War on the Rocks – Since 1979, it has been the policy of the United States, as codified in the Taiwan Relations Act, to maintain the capacity to resist the use of force or other forms of coercion by China against Taiwan. Until recently it could be taken for granted that the United States was able to directly thwart a Chinese attack on Taiwan. But dramatic increases in China’s military capability over recent decades have called that into question, particularly with the military balance trending ever further in China’s direction for at least the near future.

USNI News – Aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) arrived in the Middle East Wednesday, according to U.S. Central Command.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that the USS Constellation (FFG-62) frigate program is doing little to refurbish the U.S. Navy’s reputation for competence. Intended to deliver a flotilla of at least twenty small, hard-hitting surface combatants in reasonably short order at manageable cost, the program is 36 months—and counting—behind schedule.

USNI News – During his warship’s recent deployment to the Middle East, a guided-missile destroyer commander fired off some five terabytes of data about his crew’s operations in the Red Sea. On the receiving end was the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center in California, which collected from USS Mason (DDG-87) a treasure trove of information and combat systems data in an amount akin to 1 million cellphone photographs or 2 million books.

National Interest – Imperial Japanese prime minister Hideki Tōjō credited U.S. Navy underway replenishment as a central cause of American victory in World War II. He was right. Let us resolve never again to slight the importance of ferrying beans, bullets, and black oil to the fighting forces. The principle of continuity demands it.

USNI News – The Navy is preparing to award an estimated $11.5 billion multi-ship deal to build four amphibious warships. According to the Aug. 14 notification, the Department of the Navy will purchase three San Antonio class Flight II amphibious warships and a Flight I America-class big deck amphibious warship starting in Fiscal Year 2025 to 2027 as part of a “multi-ship procurement,” authorized as part of the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

Breaking Defense – The US Navy this week announced it has finished the first installation of a new control room on its aircraft carriers designed for the crew to operate and monitor the service’s next-generation unmanned tanker MQ-25A Stingray.

Center for Maritime Strategy – Despite the concern about retiring the venerable C-2 Greyhound fleet, the Navy has presciently fielded a more capable, flexible, and adaptable replacement in the CMV-22B Osprey. Like the C-2, the CMV-22 can deliver 6000 pounds of internal cargo at distances ranging to 1150 nautical miles and cruising speeds of 250 knots. 

Naval News – Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15 Detachment IIA (DET IIA), based in Bahrain, embarked on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) on August 2nd. At least two MH-53Es of HM-15 stopped in the United Arab Emirates before moving on to the Roosevelt‘s position in the Gulf of Oman, roughly 70 kilometers east of the UAE. One of many moves made by the U.S. Navy as the United States prepares for the possibility of an attack on U.S. and allied forces in the region.

Behind the Front – The U.S. Navy’s new frigate is now years behind schedule – and it’s unclear when any of them will enter service. The Navy was meant to have learned the lessons of previous failures but has somehow made a hash of this program too.

Defense News – The Navy’s ability to build lower-cost warships that can shoot down Houthi rebel missiles in the Red Sea depends in part on a 25-year-old laborer who previously made parts for garbage trucks.

BBC – The US has sent a guided missile submarine to the Middle East, as tensions grow in the region. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also said an aircraft carrier which was already heading to the area would sail there more quickly.

The War Zone – U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets from the supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt are now operating from a major U.S. air operations hub in Jordan.

USNI News – When sailors assigned to USS Mason (DDG-87) were in workups last year, many expected a standard Mediterranean Sea deployment…But after Hamas launched attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and the Yemen-based Houthis started attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza strip, the destroyer quickly became one of several U.S. warships to engage in sustained naval combat for the first time since World War II. 

The War Zone – This appears to be the first cruise for the AN/ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer, the most advanced publicly known tactical electronic warfare capability.

War on the Rocks – We are not yet at a paradigm-shifting moment in the role of autonomous or robotic systems at sea. Nor are we likely to reach a revolutionary precipice within the period in which the U.S. Navy must begin making the transition to a truly hybrid fleet — that is, the integration of autonomous platforms designed to operate as part of an ocean-going battle force. This means the Navy’s approach to acquiring and fielding unmanned systems for deployment at sea should ultimately reinforce and support the maritime domain’s still-dominant weapons system: long-range anti-ship missiles.

CIMSEC – Treating unmanned vessels as warships requires examining whether they meet the definition of a warship under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The legal status of naval vessels under UNCLOS varies widely depending on whether a navy operates its ships as warships, non-commercial government vessels, or accessories to conventional warships.        

This paper discusses whether unmanned systems can be considered warships under UNCLOS, especially with today’s voracious appetite for developing the technology; however, the legal status of unmanned vessels as warships remains uncertain. International agreements on the legal status of unmanned vessels would help establish the legitimacy of naval operations employing them.

Naval News – Making its Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) debut, the USS Carl Vinson’s CVW-2 Advanced Air Wing is bringing unmatched capabilities to the front lines of U.S. Naval Aviation in a way not seen since the Cold War.

BBC – The United States will deploy additional warships and fighter jets to the Middle East to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies, the Pentagon said.

The War Zone – The Navy recently experimented with hundreds of electronic warfare technologies mounted on aerial drones and swarms of uncrewed boats.

The War Zone – The 41-year-old prized submarine traveled more than 60,000 miles while packed with special operators and fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Houthi targets.

Naval News – The U.S. Navy’s Transferrable Rearming Mechanism (TRAM), a system capable of reloading missile cells while underway, successfully completed its first ground-based test last week.

The War Zone – Stealthy Naval Strike Missiles in place of Harpoon anti-ship missiles could give older Arleigh Burke destroyers a valuable capability boost.

CIMSEC – Navy commanders should be ready to exercise a break with precedent to exploit this narrative by entertaining the idea that the carrier might be better suited for other roles, especially as a decoy force. If not, they risk falling victim to their own mythology.

War on the Rocks – Today, American naval forces are responsible for not only operations and success in war, but also advancing American interests during peacetime. With the mission of the U.S. Navy including both economic prosperity and peacetime interests, the U.S. government must find a way to develop collaboration between the interests represented in the new mission, bringing together those that contribute to both security and prosperity. Using the insights of the past to help us ask the right questions about the development of naval policy and maritime strategy for the present, Mahan offers us an old idea to think about in a new context.