– Wall Street Journal – Its escape to the open seas blocked by sunken ships, the Ukrainian minesweeper Cherkassy weaved and lurched in a narrow gulf on Tuesday afternoon with a symbolic, if inevitably brief, distinction: the last Ukrainian military vessel in Crimea not yet seized by the Russian navy.

– USNI News – China has long trained for an amphibious invasion of Taiwan during military exercises but has expanded its training to include a similar attack on Japanese holdings in the East China Sea, according the chief of intelligence of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (PACFLEET).

Apologies, I had not set the email following option up correctly. It is now fixed.

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– Time – If Santa can harness reindeer to fly the globe, the Navy can use “hydraulic buoyancy” to wage underwater war.

– Defense News – US military commanders have dispatched a team of Marines to the Philippines where as many as 10,000 people are feared dead in the wake of Friday’s devastating typhoon, which now is barreling toward Vietnam and prompting mass evacuations there.

NOSI is changing Web hosting services over the next few days…the transition may be a little rocky and the site will look a little different when we are done. Your patience is appreciated.

– USNI News – Is the Russian Navy off of Syria actually going to do anything?

– RIA Novosti – Ukraine is considering leasing out a carrier-deck pilot training site in Crimea to other countries.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Its recent naval exercises demonstrate that China can operate 21st-century ships on far deployment. But can a strategy based on island-chain control produce a navy capable of projecting global power?

– New York Times Magazine – Ten years after anthrax attacks, biodefense is busted.

Service at NOSI.org has been restored, and all posts dating back to June 27th are now visible on the home page at http://www.nosi.org. Please visit NOSI and catch up on the last 2 weeks of posts that I had made but that were not visible to you due to a software mix-up after a server migration. I apologize for the apparent outage. — Michael

– Associated Press – Aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

– CNN – The US Navy is standing by to assist Japan.

– Washington Times – Ukrainian authorities have imposed a six-year prison term on a Russian man convicted of spying for China who was assigned to steal military secrets for Beijing’s program to build and operate aircraft carriers.

2010

World Naval Operational News Highlights

The ten most significant naval news stories / themes this year included:

• The declaration by the US Navy that the Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile DF-21D has reached initial operational capability. What countermeasures is the US planning to use against it?

• The publication of the “Air-Sea Battle” concept by the US as a strategy to neutralize the rise of the Chinese Navy. What steps does the US need to take to transform strategy into action?

• The sinking of the South Korean Navy frigate Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo. What will be the next act of insanity that North Korea will commit, and how will South Korea respond to it?

• The disastrous Israeli naval commando raid against the Gaza relief convoy that resulted in many civilian deaths. How could the mission’s planners not have expected heavy resistance?

• The extension of Russia’s lease on its Black Sea Fleet base in the Ukraine and the news that it will upgrade and enlarge its fleet there. How will this affect NATO’s increasing operations in the Black Sea?

• The survival of the Royal Navy’s under-construction aircraft carriers after its defense review, albeit with a shift in their air wing from the F-35B STOVL variant to the F-35C naval variant. Will these aircraft ever actually be purchased or will the Queen Elizabeth-class become the world’s largest commando carriers?

• The continued drain of piracy on the world’s navies. When will one country step forward and start prosecuting and jailing pirates?

• The US Navy’s (non) decision to purchase equal numbers of both versions of the Littoral Combat Ship. How is this going to lead to logistical and budgetary efficiencies?

• The continued importance of operations other than war to the US Navy, evidenced by the relief delivered to earthquake-ravaged Haiti led by U.S.S. Bataan and to flood-ravaged Pakistan by U.S.S. Peleliu. When will the US Navy be recognized for the good it does in these operations?

• The final withdrawal of US Marines from Iraq, closely coupled to their redeployment to Afghanistan. Will the surge in Afghanistan be as militarily successful as the one in Iraq?

Statistics
In 2010, there were news stories linked to on 347 / 365 days – that is on 95% of the days.

In 2010, NOSI linked to 436 news stories.

In 2010, 140 of these stories (32%) were related to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, or U.S. Military Sealift Command.

In 2010, 110 of these stories (25%) were background stories.

The remaining 186 news stories (43%) covered the operational activities of 28 nation’s navies, coast guards, and marine corps:

Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, North Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam

In 2010, 180,010 pages of information were read on NOSI by 120,095 users. There were 63,972 post views (impressions) and 134 fans (members) on the NOSI Facebook page.

– New York Times – Tom Friedman on the US Navy’s green initiatives.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Four naval strategists take a look back at Navy-Air Force cooperation in the past to explain all the buzz surrounding this latest strategy.

New York Times – Examining the Complaints About American Rifle Reliability

C.J. Chivers on American rifle reliability in Afghanistan.

CNN – Ecuador authorities seize drug-smuggling sub

A fully functional submarine built for the primary purpose of transporting massive amounts of cocaine has been seized by Ecuadorean authorities with the help of U.S. drug enforcement agents.

Virginian Pilot – Navy shares the blame for San Antonio’s defects

Since the day the Navy commissioned it, the Norfolk-based amphibious ship San Antonio has been plagued with costly defects. Five years later, it sits along the Elizabeth River unfit to deploy. Now a report says that the Navy, as well as contractors who designed and built the vessel, bears blame for the problems.

Defense Technology International – Yo Ho Walrus!

The Netherlands has agreed to a NATO request to deploy a submarine as part of the alliance’s Operation Ocean Shield anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa…It will be the first submarine to participate in Operation Ocean Shield, which has so far been conducted by surface vessels.