– USNI News – The head of U.S. naval forces in the Western Pacific said the U.S. would support an emerging plan to create multi-national patrols in the South China Sea that could bear similarities to anti-piracy patrols in the Strait of Malacca.

– War is Boring – More precisely, it’s a new anti-ship cruise missile.

– USNI News – A design flaw in the system the Navy plans to help safely recover aircraft onboard its next generation Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) aircraft carrier has set testing for the program back two years and risks extending the delivery of the ship past its March 31, 2016 deadline.

– USNI News – As demand for regional ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities sharply increases, the BMD forces’ operational tempo is trying to keep pace while funding is not – leading defense officials to question if a new BMD strategy is needed.

– USNI News – Lawmakers and Navy leadership spent the past year going back and forth over how to count the number of ships in the Battle Force fleet. The Navy made some changes last spring that immediately increased the size of the fleet and complicated the ship-counting effort: certain ships would count only if they were forward deployed but not if they returned home to the United States. Congress pushed back, passing into law what was essentially a compromise counting rule – and the third methodology to be used in a one-year span. As a result of the back-and-forth, the Navy’s most recent ship-count projection it submitted to Congress contains two sets of figures: one with the Navy’s preferred method, and one following Congress’s rule. The dueling methods have led to confusing charts and tables earlier this year, but the conflict over how to count Navy ships is not new – the Carter and Reagan administrations both created their own sets of rules for counting ships.

– USNI News – The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) will have a different radar than the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), bringing the new Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) into the carrier fleet one ship earlier than planned and saving the program about $180 million, according to the Navy.

– USNI News – The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) warned Congress of an upcoming Navy fighter shortfall just as Boeing is trying to determine whether to keep its Super Hornet and Growler production line open, setting the stage for intense talks between the service and company in the coming months about whether the Navy should and can afford to invest in additional legacy fighters.

– USNI News – The incoming U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) commander, Adm. Harry B. Harris, testified before Congress late last year that “China’s rise as a regional military and global economic power, and in particular, its rapid military modernization and assertive behavior toward regional neighbors present opportunities and challenges that must be managed effectively. This is our most enduring challenge.” To meet that challenge, the U.S. Navy should explore establishing an International Maritime Operations Center (IMOC) headquartered in Indonesia to showcase the Navy’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific, monitor maritime developments in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean and serve as a new mechanism to meet China’s rise.

– Foxtrot Alpha – Even some military aficionados would be surprised to know that the Navy has dedicated special operations helicopters squadrons. The Air Force’s Pave Hawk and Osprey communities and the Army’s notorious Night Stalkers take up much of the limelight. But now, the Navy’s two reclusive squadrons are set to stand down due to a budget crunch.

– Navy Times – As part of the U.S. military’s shift to the Asia-Pacific region, the Navy is dispatching more ships and sailors for exercises with partner nations. There are also opportunities to work alongside the Chinese military in training and humanitarian operations. But make no mistake — China is at the heart of the new strategy, and the Middle Kingdom is pushing back. There have been high-level run-ins between the U.S. Navy and the Chinese military in recent years and experts believe these are likely to continue as the 1.3-billion strong nation builds its maritime might.

USNI News – The Navy’s most technologically capable carrier, cruiser and destroyer are shipping out for a Middle East deployment.

– USNI News – Five Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers (DDG-51) will forgo a combat system upgrade that would allow the ships to fight ballistic missile threats as part of a reduction in modernization funding included in the Navy’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 budget that will save the service $500 million over the next five years.

– Real Clear Defense – The U.S. Navy has a problem…Not since the early 1990s, for instance, has the surface navy procured a new anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM), its chief weapon for fleet-on-fleet engagements.

– Foxtrot Alpha – One of the most anticipated weapon systems of the last quarter century looks like it is nearly ready for action.

– USNI News – A newly created “Index of Military Strength” rates the Navy and Marine Corps as “marginal” in being able two fight two major regional conflicts almost simultaneously while having sufficient reserves to carry out other missions.

– Daily Beast – The ship was supposed to zoom over the ocean top, 50 percent faster than its competitors. Then things changed.

– National Interest – Over the last several weeks, there has been a lot of chatter about the supposed death of Air-Sea Battle. Here is an exclusive look—from the Pentagon’s ASB Office itself—at what is actually happening.

– Aviation Week – The die is cast and the U.S. Navy has made its big bet – the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)-Next is going to be an uparmed and uparmored version of the current vessels that the service has redesignated as an FF, or fast frigate.

– War is Boring – And the admirals don’t seem to care…

– USNI News – Debate is raging over the utility of the aircraft carrier and whether it’s even relevant anymore in the face of China’s new, lethal anti-ship missiles. It’s a debate worth having, but it needs to be rooted in realistic naval principles and war precedents, not politics and hype.

– Politico – It’s too small—and getting smaller.

– National Interest – What would happen if U.S. nuclear attack submarines—some of the most sophisticated and expensive American weapons of war—suddenly became obsolete? Imagine a scenario where these important systems became the hunted instead of the hunter, or just as technologically backward as the massive battleships of years past. Think that sounds completely insane? If advances in big data and new detection methods fuse with the anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) ambitions of nations like China and Russia, naval planners around the world might have to go back to the drawing board.

– National Interest – A number of recent events underscore South Korea’s plans to establish a formidable submarine fleet to counter North Korea and other regional security threats.

– The Diplomat – A fascinating new paper by two academics asks us to question a fundamental assumption about China’s naval buildup.

– Aviation Week – Is the Littoral Combat Ship worth fixing?