International Naval News – The latest news on the Indian, Greek, Canadian and Royal Navies.

• SeaPower: Indian Navy Orders Three Vikrant Carriers

US Navy – A very interesting paper based on lessons learned from high speed vessel concept development and experimentation.

• Naval Warfare Development Command: High Speed Vessel (HSV): Adaptability, Modularity and Flexibility for the Joint Force

Royal Marines – The British Army wants to take over the Royal Marines.

• Daily Telegraph: Army chiefs are out to capture the Marines

US Navy – The pros and cons of e-mail for naval professionals.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: E-Mail is a Two Edged Sword

Background – Lessons Learned in Iraq. – A very interesting pair of lessons learned articles regarding infantry equipment as used in Iraq. It is fascinating to read how the soldiers and Marines end up buying a large amount of their own equipment because what they are issued by the government is not adequate.

• US Army: Operation Iraqi Freedom – PEO Soldier Lessons Learned
• US Marine Corps: Equipment Reviews From Iraq (to read this you must register for Yahoo Groups)

Royal Australian Navy – A tour of HMAS Manoora, anchored off of the Solomon Islands.

• BBC: The floating sentry to the Solomons
  

Royal Australian Navy – An interesting proposed design for a miniature aircraft carrier.

• The Examiner: Incat’s aircraft carrier plans

US Marines – The Marine Corps must seek to expand its capabilities while simultaneously reinforcing our traditional role as expeditionary experts.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Fix Recon, USSOCom, and the Future Of the Corps: Food for Thought

Royal Australian Navy – Australia sends more ships to the Solomons.

• Sydney Morning Herald: More Australian navy ships sent to Solomons

US Navy – Unmanned underwater vehicles move to the forefront of naval warfare.

• SeaPower: UUVs Will Foster Fundamental Change in Naval Warfare

Background – Iraq – Another optimistic view of what the US is accomplishing in Iraq, by Paul Gigot.

• Wall Street Journal: ‘This Was a Good Thing to Do’-
  Iraqis’ greatest fear is that America will cut and run.

US Marines – A chronicle of the first – and last – embedded reporter’s adventures with the US Marines in Iraq.

• Virginian Pilot: A reporter’s journey

Royal Navy – A first pass at the UK’s lessons learned from Iraq. Unfortunately this document is only available in Adobe PDF format.

• Ministry of Defence: Operations in Iraq – First Reflections

Background – Liberia – An analysis of what the Marines face once they get to Liberia.

• BBC: Uncertainties of US Liberia mission

Background – Solomons – Why Australia is intervening in the Solomon Islands.

• National Post: Australian muscle visits ‘friendly’ isles
  – PM fears Solomon Islands might become terror haven

Background – Civil-Military relationships – I just reread this essay by Robert Kaplan and found it to be especially timely, although written 7 years ago. An interesting look at the military’s relationship with the rest of America???”At Fort Leavenworth, where the Army trains its top brass, captains and colonels study high-tech warfare, read the classics, and ponder what will be left to defend in a transnational world???”

• The Atlantic: Fort Leavenworth and the Eclipse of Nationhood

US Marines – The USS Iwo Jima amphibious ready group is ordered to sail to Liberia and await further orders.

• Washington Post: Marines Will Be Sent to Liberia
• BBC: US sends warships to Liberia

US Navy – A new affordable cruise missile, called The Affordable Weapon, is being developed.

• Washington Times: Inside the Ring

Background – Syria – A look at how Syria has been aiding the war on terror???and why they are not any longer.

• The New Yorker: The Syrian Bet

US Navy – Battlespace engineering brings new realism to dockside training.

• SeaPower: The Synthetic Torpedo Meets the Virtual Submarine

Royal Australian Navy – HMAS Manoora lands troops on Guadalcanal’s Red Beach.

• BBC: Peacekeepers arrive in Solomons
• CNN: First troops arrive in Solomons

US Marines – More Marines are landed at the embassy in Liberia.

• Associated Press: Helicopters Bring More Marines to Liberia

US Marines – The use of naval mobile construction battalions (NMCBs) is a needed force multiplier, not an engineer redundancy.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Navy SeaBees: The MAGTF ëStingí The Marine Corps Needs

US Navy – From its inception, the Virginia-class has been an innovative platform for both its warfighting capabilities and for its unique and effective design, development, construction, and testing processes.

• SeaPower: The Virginia Attack Boat Brings New Potency to the Fleet

Background – Japan – Can Japan shoulder a greater burden of its defense?

• New York Times: Japan Faces Burden: Its Own Defense

Royal Australian Navy – An intervention force for the Solomons is being shipped via HMAS Manoora.

• Sydney Morning Herald: Aussie troops sail for Solomons

US Marines – More Marines are being sent to reinforce the embassy in Liberia.

• Associated Press: U.S. Sends Marines to Embassy in Liberia

Russian Navy – The first of Russia’s new class of diesel electric submarines – St. Petersburg – may go to sea in 2004.

• Jane’s: Russian submarine sea trials set for 2004

Background – Pakistan – More bad news on how close Islamic radicals are to taking over Pakistan.

• Washington Times: Heartbeat Away From Jihadi Nucs?

Background – Afghanistan – An excellent look at what the situation is like on the ground today in Afghanistan. In the hunt for Al Qaeda on the Afghan-Pakistani border ó perhaps the most dangerous place in the world ó intelligence is sketchy, the troops don’t trust their translators and even apprehending suspects increases the sense of futility.

• New York Times Magazine: Where the Enemy Is Everywhere and Nowhere

US Navy – The Navy’s swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) platoons are some of the highest-priority and least-available units of America’s military forces.

