– Associated Press – A new “carrier killer” missile that has become a symbol of China‘s rising military might will not force the U.S. Navy to change the way it operates in the Pacific, a senior Navy commander told the Associated Press.

– Associated Press – As if life on a submarine wasn’t already stressful enough, with its cramped quarters, long work hours and weeks at sea, thousands of smokers on the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet recently got an unwelcome ultimatum from Uncle Sam. As of last month, all submarines in the U.S. Navy are officially smoke free — and it’s been a tense transition.

– Armed Forces Journal – Like a ship’s hull with too many barnacles, seabasing is laden with unnecessary conceptual debris that has obscured its central tenets and confused its core strengths. As the Navy ponders its roles and corresponding force structure for the coming decades, it is worth putting seabasing in dry dock and stripping it clean. Only then will a vision appropriate to the 21st century emerge.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – A former surface warfare officer looks at the cause and effect of the recent spate of surface-ship commanding officer firings.

– The Economist – America’s navy is developing an antenna made of seawater

– Aviation Week and Space Technology – On the American ballistic submarine USS Maine in waters off the Florida coast not too long ago, two submariners eyed a U.S. aircraft carrier through their periscope in the roiling sea. “I think it’s the Washington,” one submariner said. “It doesn’t matter — it doesn’t know we’re here,” the other replied, eyeing the carrier through the scope. “Bang,” he said. “You’re dead.”

– BBC – When British troops in Helmand need air support, it doesn’t only come from airfields within Afghanistan itself – it may come from a floating runway 500 miles away.

– Air Force – A force buildup on Guam anchors a broad US military strategy to keep China in check.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – It is clear that the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program cannot live up to expectations. Yet the surface Navy still badly needs low-end ships for littoral and maritime-security missions.

– US Naval War College Review – A very interesting article looking at how to use low-cost and cheap obscurants to defeat Chinese antiship cruise missiles and antiship ballistic missiles.

– US Navy – Small-boat simulator tests Little Creek crew’s mettle – More and more, the Navy is turning to simulators to train its sailors. Its Expeditionary Combat Command, which oversees the maritime security teams, owns more than 100. They can replicate everything from interacting with locals in Afghanistan to operating a crane during a humanitarian mission, responding to small-arms fire in a war zone or leading a supply convoy in Iraq.

– Defense Technology International – Bill Sweetman’s update on the state of the F-35B STOVL variant.

– Virginian Pilot – A technological breakthrough at Los Alamos National Laboratory could pave the way for megawatt-class lasers, which would be used to provide highly precise shipboard defense without fear of running out of ammunition.

– Defense Technology International – The EA-18G Growler and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will both carry an airborne network invasion weapon, says U.S. Navy’s top intelligence official.

– New York Times – The Pentagon is stepping up investments in a range of weapons, jet fighters and technology in response to the Chinese military buildup in the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Saturday on the eve of his visit to Beijing.

– Defense Technology International – Now that the U.S. Navy has worked out its shipbuilding plan for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the service can start eyeing a possible common combat system for the LCS fleet.

– Defense Technology International – The Navy wasted little time in taking advantage of congressional support for the service’s dual-block-buy plan for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), awarding fixed-price-incentive contracts tonight to both Lockheed Martin and Austal USA for the design and construction of a 10 ship block-buy each.

– Washington Post – Nice insight into how the US should be spending its defense dollars…

– Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments – A detailed look at the Air Sea Battle plan…

– New York Times – The Navy on Wednesday awarded two companies contracts that could be worth a total of more than $7 billion to build 20 of its new littoral combat ships, splitting the purchase to obtain the vessels more quickly.

– Los Angeles Times Magazine – An insider’s tale of a search for Soviet bombs in the Pacific can finally be told.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Keeping the Joint Strike Fighter Program on track is essential to maintaining U.S. military primacy and preventing an aircraft inventory shortfall.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – It is likely only a matter of time before terrorists attempt maritime attacks in the United States using small vessels. Why isn’t something being done about it? Whatever happened to the small-boat threat?

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The course ahead for the Navy of the mid-21st century is still uncharted. The strategic alternative it chooses now will chart that course, for better or worse.

– BBC – Warships from America and Japan have just completed their biggest ever joint exercises, as tensions remain high in East Asia.