The War Zone – U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets from the supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt are now operating from a major U.S. air operations hub in Jordan.

USNI News – When sailors assigned to USS Mason (DDG-87) were in workups last year, many expected a standard Mediterranean Sea deployment…But after Hamas launched attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and the Yemen-based Houthis started attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza strip, the destroyer quickly became one of several U.S. warships to engage in sustained naval combat for the first time since World War II. 

The War Zone – This appears to be the first cruise for the AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer, the most advanced publicly known tactical electronic warfare capability.

War on the Rocks – We are not yet at a paradigm-shifting moment in the role of autonomous or robotic systems at sea. Nor are we likely to reach a revolutionary precipice within the period in which the U.S. Navy must begin making the transition to a truly hybrid fleet — that is, the integration of autonomous platforms designed to operate as part of an ocean-going battle force. This means the Navy’s approach to acquiring and fielding unmanned systems for deployment at sea should ultimately reinforce and support the maritime domain’s still-dominant weapons system: long-range anti-ship missiles.

CIMSEC – Treating unmanned vessels as warships requires examining whether they meet the definition of a warship under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The legal status of naval vessels under UNCLOS varies widely depending on whether a navy operates its ships as warships, non-commercial government vessels, or accessories to conventional warships.        

This paper discusses whether unmanned systems can be considered warships under UNCLOS, especially with today’s voracious appetite for developing the technology; however, the legal status of unmanned vessels as warships remains uncertain. International agreements on the legal status of unmanned vessels would help establish the legitimacy of naval operations employing them.

Naval News – Making its Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) debut, the USS Carl Vinson’s CVW-2 Advanced Air Wing is bringing unmatched capabilities to the front lines of U.S. Naval Aviation in a way not seen since the Cold War.

BBC – The United States will deploy additional warships and fighter jets to the Middle East to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies, the Pentagon said.

The War Zone – The Navy recently experimented with hundreds of electronic warfare technologies mounted on aerial drones and swarms of uncrewed boats.

The War Zone – The 41-year-old prized submarine traveled more than 60,000 miles while packed with special operators and fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Houthi targets.

Naval News – The U.S. Navy’s Transferrable Rearming Mechanism (TRAM), a system capable of reloading missile cells while underway, successfully completed its first ground-based test last week.

The War Zone – Stealthy Naval Strike Missiles in place of Harpoon anti-ship missiles could give older Arleigh Burke destroyers a valuable capability boost.

CIMSEC – Navy commanders should be ready to exercise a break with precedent to exploit this narrative by entertaining the idea that the carrier might be better suited for other roles, especially as a decoy force. If not, they risk falling victim to their own mythology.

War on the Rocks – Today, American naval forces are responsible for not only operations and success in war, but also advancing American interests during peacetime. With the mission of the U.S. Navy including both economic prosperity and peacetime interests, the U.S. government must find a way to develop collaboration between the interests represented in the new mission, bringing together those that contribute to both security and prosperity. Using the insights of the past to help us ask the right questions about the development of naval policy and maritime strategy for the present, Mahan offers us an old idea to think about in a new context.

War on the Rocks – In the Indo-Pacific the U.S. military faces two tasks: to prepare for a large-scale, high-intensity conflict and to steadily bolster relationships with allies and partners throughout the region. The first cannot succeed without the second. As such, the sustainment and logistics of military exercises ought to reinforce relationships with partners and allies. By thoughtfully reframing basic tasks — some as simple as recycling motor oil — U.S. forces operating in the Indo-Pacific may not only help to solve future logistics problems but also serve to deepen positive relations with partner nations and their societies today. Imposing large numbers of personnel and military vehicles into a fragile ecosystem will have significant impact, and showing respect for the natural environment by mitigating that impact is a strategic choice. What is important is showing a regional partner that its relationship with United States is not simply transactional but based on thoughtful collaboration.

National Interest – James Holmes writes on the USS Carney (DDG-64) recently concluded a significant deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea, conducting 51 engagements against Houthi missiles and drones to protect shipping and regional stability.

Breaking Defense – Why the Pentagon shouldn’t be so quick to retire old technologies in favor of newer ones.

CIMSEC – In an era marked by the complexities of global politics and evolving information landscapes, the role of military public affairs becomes increasingly significant in shaping and safeguarding a nation’s strategic interests. The United States, with its longstanding commitment to naval supremacy, recognizes the importance of effectively controlling the narrative surrounding its military actions. The concept of military public affairs, particularly in the context of U.S. naval supremacy, is the public facing image that controls the warfighter narrative, that holds both allies and adversaries accountable where the lines between truth and misinformation become blurred or even completely eroded. The ability to hold both adversaries and allies accountable is a crucial factor in maintaining U.S. naval dominance. The symbiotic relationship between military public affairs and naval power projection is imperative to generate a narrative control that can serve as a strategic tool for U.S. national security interests.

Center for Maritime Strategy – People question the carrier in terms of cost, but no fleet can operate without the air superiority that carrier aviation provides. The problem of the last 35 years is not that the carrier is obsolete, it is that the United States has not maintained enough carriers to conduct the kind of persistent global operations that have been the norm over those decades. Trying to cheat the carrier math has resulted in a run-down carrier force with new challenges appearing on a regular basis as the result of overworking a force that is too small. The only carrier “conundrum” is that the U.S. Navy is an 11-carrier navy in a 15-carrier world. Naval aviation is as good as its leaders say, but they also need to make a stronger case for more carriers. 

The War Zone – The EA-18G Growler from VAQ-130 “Zappers” executed the air-to-air engagement as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower’s combat deployment off Yemen.

Breaking Defense – Experts tell Breaking Defense, the secretary’s praise obscures a more nuanced reality about the differences between how the US Navy’s staple shipbuilders stack up against the biggest names in Asia. Chiefly, they say, the strict requirements instituted by the Navy combined with the instability of annual congressional budgeting makes a one-to-one comparison apples and oranges.

The War Zone – We have a tally of how many Standard Missiles, Tomahawks, and air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons Ike’s strike group launched at Houthi targets.

The War Zone – The air-launched SM-6 will disrupt China’s carrier-killing kill chain and pierce open its anti-access bubble.

National Interest – The U.S. Navy has announced a major advancement with the successful integration of the SM-6 missile onto carrier-based F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, designated as AIM-174B.

The War Zone – Congress wants the Navy to look at turning large uncrewed vessels into crewed missile ships, arming cargo ships, or buying something new.

BBC – The US says the floating pier designed to increase the amount of aid getting into the Gaza Strip will “soon cease operations”, less than two months after it was installed.