Defense Technology International – Pentagon’s Think Tank Delivers Bold New Proposal For the U.S. Navy

A new report released yesterday by the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment—the DoD’s in-house think tank run by Nixon-appointee and Beltway survivor Andrew Marshall—says the U.S. Navy has to get bigger, and diversify.

Virginian Pilot – Carrier Eisenhower detours to assist Coast Guard with rescue

The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower left Norfolk early Saturday morning for a six-month deployment, but shortly after sunset, the Eisenhower was sent to assist with a Coast Guard rescue off the coast of Cape Hatteras.

Sea Power – 2010 Almanac Highlights – Status of the Navy

The state of the US Navy as of January 1, 2010.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – It Takes A Carrier: Naval Aviation and the Hybrid Fight

Carriers still provide capability unmatched by any other weapon system in the U.S. arsenal.

The Atlantic – Wipeout

Guam’s surfers fret about the impact of a $15 billion defense buildup on their island.

Daily Telegraph – US use sea lions in terrorism fight

Sea lions are being trained to locate mines and detain suspicious divers in the fight against terrorism.

Defense Technology International – Hot Hot Hot

US Navy amphibious ships operating MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotors will need major structural repairs after less than half their planned service lives, according to a newly released Navy document, unless a new Deck Thermal Management System (DTMS) can be developed to protect the decks from exhaust heat. The only other alternative identified so far is a heavy structural modification to the deck. The JSF is considered likely to cause similar problems.

BBC – Drones scour the sea for pirates

Sleek and sinister-looking, the latest weapon against piracy could have flown directly out of a science fiction film.

Honolulu Advertiser – USS Texas pays icy visit to Arctic

After a dearth of news since it left its base on the East Coast bound for Pearl Harbor, the submarine USS Texas finally resurfaced — near the North Pole. The 7,800-ton attack submarine, with a crew of about 134, last month completed a historic exercise in the Arctic when it became the first of the new Virginia-class submarines not only to operate in the region, but also to surface through the ice.

BBC – US launches ‘Twin Towers’ warship

A warship built with steel salvaged from the World Trade Center has been put into service in New York.

Defense Tech – DDG 1000: On Target

Norman Polmar writes that amidst the Navy’s leadership attempt to explain — some would say rationalize — the massive cost increases and delays in several major shipbuilding programs, the Zumwalt (DDG 1000) program appears to be on cost and on schedule.

Defense Tech – LCS Near Selection

Norman Polmar writes that in an attempt to bring order to the Navy’s problem-plagued littoral combat ship (LCS) program, the Navy has announced that it will “down select” a winner from the two LCS designs. The selection, in fiscal year 2010, will determine which design and hence which firms will be responsible for the construction of a planned 51 additional frigate-size warships.

Associated Press – U.S. UAVs protecting ships from Somali pirates

For the first time, sophisticated U.S. military surveillance drones capable of carrying missiles have begun patrolling waters off Somalia in hopes of stemming rising piracy.

StrategyPage – Naval Hawks Over Arabian Seas

One of the U.S. Navy’s two RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs recently returned from the Middle East, after a field test of its capabilities. The aircraft made over 60 flights and spent over 1,000 hours in the air. The flights were over land and sea areas, even though the UAV sensors are designed mainly to perform maritime reconnaissance. U.S. Air Force Global Hawk maintenance personnel assisted the navy in tending to the navy RQ-4 while it was on the ground, and for landings and takeoffs. The UAV was operated by navy personnel back in the United States at Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The aircraft was officially called the BAMS-D (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator).

Associated Press – Navy’s newest warships top out at more than 50 mph

The Navy’s need for speed is being answered by a pair of warships that have reached freeway speeds during testing at sea.

Defense Technology International – Underwater AIM-9X

In the open ocean, a submarine can be stealthy – by using depth and maneuverability – to avoid air attack. But tactical options have become more limited in littoral operations that require operating in shallow water where evasion is difficult. The new AIM-9X is an air-to-air missile, but with a special underwater shroud (in a combination called the Littoral Warfare Weapon), it can be carried in an unmodified configuration and fired from a submarine’s vertical launch tube.

Virginian Pilot – Navy secretary seeks greener fleet

The secretary of the Navy on Wednesday outlined five energy goals for the Navy and Marines in the next decade. Four involve reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, increasing use of alternative energies and factoring energy costs into the price tag of every new ship, engine or building. The fifth might be the most radical: Mabus committed to fielding by 2012 a “green” strike group composed of aircraft powered by biofuels, surface ships that operate on hybrid power supplies, and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines.

Navy Times – Navy says Freedom will deploy 2 years early

Freedom, the Navy’s first littoral combat ship, will go operational early next year “to close urgent warfighting gaps,” with orders to deploy to the U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Pacific Command regions. The ship’s maiden operational deployment originally was scheduled for 2012.

The Herald – Whidbey Growlers ready for service

The US Navy has taken another step in the transition from Prowler to Growler.

The Space Review – The space security implications of missile defense

The Obama Administration recently decided to replace planned ground-based interceptors in Europe with SM-3 missiles. Brian Weeden describes how this decision has implications for space security, since it was a modified SM-3 that intercepted a decaying US satellite last year.

Economist – New missile defences in Europe: Shooting down a plan

America’s change of tack on missile defense is placating some and worrying others. Nice diagrams of how a sea-based missile defense system will work in Europe.

Reuters – A Call to Allow Women to Serve on Submarines

Top Pentagon officials are calling for an end to the military’s historical ban on allowing women to serve in submarines.

Wall Street Journal – Sea-Based Missiles to Target a Redefined Threat

The U.S. plans to deploy sea-based SM-3 interceptor missiles in 2011 as part of its plan to rely on a mix of small, relatively inexpensive defensive systems to counter an evolving Iranian threat.

The White House confirmed Thursday that it would abandon efforts to build a large-scale missile-defense system in Eastern Europe, canceling a program that had become a source of Russian anger. The plan, still in the blueprint stage, would have built a large radar array in the Czech Republic and deployed 10 interceptor missiles to Poland.

Instead, the U.S. plans the SM-3 deployment, followed by a more advanced version of the system in 2015 that would include defensive missiles that could be launched from both sea and land.

BBC – Underwater laser pops in navy ops

US military researchers are developing a method for communication that uses lasers to make sound underwater.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Fear and Loathing in the Post-Naval Era

Since the United States has not fought a real naval battle since World War II, justifying the high cost of a large Fleet of warships and aircraft is a tall order.