USNI News – Even with space available in shipyards, fewer than 40 percent of Navy ships completed availability repairs on time, the Government Accountability Office’s director of defense capabilities and management told the Senate Armed Services readiness subcommittee last week.

The War Zone – The USS Carney, which just returned to the U.S. last week, made history during a tumultuous six months in the Red Sea region.

US Navy Office of Naval Intelligence – The following is the Office of Naval Intelligence’s 2024 People’s Liberation Army Navy, China Coast Guard and maritime law enforcement recognition and identification guide.

CIMSEC – This analysis evaluates the naval response to the Red Sea Crisis so far, from cooperating with merchant shipping, the cost effectiveness and vulnerabilities of using warships and missiles to counter drones, and the role of allies, to the potential implications for a future conflict with China and current efforts in defense innovation to prepare for it.

War on the Rocks – Referring to the People’s Liberation Army, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command recently reported to Congress that “we haven’t faced a threat like this since World War II.” The nature of this threat should compel allied militaries to strengthen their efforts in the Indo-Pacific. One way to do so is by creating a standing joint task force headquarters. The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directed the establishment of such a headquarters in the Indo-Pacific by 1 Oct. 2024, but congressional leaders have conveyed concern with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s current approach.

CIMSEC – A discussion of the value of electronic warfare capability, deadly shootdown incidents involving electronic reconnaissance aircraft, and how the Joint Force came to rely so heavily on the Navy for airborne EW.

CIMSEC – Joint operations, while important in a general sense, and critical for first rate navies, are not the best option for weaker powers to contest command of the sea. Joint operations are resource-intensive and could prove more burdensome than helpful for a weaker naval power. Additionally, joint interoperability would likely be nonetheless reliant on the previous factors of asymmetric naval warfare, coalition leveraging, and attrition of distance sea lines of communication in order to be effective. Conversely, joint interoperability is not a prerequisite for those different factors. Asymmetric naval warfare can be conducted regardless of a joint force in a variety of ways, especially when possessing devastating technologies and employing surprise shifts in strategy that undermine an adversary’s understanding of the maritime environment.

Naval News – Naval News asked the RAND Corporation for their opinions on what the U.S. Navy’s next-generation destroyer, the DDG(X), should have in terms of designing the plug-in Payload Module. The DDG(X) Payload Module option is a hull insert that can accommodate, for example, additional vertical launch missile cells to a Mission Module Bay to additional interior rooms.

National Interest – Zumwalt will be pushing ten years old once its hypersonic weapons are installed, assuming its current yard period wraps up on schedule. That’s a sizable share of its service life.

CIMSEC – During the Cold War, NATO maintained anti-submarine competency and internalized lessons learned during the Second World War. The collapse of the Soviet Navy during the 1990s shifted the U.S. focus to power projection ashore in the Balkans and the Middle East, and anti-submarine warfare competencies across the joint force atrophied. As the era of near-peer competition began, the Navy looked at ways to recapture the hard-fought competencies and lessons lost since the end of the Cold War. In particular, the whole government approach to anti-submarine warfare (ASW) was reintroduced, known as “full-spectrum ASW.” The Navy is the domain owner for undersea warfare. As such, the Navy must be prepared to educate and explain undersea warfare doctrine and its roles to the rest of the joint force so that lessons written in blood are not repeated.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s supply corps will spend the next two years applying lessons from the service’s aircraft fleet to surface ship readiness.

CIMSEC – The U.S. Navy should take concrete steps to further promote an integrated warfighting ethos which better incorporates all elements of the IW community, starting from initial officer training to senior level carrier strike group operations. By defining what it means to be an integrated information warfighter rather than just being an Intelligence Specialist, Cryptologist, Meteorologist, or Information Professional, the IW community will better educate, train, and most importantly, recruit the next generation of IW personnel. Equally important is the need to enhance retention. To further maintain the impressive cadre of IW personnel in service, the Navy should improve its career opportunities with better advanced training and cross-detailing availability. In the aftermath of these changes, IW will be better positioned to dominate the information environment and enable mission success.

Breaking Defense – Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro today told lawmakers his service is out at least $1 billion in critical munitions because of recent operations in the Middle East, a shortfall the Pentagon is banking on a congressional supplemental to help replenish.

Defense News – U.S. defense tech company Anduril Industries and South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said they’re teaming up to reimagine and expand American and allied seapower.

Defense News – The recent review of shipbuilding progress is an important step in correcting the current cost overruns and schedule slippage. However, the U.S. Navy secretary’s rather timid response of only directing the FFG design team to gather at the shipyard was far too timid.

The War Zone – Mako was the loser of the Stand-In Attack Weapon tender, but offers clues as to the capabilities of that weapon, made by Northrop Grumman.

The War Zone – U.S. warships and fighters, specifically F-15E Strike Eagles, played a major role in the defense of Israel during Iran’s barrage.

USNI News – USS Carney (DDG-64) and USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) shot down between four and six Iranian-launched ballistic missiles.

The War Zone – Serco’s super efficient and low-cost Defiant could have wide-ranging utility for the Navy, including working as a missile-laden drone boat.

The War Zone – Leveraging logistics partnerships with allies in the region could be critical in a face-off against China across the vast Pacific.

The War Zone – A scalable system will gives critical electronic attack capabilities to ships that can’t handle the massive new SEWIP Block III system.

Naval News – The DDG-51 Flight IIA guided missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) has become the first US Navy warship to receive the MSI-Defence Systems MK 38 MOD 4 30 mm gun weapon system.

Defense News – Unmanned technologies for years have been used to scout dangerous areas, schlep much-needed supplies and deliver destructive payloads. But for one U.S. Navy commander, there’s another more-promising application.

The War Zone – Arming MQ-25s with standoff weapons fits with the Navy’s future air wing vision and would provide unique capabilities suited to a Pacific fight.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy needs to move its unmanned systems “beyond surveillance” roles and toward more consequential missions, according to Rear Adm. Kevin Smith, the service’s program lead on drones and small combatants.