– Reuters – Terrorism and Middle East insurgencies are not going away. Yet in the 21st century, the United States must understand it faces a return of a serious national-security concern that shaped the last century: the risk of great-power conflict.

– Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments – Success or failure in war is often measured in terms of territory gained and losses imposed on the enemy. These metrics, however, may not reflect what is really most useful in winning a war or a military competition. Our research shows that it is often more cost effective to impose delay, disruptions and inefficiency on adversary battle networks than to adopt traditional attrition warfare metrics. Our insights are derived from two of the most important competitions in 20th century conflicts: one between air defenses and strike aircraft and the other between submarines and anti-submarine forces. In this study, Dr. John Stillion and Bryan Clark quantitatively examine 100 years of air and undersea competitions. Their findings provide a framework for understanding the battle network competitions of today, as well as identifying operating concepts and technologies that can enable U.S. anti-submarine, air defense, and strike forces to be successful in future conflicts.

– Flightglobal – The US Navy will extend its air arm in the Asia-Pacific region over the coming five years with the first deployment of the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton unmanned maritime patrol aircraft to Guam in 2017 and an increased presence of other newly developed flying assets like the Boeing P-8A Poseidon and Northrop MQ-8C Fire Scout.

– USNI News – The last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate deployment ended on Sunday when USS Kauffman (FFG-59) returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Va. following six months in U.S. Southern Command.

– National Interest – Has the U.S. Navy become the Haight-Ashbury of sea power? In a way.

– Aviation Week – Bill Sweetman writes that last week’s leak of a report by a test pilot on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) team would have raised much less of a ruckus had it not been for earlier statements from program people.

– USNI News – Guided missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) entered the Black Sea on Sunday — following three other NATO ships in the last several days — marking a noticeable uptick in activity in the region ahead of military exercises in Bulgaria.

– Breaking Defense – Sometimes success is its own punishment. Shooting down ballistic missiles is one of the Navy’s most high-tech, high-profile capabilities — and it’s one of the most popular with Congress as well. But as demand for missile defense increases at what the Chief of Naval Operations has called an “unsustainable” pace, it’s an ever-greater burden on a fleet that has plenty of other missions.

– Navy Times – The Navy ignored years of alarming reports – and two pilots paid the price.

– War is Boring – U.S. Navy mulls putting aviation logistics ships to work.

– Jane’s – The Joint Program Office (JPO) for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has taken the unusual step of publicly defending the aircraft’s air-to-air capabilities following a damning media report that called into question its ability to ‘dogfight’ with even today’s generation of jets.

– National Interest – New technology might just dampen the awesome capabilities of one of America’s most lethal weapons. What can the Navy do about it?

– Politico – The Joint Chiefs keep ordering up ambitious new war plans. But their biggest battle might be with each other.

– Aviation Week – After more than three decades Vice Adm. Thomas Rowden finally has what he’s always wanted – a Top Gun school for surface warfare officers.

– USNI News – The US Navy has accepted the second Virginia-class (SSN-774) Block III nuclear attack submarine from Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding.

– Real Clear Defense – How do you adapt to changing times and circumstances, particularly when your home institution is big, and bureaucratic, and has compiled a long record of success that seems to vindicate its approach for all time? An institution like, say, the U.S. submarine force, or the U.S. Navy as a whole?

– USNI News – The Navy’s reduced combat system modernization schedule for its legacy Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers (DDG-51) puts the surface fleets ability to tackle ballistic missile defense (BMD) tasks — as well as protect high value ships like aircraft carriers — at risk.

– New York Times Magazine – The unit best known for killing Osama bin Laden has been converted into a global manhunting machine with limited outside oversight.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Reviving the forgotten ‘arsenal ship’ concept could give the Navy the edge in destroying an enemy’s communication and weapon systems.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – On the surface, hiring contractors would seem a wise choice. But the Navy does so at grave risk to its budget and culture of self-sufficiency.

– US Naval War College Review – Naval warfare in the littorals has much in common with war conducted on the open ocean. However, there are also some significant differences, due to the extremely complex, dynamic, and challenging physical environment of the former. The peculiarities of the physical environment in the littorals offer many challenges — but also opportunities — in the employment of naval forces and aircraft. Distinctions between characteristics of war on the open ocean and in the littorals must be thoroughly understood; otherwise, commanders and their staffs simply cannot plan or employ

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – A view from the 6th Fleet, where the ‘operationalizing’ of the new maritime strategy is well under way.

– US Naval War College Review – There is no single champion for mine warfare. This lack of support presents challenges for the U.S. Navy and the nation, as the service struggles to articulate, and to muster the necessary backing for, mine warfare (MIW) strategies, programs, capabilities, and capacities.

– Aviation Week – The American people could not ask for a better U.S. host during these most contentious of times in the Asia-Pacific. US Navy Admiral Harry Harris, the new head of Pacific Command, does indeed know the mood of the region. Its nature is his second nature. When he talks about the region, it is as if he is reading his own heart. He is the right officer – the right person – for the role and the times. He leaves little doubt what needs to be done.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Here’s what leaders and planners should do in an atmosphere of high demand and lower numbers of ships.