again with the arrival of one of the drones, which are optimized for long-duration overwater missions, at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy. From Sigonella, Tritons will be able to provide valuable additional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance coverage over and around parts of Europe, especially for keeping tabs on activity in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, as well as North Africa and the Middle East. At the same time, this all follows the Navy’s decision to significantly scale back its plans for the MQ-4C.

Israel’s Most Advanced Warship Nearly Struck By Long-Range Attack Drone

The War Zone – One of Israel’s prized Sa’ar 6 class corvettes, the country’s most advanced warship, came very close to being struck by a long-range one-way attack drone that was launched from Iraq. The ship was sitting docked in Eilat, on the Gulf of Aqaba, when the drone came screaming in, impacting a large warehouse building on the pier beside it.

Sevmash completes upgrades to build Russia’s next-gen nuclear subs

Defense News – Russia’s leading manufacturer of submarines said it completed the large-scale modernization of its electroplating workshop, charged with applying a particular coating to metallic products. The effort, which concluded this month, is meant to increase the energy efficiency of production at Sevmash, which is expected to build a fifth-generation nuclear submarine for Russia.

China Maritime Report No. 36: China’s T-AGOS: The Dongjian Class Ocean Surveillance Ship

China Maritime Studies Institute – Since 2017, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has commissioned a new class of ocean surveillance vessel into its order of battle: the Type 927. Similar in design and function to the U.S. Navy’s Victorious and Impeccable class T-AGOS ships, the Type 927 was introduced to help remedy the PLAN’s longstanding weakness in anti-submarine warfare. The PLAN has likely built six Type 927 ships to date, most based for easy access to the South China Sea. In peacetime, these ships use their towed array sonar to collect acoustic data on foreign submarines and track their movements within and beyond the first island chain. In wartime, Type 927 vessels could contribute to PLAN anti-submarine warfare operations in support of a range of different maritime campaigns. However, their lack of self-defense capabilities would make them extremely vulnerable to attack.

Hedging Bets: Rethinking Force Design for a Post-Dominance Era

Hudson Institute – The DoD will need to be creative and adaptable to gain an advantage and deter conflict in a post-dominance era. Hedge forces could reduce the potential losses to US forces and increase the risk for aggressors like China during an attempted invasion of Taiwan. As a result, the DoD could retain more troop formations, amphibious vessels, and aircraft that are less important to stopping a Taiwan invasion but are essential to other operations.

Chief Of Royal Swedish Navy On Future Programs, Seabed Warfare And Indo-Pacific

Naval News – RADM Skoog Haslum discussed the situation in the Black Sea, the expected impact of the increase in the Swedish defense budget (2% of GDP), current and future programs of the Royal Swedish Navy (future surface combatants, upgrade of Visby-class corvettes, Blekinge-class submarines), sustaining the know-how regarding submarine production, seabed warfare and recent incidents in the Baltic Sea, and the reasons for her visit to Australia.