– Washington Post – Did you know that the military uses its submarines as underwater hacking platforms?
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration Ruling With Captain James Fadell
– CIMSEC – A discussion on the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on territorial disputes in the South China Sea with one of the China-watching community’s best known, most respected, and outspoken voices, retired U.S. Navy Captain James Fanell.
Israel Navy Readies for Third-Generation USV
– Defense News – The Israel Navy is planning to deploy a new generation of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) based on a US-built combat craft and remote-control technologies and subsystems developed by state-owned Rafael. Once deployed by the middle of next year, they will complement manned surface ships in multiple missions, including defense of Israel’s economic waters, anti-mine and anti-submarine warfare.
French Navy Might Begin South China Sea Patrols this Year
– China Topix – Warships of the French Navy (the “Marine nationale”) are expected to begin patrols of the disputed South China Sea, perhaps by as early as this year, as the government of President François Hollande seeks to enforce its defense of the rules based international order.
NATO Not Ready As Russian Sub Threat Rises
– Breaking Defense – The balance of power underwater is shifting against the West, warns a new report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Both Russian and NATO capabilities cratered after the Cold War, but the Russian submarine fleet is clawing its way back — and we’re not ready to face it, CSIS says. The US, its allies, and the Nordics need to invest in new technology, intense training, and, above all, closer cooperation to counter the resurgent threat.
What if the Ocean Was Transparent?
– The Economist – The ability to peer unhindered into the deep would reveal a host of wonders—and have huge practical consequences.
LCS Fort Worth’s Return Journey Brightens
– Defense News – The outlook earlier this year for the homeward journey of the littoral combat ship Fort Worth was grim. The damage from a January 12 pierside incident in Singapore seemed to be severe, bad enough that it was a question whether any the ship’s four main propulsion engines could be brought online…
Russian Sub Activity on the Rise in North Atlantic
– USNI News – While Russian submarine activity in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas and the North Atlantic are at their highest levels since the end of the Cold War, its navy has only started to be resourced and its undersea fleet, while “a pocket of competence,” remains small.
The Baltic Sea and Current German Naval Strategy
– CIMSEC – With the deteriorating relations between the West and Russia in the wake of Crimea’s annexation and the hybrid war in Eastern Ukraine since early 2014, the Baltic Sea is suddenly thrust back into the spotlight of naval planners, policy analysts, and students of strategic geography alike. This article lays out some principles of looking at the Baltic Sea through the lens of the German Navy, which – while busy conducting a host of maritime security operations (MSO) in such far-flung places as the Horn of Africa, the coast of Lebanon, and the Central Mediterranean for more than two decades – finds itself returning conceptually to one of its home waters.
UK nuclear submarine collides with merchant vessel off Gibraltar
– BBC – One of the UK’s newest nuclear-powered submarines has docked in Gibraltar after a collision with a merchant vessel during a training exercise.
Can China Enforce a South China Sea Air-Defense Identification Zone?
– USNI News – Is China about to declare an Air-Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea? And how effectively would it be able to enforce such a zone?
PLAN’s Wu to CNO Richardson: Beijing Won’t Stop South China Sea Island Building
– USNI News – The head of the People’s Liberation Army Navy told his U.S. counterpart that China has no intention of stopping its island building campaign in the South China Sea Spratly Islands.
Naval frigate on way back after patrol mission near Spratlys
– Focus Taiwan – The Lafayette-class Di Hua frigate is on its way back to Taiwan after completing a routine patrol mission in waters near the Spratly Islands.
MPs vote to renew Trident weapons system
– BBC – The House of Commons has backed the renewal of the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system by 472 votes to 117.
Russians Pitch ‘Storm’ Nuclear Carrier Design to India
– USNI News – Russian shipbuilding officials have offered New Delhi their nuclear-powered design for an Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier.
Indian Navy reports problems with Russian carrier, aircraft
– Jane’s – There are still a number of problems with India’s Russian-built Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB aircraft, as well as with the aircraft carrier formerly known as Admiral Gorshkov that entered Indian Navy service in 2013.
Don’t Push China Too Hard After SCS Ruling
– Breaking Defense – “To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape,” Sun Tzu wrote 2,500 years ago. It’s a stratagem – often called the “golden bridge” – that the US and its allies would do well to remember tomorrow morning, when a UN tribunal ruling on disputes in the South China Sea will almost certainly deliver China a legal and political defeat. Chinese nationalists will stridently demand retaliation. We need to give Xi Jinping room to deescalate instead without losing face.
US, China wage legal warfare over control of the South China Sea
– Asia Times – The United States is stealing a page from China’s strategic playbook in using international law as a means to counter expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Beijing South China Sea claims rejected by court
– BBC – An international tribunal has ruled against Chinese claims to rights in the South China Sea, backing a case brought by the Philippines.
The submarines and rivalries underneath the South China Sea
– BBC – A tribunal is about to rule on China’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. But Beijing’s desire for control is about much more than rocks above the water, argues analyst Alexander Neill. It is also central to China’s plans for a submarine nuclear force able to break out into the Pacific Ocean.
Russian Spy Ship Now Off Hawaii, U.S. Navy Protecting ‘Critical Information’
– USNI News – Moscow has dispatched a specialized spy ship off the coast of Hawaii with the likely mission to monitor the U.S. Navy led Rim of the Pacific 2016 exercise.
Norway Faces a New Era of Russian Newpolitik in the Arctic
– CIMSEC – This writing discusses the deteriorating strategic environment that will challenge Norwegian security again in the coming decades, and the necessary responses to them. The Norwegian National Security Strategy must address these challenges by refocusing NATO, enhancing bilateral partnerships, and strengthening the Norwegian Armed Forces.
The Navy’s new normal: What a modern deployment looks like aboard the USS Truman
– Virginian Pilot – This is what a modern deployment looks like for Norfolk-based ships in an era of a resurgent Russia and with the U.S. determined to operate wherever it wants in an effort to crush the Islamic State group. No ship illustrates that more than the aircraft carrier USS Truman as it nears the end of an eight-month deployment.
How does China’s first aircraft carrier stack up?
– CSIS – The entry of China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, into service with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) attracted considerable attention from both the Chinese press and military observers around the world. For some, the Liaoning was a symbol of China’s global power; for others, it represented a significant first step toward a more muscular and assertive Chinese navy.
Aussies Lead Pacific Pack In Amphib Ops
– Breaking Defense – America’s Pacific partners are building up their amphibious forces, but they can’t storm a beach against a high-tech adversary like China. Even the most advanced allies — Australia, Japan, and South Korea — would need US support for a raid against a well-armed terrorist group, especially in command & control, logistics, and helicopters.
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