Virginian Pilot – Destroyer Stout to back today from Black Sea mission

The guided-missile destroyer Stout is due back today from a deployment that took it to the Black Sea – a region that drew worldwide attention last summer when fighting broke out between Russia and Georgia. This was the ship’s first deployment with the ballistic missile defense system – a technology designed to track and destroy missiles that can travel more than 600 miles, threatening military and civilian targets. The Stout, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is one of two East Coast ships with that capability.

StrategyPage – Reapers Go Searching For High Seas Pirates

The U.S. is going base some Reaper UAVs and P-3 maritime patrol aircraft on the Seychelles islands, to search for Somali pirates operating far from their bases.

Associated Press – Pirates fire on US helicopter

Somali pirates holding a hijacked ship off the coast of Somalia fired at a U.S. Navy helicopter as it made a surveillance flight over the vessel, the first such attack by pirates on an American military aircraft.

Virginian Pilot – Four subs examined for troubles with bolts

The US Navy said Friday it is investigating mechanical problems involving bolts in the torpedo rooms of four Virginia-class submarines built at Northrop Grumman’s shipyard.

Washington Post – After 18 Years, Remains of Pilot Shot Down in Iraq Found

A nearly two-decade-long odyssey to find Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, whose fighter jet was shot down during the opening days of the Persian Gulf War, ended last Sunday when the U.S. military announced that an Iraqi living in the remote desert expanse of Anbar province had helped direct Marines to the downed pilot’s burial site.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Adapting the Force to the Fight: Naval Special Warfare

Naval Special Warfare’s traditional operations now include even more-and faster-irregular warfare. This is not going to change anytime soon.

Virginian Pilot – Military kills mini-sub effort, repair cost too high

The U.S. Special Operations Command has canceled its mini-submarine program, a project designed to deliver Navy commando s close to their target and protect them on the way. Northrop Grumman’s Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) hit numerous hurdles since it was conceived in the late 1990s.

Daily Press – Cracks found in USS Toledo

Two cracks have been discovered on the hull of the USS Toledo, a potentially fatal flaw that could have led to water leaks and, ultimately, hull failure if the submarine submerged.

Virginian Pilot – Navy’s synthetic training allows it to stay ready

As you read this, more than a dozen Navy ships and thousands of uniformed service members, military civilians and contractors are embarked on a major training exercise in the Persian Gulf. But thanks to synthetic training, no one has to leave their homeport.

US Naval Institute Proeedings – The Contested Commons

Two officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense look at a changing and challenging world and what it means for the future of American power.

Armed Forces Journal – Carrier culture shock

As the Obama administration formulates its approach to national security policy, it would do well to start with reading “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,” the Navy’s new maritime strategy. The document is at once a bold argument for a new direction in foreign and national security policy, an inadequate plan for a U.S. maritime grand strategy, and a symptom (and perhaps call for help) of the Navy’s current operational crisis.

DefenseTech – John Lehman’s Solution

John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987, has addressed “What the Navy Should Look Like” in response to the service’s current array of problems.

San Diego Union Tribune – Sub damaged in fatal crash rejoins fleet in S.D.

Four and a half years after its collision with an undersea mountain, the submarine USS San Francisco has rejoined the fleet in its new home port of San Diego. It took an unprecedented repair that involved cutting off the submarine’s front end and transplanting about 50 feet – more than 1 million pounds of metal – from the bow of a retired sister sub, the Honolulu.

Washington Post – ‘Victory’ at Sea

On the eve of President Obama’s trip to Moscow, the White House is touting what an official described as a “victory” in turning around a suspected North Korean arms shipment bound for Burma.

Daily Telegraph – North Korean ‘weapons to Burma’ ship tracked by US

A North Korean ship suspected of carrying weapons to Burma has reversed direction after being tracked by the United States Navy.

New York Times – Second Thoughts on North Korea’s Inscrutable Ship

Virginian Pilot – Navy to proceed with undersea training range
The Navy announced Friday it would proceed with plans to construct an undersea water training range off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla.

Navy Times – Navy was tracking Chinese sub

Two defense officials have confirmed that the crew aboard the destroyer John S. McCain was tracking the submarine that struck its towed sonar array June 10 in the South China Sea off the Philippines.

Associated Press – NKorean cargo ship could test new UN sanctions

A North Korean ship suspected of transporting weapons toward Myanmar, the Kang Nam left the port of North Korean port of Nampo a week ago, and the destroyer USS John S. McCain is following as it sails off the Chinese coast. The sailing sets up the first test of a new U.N. Security Council resolution that authorizes member states to inspect North Korean vessels suspected of carrying banned weapons or materials. The sanctions are punishment for an underground nuclear test the North carried out last month in defiance of past resolutions. It’s not clear exactly what the Kang Nam has on board, but it has transported illicit goods in the past. The North has said it would consider any interception “an act of war.”

Wall Street Journal – U.S. Keeps Close Eye On North Korean Ship

The US Navy continues to trail a North Korean cargo ship believed headed toward Myanmar, in part because U.S. officials worry that Pyongyang plans to transfer major weapons systems and possibly nuclear technologies to the repressive Southeast Asian country.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Crisis of Confidence

The Navy – at its highest levels – needs to change the way it buys and builds its ships.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – How to Make Mentoring Work

Great mentors foster successful protégés, but as with any relationship, successful mentorships often develop spontaneously. Is legislating mentoring the answer?

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.

Economist – All at sea

Foreign military bases have both political and practical difficulties. “Seabasing” may offer a solution

San Diego Union Tribune – Will cash crisis leave Navy high and dry?

A serious Navy cash crunch is threatening to leave sailors in San Diego and across the fleet stranded ashore, unable to change duty stations and without the bonuses that have long encouraged them to stay in uniform. In recent weeks, Navy officials have instituted a series of austerity measures to reduce costs or postpone them until the next fiscal year, which begins Oct 1.

Virginian Pilot – Norfolk-based ship fends off pirates off Somalia

A case of mistaken identity for the pirates of Somalia…