– Defense News – Senior navy leaders from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands signed a pact on Thursday placing a renewed focus on the English Channel as a key strategic region for NATO.

Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.

Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.

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– CIMSEC – The future U.S. way of war must innovate beyond the Second World War strategy of out-producing adversaries, since the U.S. has fewer shipyards and its rivals may have greater industrial capacity. The Confederate States Navy provides an excellent example of an under-industrialized innovative underdog struggling to defend itself against an industrial juggernaut.

– USNI Proceedings – This fictional vignette, with an analytical intermission, explores the role of the Secretary of Defense managing a high-intensity conflict with China during the late 2020s.

– The Atlantic – “I had no choice but to leave,” General James Mattis says of his decision to resign as President Trump’s secretary of defense.

Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.

Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.

You can also follow NOSI via RSS at nosi.org/feed or receive an email every time a blog post is published by entering your email address and clicking on the Follow button in the right hand column of the site or on Facebook at facebook.com/nosintel or on Twitter at twitter.com/nosintel

– National Interest – Submarines can run—but they can’t hide—from drones.

– CIMSEC – More from Jeremy Stohs.

– CIMSEC – The decline of European naval power can provide insight into the evolution of Europe’s naval forces since the end of the Cold War.

– CIMSEC – Successful tracking foreign submarines would make the ASEAN Outlook more valid in the Indo-Pacific geostrategic landscape.

Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.

Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.

– War on the Rocks – This short story was submitted in response to the call for ideas issued by the co-chairs of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Eric Schmidt and Robert Work. It addresses the first question (part b.) which asks authors to consider what might happen if the United States fails to develop robust AI capabilities that address national security issues.

– War on the Rocks – West African nations have more successfully cracked down on illegal fishing in recent years. Coastal nations have suffered from a lack of patrol ships, which prevents them from improving fisheries policing…Just a few offshore patrol vessels can make a significant difference in a nation’s ability to deter illegal fishing, which becomes evident when one compares gross tonnage of the fleets of various nation states. That’s where Sea Shepherd comes in.

– US Naval War College Review – The navies of NATO countries fall into two categories: old and new. The new navies lack modernization and readiness, making them deficient in their contributions to NATO security priorities. Sea blindness is a problem across the spectrum of NATO governments and illuminating this problem is now more important than ever in light of an increasingly aggressive Russia.

– US Naval War College Review – Maritime mining long has been called on to support various naval strategies. However, shifting objectives and naval priorities call for new analysis. By adapting methodologies developed for land mines, we can find measures of effectiveness (MOEs) aligned to operational objectives, explore developmental mining concepts, and present new MOEs for maritime mining operations.

Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.

Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.

You can also follow NOSI via RSS at nosi.org/feed or receive an email every time a blog post is published by entering your email address and clicking on the Follow button in the right hand column of the site or on Facebook at facebook.com/nosintel or on Twitter at twitter.com/nosintel

– CIMSEC – The immediate danger from militarized artificial intelligence isn’t hordes of killer robots, nor the exponential pace of a new arms race. As recent events in the Strait of Hormuz indicate, the bigger risk is the fact that autonomous military craft make for temping targets – and increase the potential for miscalculation on and above the high seas.

– BBC – On 7 May, customs officers in Ostend, Belgium, received a box of oysters from the UK. It was the world’s first unmanned commercial shipping operation.

– War Zone – The decision to sell two of these Logistics Support Vessels, along with dozens of landing craft and tugs, might be one the Army comes to regret.

Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.

Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.

– CIMSEC – The world will never see fully autonomous transoceanic commercial cargo ships. In fact, autonomous vessels are likely to operate in only very limited situations.