USNI News – Both U.S. and foreign designs for the next small-surface combatant are under consideration after the cancellation of the Constellation-class guided-missile frigate, the new head of the Navy’s shipbuilding enterprise said this week.

Breaking Defense – The Navy’s initiative to revamp its four public shipyards could come with a price tag nearly ten times higher than initially estimated and take decades longer to complete, according to a new government watchdog report.

USNI News – The ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran is morphing how the Navy fixes and supplies ships operating thousands of miles from logistics hubs as extended time at sea and the prospect of an extended naval commitment in the Middle East are creating a maintenance wave back home, service officials said this week.

USNI News – Three Louisiana shipyards are vying for a stake in the navy’s autonomous future

Center for Maritime Security – The answer to the question posed in the title of this essay is, ultimately, a conditional yes followed by an urgent no.

Center for Maritime Strategy – Do we have enough dry docks? The question is simple, but the answer is deeply consequential.

Defense News – Navy destroyers are concentrated in the Middle East as U.S. forces conduct operations against Iran, according to U.S. Central Command — a move that puts renewed operational demands on a fleet that has experienced prolonged maintenance periods.

Deccan Herald – A Chinese vessel in West Asia was nearly intercepted by the US military after a “false” intelligence report claimed that it was carrying components linked to a nuclear weapons programme.

(Thanks to Alain)

USNI News – Washington is funding a project that will expand the maintenance and repair capability of a shipyard in the Philippines frequently used by U.S. Navy warships.

Naval News – U.S. Navy and General Dynamics are converting the future USS Baltimore into an elite seabed warfare submarine to succeed the USS Jimmy Carter.

CIMSEC – Instead of going back to the drawing board to pack more high-end warfighting capability into an ever-smaller package, rethinking what a frigate contributes to the human-machine team allows us to see a small surface combatant in a new light. Instead of a platform for employing weapons, it provides a ringside seat for the humans to influence events, especially when mindful, eyes-on, hands-on actions are needed for success. It is a way to use the science of war to empower the art of war. It is a way to demonstrate that the United States is willing to risk involvement in a sticky situation and engage opponents in a meaningful way. The LUSVs, MUSVs, or XLUUVs that could serve as the primary weapons systems for the FFX will help its crew give as good as they get until the Joint Force Arrives. Even in the age of sail, no one could realistically expect a small surface combatant to do more than that.

CIMSEC – In the military today, a quiet Armageddon is about to occur as we watch the potential separation of up to 5% of the force for a condition known as Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB).

CIMSEC – The chokepoints are the symptom, but the region is the system. The big Gulf bases have just shown how vulnerable they are, and strategic inertia moves toward dispersal and partnership. In that setting, Somaliland offers something rare: a stable, democratic partner you can keep rather than rent, one whose own course is already making the argument. Israel has taken the step to seize the opportunities afforded by an official relationship with Somaliland. To best secure its regional interests, the U.S. should be the next country to do the same.

Naval News – Vice Adm Rob Gaucher – the US Navy’s (USN’s) Director, Submarine Programs – has set out a four-pillar strategy for accelerating the navy’s submarine-building output. This process is designed to reflect and underpin the USN’s Chief of Naval Operations’ (CNO’s) testimony that a raised production rate will be in place by 2032.

US Naval War College Review – Evaluating strategic frameworks for today’s Navy involves updating historical strategies for current realities. Given the deindustrialization of the nation, paired with China’s rapid economic expansion, new strategies for maintaining a relevant naval force must be considered.

US Naval War College Review – Two cases, almost eighty years apart, in which a weaker power—the Confederacy and imperial Japan—sought to achieve an end to the war before the United States could mobilize its material advantages and before the weaker side’s limited resources ran out provide useful insights into this western Pacific conundrum. Studying the failure of both challengers bears particular lessons for the United States in its potential conflict with China, in ways that studying our past victories against these adversaries cannot.

US Naval War College Review – American war mobilization doctrine is built on an industrial-era paradigm that assumes the primary contest is material: who can most efficiently convert economic capacity into military power. An evaluation suggests that this paradigm, while necessary, is no longer sufficient.

US Naval War College Review – Ukraine’s suppression of Russian naval activity by using unmanned surface and aerial vehicles provides a backdrop against which the concept of a “reconnaissance strike complex” is updated for naval warfare today. This framework reflects a path forward for future naval operations.

US Naval War College Review – U.S. sealift capability, crucial in the defense of allies in Europe and beyond, has withered over many decades. Recent developments have left European allies scrambling to provide their own defense, leaving some looking to Norway’s large merchant fleet to cover the gaps in U.S. sealift capabilities.

Defense News – A PLA assessment of the proposed Trump-class ships probes for weaknesses.

The War Zone – At least two Iranian oil tankers were struck by the U.S. as part of Trump’s new tanker-for-a-tanker policy.

The War Zone – A carrier drone with a heavy weapons capacity, long reach, and the ability to operate in heavily contested airspace is just what the junked X-47B was designed to offer.

CIMSEC – The United States Navy has set a course that will see it morph into an army on the sea. The differentiating factors between the sea services and its landbound compatriots are fast eroding, diminishing the value of the fleet as its capabilities are more constrained. Traditionally, the utility and strength of the U.S. Navy revolved around the supreme maneuverability of the fleet and its ability to pass without a trace, skills the U.S. Army could only dream of. Now, however, fleets have never been more visible or more movement constrained, exposing them to the same strategic limitations an army on campaign faces. Adding to these challenges is the development of a set-piece mentality within the force over the previous decades as the U.S. Navy acted as mobile strike assets for ground wars. Redressing this army-fication, however, will be key to ensuring the continued success of the sea services and ultimately the safety of the United States.

USNI News – The White House and U.S. Navy are considering frigate designs from South Korea, Japan and Turkey for a new class of warships.