USNI News – Gulf Coast Shipyards Have Plenty of Orders, But Workforce Challenges Persist.

Naval News – The U.S. Navy held its first at-sea test of a new reloading mechanism, beginning a path that the service claims will allow warships to rearm while underway by 2027.

BBC – The US military says it has launched strikes on the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen, hitting 15 targets. The Pentagon said it used aircraft and warships to launch the attacks in order “to protect freedom of navigation”.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – James Holmes writes that the Navy’s new Navigation Plan would have met approval from early 20th-century naval strategist Harry Yarnell. 

The War Zone – While the Air Force’s NGAD fighter initiative currently paused, the Navy is pushing ahead with its similar F/A-XX stealth jet program.

USNI News – Two U.S. guided-missile destroyers destroyed a handful of Iranian missiles using a combination of weapons, including the Standard Missile 3, a U.S. official confirmed to USNI News on Wednesday.

USNI News – USS Bulkely (DDG-84) and USS Cole (DDG-67) fired a dozen interceptors as part of the U.S. response to Iranian missiles launched at Israel, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that Lisa Franchetti is trying to break a paradigm. Admiral Franchetti is the newish chief of naval operations (CNO), or seniormost uniformed U.S. naval officer. What she says matters. Judging from her just-released “Navigation Plan,” or policy directive to the U.S. Navy, the CNO has come to believe that the Navy’s strategy, operational doctrine, and fleet design have fallen behind discomfiting new realities.

USNI News – The following is Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti’s Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy that was released to the fleet on Sept. 18, 2024.

USNI News – The new fleet-wide guidance from the Navy’s top officer focuses on preparing the service for a potential war with China by 2027 as the maritime component of a joint “warfighting ecosystem.” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti will publicly issue her “America’s Warfighting Navy,” guidance to the wider fleet this week, more than a year into leading the Navy. The plan outlines her priorities for the service, which include fixing maintenance backlogs and recruiting, according to the final draft reviewed by USNI News.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that if the U.S. Navy is in a bad way—and it is, amidst travails such as collisions and other mishaps at sea, shipboard fires, shipbuilding debacles, and even photos of rusty ships of war—changing minds and hearts will make a start toward renovating its standing as the world’s premier saltwater fighting force.

USNI News –  The short-notice surge of U.S. warships from the East Coast to take on missile and drone threats in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea is informing a model for how the Navy will surge ships to fight in future conflicts, the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command told a group of naval engineers on Tuesday.

USNI News – West coast carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) will remain in the Middle East as regional conflict intensifies, according to a Sunday Pentagon statement. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin instructed the carrier strike group to stay in U.S. Central Command as part of an increase of American forces in the region.

BBC – Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean, is a paradise of lush vegetation and white-sand beaches, surrounded by crystal blue waters.

But this is no tourist destination. It is strictly out of bounds to most civilians – the site of a highly secretive UK-US military base shrouded for decades in rumour and mystery.

The island, which is administered from London, is at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute between the UK and Mauritius, and negotiations have ramped up in recent weeks.

The BBC gained unprecedented access to the island earlier this month.

Navy Lookout – After the perceived failure of the Littoral Combat ship programme, the US Navy has shifted its focus back to building traditional frigates. In this piece, we examine the turbulent beginnings of the Constellation-class (FFG-62) project and look at the wider lessons for those involved in warship design and acquisition.

Center for Maritime Strategy – What would happen if the United States no longer deployed nuclear-powered aircraft carriers? The answer is chilling and compelling. Without a robust fleet of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the United States would no longer be able to deploy a credible deterrent capability to contested regions around the world. Without the presence of American carriers, authoritarian rulers, terrorist organizations, and non-state actors would run amuck. This is particularly evident today in the Middle East.

US Naval War College Review – Naval employment of uncrewed platforms is expanding, but their status and perception among both operators and adversaries are still evolving, with key differences from crewed platforms that affect diplomacy, political signaling, and conflict escalation.

US Naval War College Review – New and emerging technologies—especially affecting sensors, networks, autonomy, and computing—are changing Clausewitz’s concept of friction in warfare. While these technologies appear to reduce some aspects of friction, they amplify others and may introduce new ones altogether.

CIMSEC – Given the range advantage of surface fleet-based missiles, the range limitations of the carrier air wing, and the vulnerability of the carrier in certain threat environments, the role of the carrier and its air wing should evolve in tandem with the U.S. Navy’s changing firepower. The carrier and its air wing should serve as the force quarterback that scouts wide spaces, cues surface ship fires against targets, and provides crucial in-flight retargeting support to those salvos on their way through a contested battlespace. In this method, the air wing can be empowered to deliver much more than the force of the carrier – it can deliver the force of entire fleets.

War on the Rocks – U.S. maritime policy is a grievous failure. Whether evaluated in terms of effectively meeting national security requirements or bolstering the country’s economy, America can point to few successes. Inefficient commercial shipbuilding barely registers as a rounding error in global output while costly U.S.-flagged shipping is typically only employed when other options are exhausted. A shocking lack of competitiveness has led to both considerable economic harm and the withering of these maritime industries into shells of their former selves. Such are the fruits of a maritime approach rooted far more in status quo bias and the guiding hand of entrenched special interests than 21st-century needs and realities.

CIMSEC –  The naval services – the Navy and Marine Corps – lack an implementation plan for how they will cultivate STEM talent. To succeed in 21st century naval warfare, the naval services must take a holistic approach to recruiting, education, and retention if they are to effectively compete with today’s advanced threats and the multitude of adversaries. Without clear actions and the right personnel, the naval services’ efforts to improve warfare today will remain, at best, aspirational.

Defense News – The Navy’s manning shortages are curbing the service’s ability to repair its ships while at sea, according to a watchdog report released Monday.

The War Zone – This is the first time we have seen four AIM-174B very long-range air-to-air missiles on a Super Hornet, along with pods and other missiles.

The War Zone – We go in-depth with Capt. Chris “Chowdah” Hill about the Eisenhower’s grueling and dangerous deployment that faced a bevy of new tactical realities.

The Strategist – Bill Sweetman on why hypersonic weapons may alway remain the weapons of the future for the U.S.