• SeaPower: SDV Units in Great Demand as Speed, Range Improve

Background – Iraq – The air war against Iraq began in the fall in the fall of 2001; alternatively one could say it continued non-stop from 1991???

• Washington Post: U.S. Moved Early for Air Supremacy

Background – Iraq – The Iraqi military’s view of the war, from their side???

• Washington Post: A Foe That Collapsed From Within

Background – Iraq – Ralph Peters says things are going better than we think in Iraq???

• Washington Post: History Proves We’re Doing Fine

US Marines – With the Marines of the First Marine Division, who are still in Iraq.

• Associated Press: Marines Eager to Leave Iraq, Return Home
• San Diego Union Tribune: Local Marine units staying busy in Iraq

Background – History – As the cease fire approached, the scramble for terrain took its toll on leathernecks of the First Marine Division.

• Leatherneck: The Last Battle – Korea 1953

US Navy – The USS Iwo Jima amphibious ready group is moving closer to Liberia.

• CNN: Marine task force moves closer to Liberia

US Navy – A possible future for signals intelligence aircraft in the US Navy.

• Aviation Week: Navy May Join Army on New Sigint Aircraft

Background – North Korea – Thomas Ricks on how the US is drifting towards war with North Korea.

• Washington Post: U.S., N. Korea Drifting Toward War, Perry Warns

US Navy – Tactical Tomahawk will not begin to reach the fleet in significant numbers for two to three years, but it is time to start planning what the follow-on to this vital long-range strike capability will be.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: What Comes after Tomahawk?

Taiwanese Navy – The US pushes Taiwan to consider purchasing used submarines.

• Reuters: Pentagon mulls second-hand submarines for Taiwan

US Navy – An interview with the director of the Navy’s Submarine Warfare Division.

• SeaPower: Sub Director Foresees ‘Revolutionary’ Power of SSGNs

US Marines – On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War armistace (July 1953), the Gazette takes a look at how artillery was employed in that war.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Effects on Target: Marine Artillery Lessons Learned From the ëForgotten Warí

South African Navy – South Africa is sending patrol boats to Burundi.

• News24: SA navy off to Burundi

Royal Australian Navy – Australia sends another frigate to the gulf.

• Agence France Presse:
  Australian frigate leaves for six months’ duty in the Gulf

Singaporean Navy – Singapore and the US are exercising.

• Agence France Presse:
  Singapore, US navies conduct joint nine-day exercise

• The Straits Times: S’pore and US in military exercise

US Navy – The Navy has laid out a plan for development and procurement of its next-generation carrier-based electronic attack aircraft, which is expected to reach operational capability in 2009. The EA-18G–a derivative of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter–will capitalize on the Improved Capability III (ICAP III) electronic warfare suite being developed as an upgrade for the Navy’s current EA-6B Prowler.

• SeaPower: Milestones, Schedule Set for Prowler Replacement

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan is going to build small aircraft carriers.

• Washington Times: Warships suggest discarded pacifism

Royal Navy – Are the UK’s new aircraft carriers about to shrink in size?

• Financial Times: BAE says it cannot build ships to budget

Background – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – A Lockheed Skunk Works stealthy unmanned aerial vehicle was used for reconnaissance over Iraq.

• Aviation Week: A Classified Lockheed Martin Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft Was Used in Iraq

US Navy – The new Virginia-class submarines will have improved habitability over the Los Angeles-class submarines.

• Virginian Pilot: Submariners to get more room on new Virginia-class vessels

US Navy – Fundamental shifts in the international security environment, and in the military capabilities of the United States and its adversaries, are among the forces that will change the conduct of warfare in the 21st century. Shifts in the application of key technologies also will play a part.

• SeaPower: Trends in America’s Post-Cold War Military Conflicts: The Implications for Sea Power

Background – US Bases – More on the thinking behind the repositioning of US forces around the world.

• The Economist: Patrolling the world

Background – Future Wars – Analysts at the RAND Corporation lay out ten international-security developments that aren’t getting the attention they deserve.

• The Atlantic: Headlines Over the Horizon

NOSI will next be updated on Tuesday. See you then???

Taiwanese Navy – The latest on the US promise to supply submarines to Taiwan – Taiwan will wait until 2006 to budget money for the submarines.

• Taipei Times: US firms mulling sub contract

Indian Navy – The US and India participated in search and rescue exercises.

• NDTV: India, US hold joint naval exercises

US Navy – The US is considering forward deploying a second aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

• Washington Times: Inside the Ring

US Marines – Some of the Marine Corps immediate lessons learned from Iraq.

• SeaPower: Marine Corps Studies Lessons Learned In Iraq to Plan for Future Conflicts

Background – Liberia – Austin Bay gives an nice overview of Liberia’s recent history.

• Washington Times: Liberia Momentum

Background – North Korea – The latest about the potential naval blockade of North Korea.

• The Korea Times: Clock ticks in a military machine

US Navy – What it is like to be the captain of a newly commissioned aircraft carrier.

• Virginian Pilot: Captain takes carrier Reagan from infancy to commissioning

US Marines – The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is exercising in Djibouti.

• Associated Press: Pentagon may base fighter aircraft in Djibouti for anti-terror operations

US Marines – Another in a continuing series of articles on Marines as they prepared to go to battle in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• Leatherneck: Going to War

US Navy – The comeback trail for military airships is getting wider and smoother in the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• SeaPower: Iraqi Conflict Brings Increased Interest in Military Airships

US Marines – Marines added new lines to the fabled history of Iraq.

• Leatherneck: Appointment in Samarra