Naval News – A U.S. Navy missile destroyer plans to call at Ishigaki Port in Okinawa from March 11 to 14. This would mark the first-ever visit by an American destroyer to this politically sensitive island. It could draw strong opposition not only from China but also from Okinawans.

The War Zone – The U.S. Navy is interested in acquiring a relatively low-cost and compact air-launched stand-off anti-ship weapon, four of which could be carried internally by certain variants of the F-35 stealth fighter.

The War Zone – The latest San Antonio class ship has a new radar and lacks the low-observable mast enclosures that gave the type its futuristic look.

Defense News – South Korea and the United States are exploring whether the former’s defense industry could help maintain, repair and overhaul the latter’s warships and weapons, according to a series of news releases from South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

Defense News – Indeed, the service has dramatically increased its weapons spending in the last two years. After slowly ticking up from $3 billion to $4 billion over seven years, Navy weapons spending jumped more than 70% from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2024, when the service requested $6.9 billion. But output on production lines remains hampered by supply chain challenges, leaving the Navy with too few of the longest-range and most lethal weapons it would want in a fight.

The War Zone – Even before the entire fleet of V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft was grounded following a fatal crash of an Air Force Osprey off the coast of Japan in November, the Navy’s version was experiencing serious issues that limited its ability to fully perform its assigned missions. Those findings by the Pentagon’s top testing office come even though the Navy’s former air boss called the CMV-22B a “game changer” after its first operational deployment in 2022. The Osprey grounding has also forced the Navy to resort to using its dwindling fleet of C-2A Greyhounds to perform essential Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) duties.

National Interest – The revolution in naval warfare continues. In fact, the revolution has gone into overdrive in this age of inexpensive, plentiful, lethal drones and guided missiles.

CIMSEC – This paper presents the collated opinions from participants in the Madison Sea Power Workshops, an informal gathering of navalists whose purpose is to explore key issues facing American sea power as we shift to an era of great power competition.

The War Zone – The Navy is interested in quickly enhancing its ships’ ability to down drones, reflecting concerns over what’s happening in the Red Sea.

The War Zone – The use of the multi-purpose SM-6 missile in the ongoing battle with the Houthis would mark a major milestone for the versatile weapon.

The War Zone – A new program envisions swarms of drone boats autonomously finding and chasing down target ships, and maybe even attacking them directly.

The War Zone – Recent events in the Red Sea again raise questions about whether 32 vertical launch cells is adequate for the Constellation class frigates.

The War Zone – For the first time since they began swatting down Houthi missiles and drones fired into the Red Sea region, a U.S. warship had to use its Mark 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) against an incoming threat, CNN reported. Taken at face value, this is a very unsettling revelation as Phalanx’s engagement envelope is very close to the ship and is seen as a ‘last ditch’ point defense system. How the missile managed to penetrate the Aegis destroyer’s defenses is unclear at this time.

USNI News – The U.S. military has taken the next step in building thousands of lethal sea-borne attack drones that could be key to deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy is working on a new wartime response plan that would affect how ships and crews prepare and deploy for combat, according to the head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Covert Shores – A mysterious vessel observed in San Diego harbor appears to be a prototype low-profile transport drone (USV – uncrewed surface vessel). The design is strongly reminiscent of many so-called “narco submarines”. Like so much in this field, most of it is hidden below the surface.

(Thanks to Alain)

National Interest – James Holmes says it’s all “warfighting,” all the time, for the next four years while Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the newly installed chief of naval operations (CNO) or top-ranked U.S. naval officer, presides over the U.S. Navy. It seems Admiral Franchetti is a one-note instrument. Combat readiness is the note—and it’s the right note. 

Defense News –

The head of U.S. Naval Surface Forces and other brass have praised the work of Navy destroyers operating in the Red Sea, where they have since October shot down scores of attack drones and missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. But applause from Vice Adm. Brendan McLane and other leaders has been paired with frustrations that warships like the Carney, Gravely, Mason, Laboon and Thomas Hudner are fighting without a potential key asset: the long-planned and ever-elusive laser.

Defense News – While it remains to be seen whether last week’s U.S.-led bombing of Houthi sites in Yemen will cause the rebels to meaningfully relent, current Navy leaders and analysts agree: The volume of intercepts in the Red Sea is without modern precedent for the Navy, and the surface fleet is quickly learning from the encounters.

Center for Maritime Strategy – Twenty months. The upper limit of time remaining for the U.S. military to make good on Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks’s commitment to field “attritable autonomous systems at scale of multiple thousands, in multiple domains” to check the PRC. Formally unveiled last August, the Replicator initiative was further defined by Hicks in September and its potential permutations within DoD have been the subject of much thoughtful commentary since (see the Brookings Institution’s assessment of what Replicator means for Army modernization). But looking ahead, the most urgent – and consequential – expression of the initiative lies with the naval service.

War Zone – An unprecedented amount of real-world data has come out of the shoot-downs around the Red Sea, but adversaries are also watching.

Defense News – Revitalizing in-theater expeditionary ship repair capabilities can harness the agility, mobility and scalability that are hallmark advantages of naval power so that if called upon, our ships can sail to the battle line — and stay there.

USNI News – U.S. forces destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles the ground in Tuesday morning.

Defense News –  The U.S. Navy completed its first deployment of four unmanned ships, which spent five months in the Pacific testing concepts for how to integrate their capabilities into crewed fleet operations.

Breaking Defense – US Central Command today revealed that for the first time since Yemen-based Houthi began attacks on ships in the Red Sea in November, US forces seized “lethal, Iranian-supplied” arms heading to the militant group, including missile components. Two Navy SEALs, however, remain missing after the Jan. 11 operation.