– Stars and Stripes – The U.S. Navy bills its submarine fleet as the world’s most advanced, a boast that few in the Asia-Pacific region would argue. However, the one thing that the U.S. fleet hasn’t been able to do is escape the realities of both age and cost.

– Virginian Pilot – After tracing the cause of a helicopter crash that killed three sailors to a wiring bundle that had been rubbing against a worn-out fuel line, the Navy turned its attention to the remaining fleet of MH-53E Sea Dragons sitting on the flight line at Norfolk Naval Station. The findings: The chafing problem existed to some degree in every Sea Dragon helicopter, placing each at risk for a similar catastrophe. In the weeks that followed, maintenance crews replaced degraded fuel lines and any wires that showed signs of chafing. Soon the remaining 28 Sea Dragons were flying again over Hampton Roads and abroad. Although the Sea Dragon is the Navy’s oldest, most maintenance-intensive and most crash-prone helicopter, the service remains confident in the long-term safety of the aircraft.

– National Interest – Here’s a thought experiment: would America build the U.S. Navy currently plying the seven seas if it were starting from scratch? Color me skeptical. If not, what kind of navy would it build, and how can we approximate that ideal in light of budgetary constraints, a slew of legacy platforms that can’t simply be scrapped and replaced, and an organizational culture and history that frown on revolutionary change?

– USNI News – The U.S. will launch a comprehensive air campaign to exterminate the Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group that has been ravaging those two nations. President Barack Obama announced the launch of the new full-scale American intervention during a televised speech on Sept. 10.

– Stars and Stripes – The USS Bonhomme Richard will likely miss its next underway deployment after a botched $3 million resurfacing of the amphibious assault ship’s flight deck.

– Defense News – The USS Independence had a successful RIMPAC exercise.

– Real Clear Defense – Greenert’s Navigation Plan Makes the Best of a Terrible Hand.

– Breaking Defense – You wouldn’t expect the Navy to test its weapons in the desert. But that’s just what happened Thursday at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, an Army facility 500 miles from the sea, where a Standard Missile-6 successfully intercepted a mock cruise missile flying low and slow over land. Hitting that target is one sign of how far Navy missile defense programs have cast their net beyond their traditional domain.

– National Defense – While unmanned underwater vehicle technology is advancing, it is not maturing as quickly as UAVs.

– USNI News – China and Russia’s submarine forces are flexing their prowess in the undersea domain by operating further from their respective country’s homeport – in some cases within striking distance of the United States. Given the expansion in operations, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms on both coasts of the United States will be required to monitor and defend the nation more frequently. Foreign submarine operations near the homeland are not necessarily immediate threats, but do require careful thought as the Navy prepares to execute future ASW missions. As budget and naval policymakers continue to plan for the future, ASW must remain a high priority for either homeland or overseas defense. The good news is that the U.S. Navy has new platforms and technology coming online that can provide a significant advantage in the undersea domain.

– Aviation Week – It would be nearly impossible to steal even a wink of sleep in the stateroom of CVN 76 Ronald Reagan during nighttime air ops in the middle of the Pacific off the Hawaiian coast during the Rim of Pacific (Rimpac) exercise…

– USNI News – Four NATO warships are due in the Black Sea in the next several days ahead of an international maritime exercise to include Ukraine.

– Defense News – Powerful forces in Congress are working to buy the US Navy an extra amphibious ship, and lawmakers in both the House and Senate have added between $650 million and $800 million to the proposed 2015 shipbuilding budget to begin construction.But, even if the money is approved and signed into law, it won’t be enough to cover the more than $2 billion needed to buy the ship.

– Navy Times – The littoral combat ship USS Coronado will get a chance at an historic LCS first this fall when it launches a surface-to-surface missile in tests off Southern California.

– The Atlantic – A network of Internet-connected undersea microphones is picking up more than whale songs.

– Navy Times – The building program of the US Navy’s Virginia-class submarines has an outstanding reputation, both for keeping to cost and for on-time delivery. There’s even a modest competition between the two shipyards that build the subs to see who can shave off more time of the contractual delivery date. Bets are off, however, for the North Dakota, the 11th and newest unit of the class. The submarine is the first of the Block III version, with the most significant design changes to date — that led to delays that were acknowledged in the spring. The Navy hoped to continue the march of early deliveries and begin the sub’s first round of sea trials in mid-April, but it was apparent more time was needed to resolve a number of problems.

– San Diego Union Tribune – The Navy announced a new study that aims to document the travel patterns and the feeding and diving habits of whales off Southern California. The study comes as environmental groups continue to fight the U.S. military and the National Marine Fisheries Service over a recently renewed 5-year permit that allows the Navy to use sonar and explosive charges and do other maritime training that affects marine mammals.

– Virginian Pilot – The U.S. Navy’s fast-attack nuclear submarines are usually supposed to stay out of sight, but when the Hawaii docked here late last week, the apparent idea was to make a very visible impression. Big, dark, looming in the harbor waters, the Virginia-class nuclear sub showed up to reassure the uneasy Japanese that American power is still on their side, and still a force to be reckoned with.

– Military.com – The Navy is evaluating designs, costs and specifications for a new class of amphibious assault ships designed to replace the current fleet of cargo-carrying LSD 41/49 dock landing ships, service officials said.

– USNI News – The striking power and stealth of the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) concept was reduced to protect the role of the service’s next-generation of manned fighters.

– USNI News – The U.S. guided missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) has left the Black Sea and two more NATO ships are inbound. Vella Gulf has rotated in and out of the Black Sea in the past few months as part of NATO’s presence mission following the Russian seizure of Crimea region of Ukraine.

– Wall Street Journal – Many have evoked the film “Top Gun” in describing a recent confrontation between a Chinese J-11 fighter and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane off of Hainan island in the South China Sea. Based on U.S. accounts of the encounter, that movie parallel is apt – with the very important distinction that Hainan is not Hollywood.

– War is Boring – Submersibles help sneak commandos ashore.

– Navy Times – The strange saga of the latest cruise of the USS Cowpens…

– USNI News – U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters flying from the deck of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) have flown 30 air strikes against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) terrorists since Aug. 8. but more sorties are geared toward surveillance.