War Zone – Uncrewed surface vessels with loitering munitions could be well suited to force protection missions, including defending against boat swarms.

CIMSEC – Warfighting is as much a culture as it is an activity. To foster warfighting culture, commanders must include it in every aspect of their command – from training to administration to damage control to routine ship operations. Every aspect of shipboard life is connected to warfighting and therefore should be treated as such. This ethos begins with the commanding officer, but must also be embraced by the wardroom and the chief’s mess.

CIMSEC – In Large Scale Exercise 2023, numerous naval forces from around the world engaged in simulated warfighting under one global scenario. CIMSEC had the opportunity to discuss LSE23 with lead exercise planner Capt. Chris Narducci. In this discussion, Capt. Narducci describes what makes LSE unique, what the Navy is looking to learn from the event, and how LSE prepares the fleet for conflict against strategic competitors.

Defense News – A reorganization of the Navy’s undersea warfare community two years ago has sharpened its focus on developing more modern warfighting tools, including a network of communications systems that will support joint all-domain operations.

Military.com – The Navy’s surface fleet is still struggling to alleviate fatigue among sailors more than six years after two deadly ship collisions and the service’s subsequent pledge to ensure that service members have more predictable sleep and work schedules, according to the Government Accountability Office.

(Thanks to Alain)

USNI News – The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is headed toward the mass of U.S. naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea after transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on Saturday. Meanwhile, two ships of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group are now in the Red Sea.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy intends to buy its next two aircraft carriers in a single contract, but factors including delays on carriers now under construction are influencing discussions about when to begin the process.

Defense News – As the government’s spending on the submarine industrial base grows, so too is concern among lawmakers.

Defense News – The littoral combat ship Savannah on Tuesday fired a SM-6 missile from a “containerized launching system” at a target in the Pacific Ocean, signaling a way that the lightly armed ship class could one day contribute to a conventional naval battle.

War on the Rocks – Submarines are an integral part of the U.S. Navy’s future force design, and rightly so. The United States needs more submarines if it is to deter China in the Indo-Pacific, particularly given the Chinese navy’s growing undersea fleet. But the question remains — can America build and maintain the number of submarines it needs? 

USNI News – The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as it heads to the Middle East, instead of joining the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in the Eastern Mediterranean. 

USNI News – A U.S. guided-missile destroyer took out three land attack missiles fired from the shore of Western Yemen on Thursday.

CIMSEC – What strategic ends are unmanned vessels intended to serve?

1945 – Want to win in the Western Pacific? Tend to your alliances, fashion solid ideas about warfare, and apply yourself to make sure the executors of those ideas are in fighting trim. 

USNI News – USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) left Norfolk Naval Station on Saturday morning, according to ship spotters. Ike’s deployment will take the CSG to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to join USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its strike group, according to a late Saturday Pentagon statement.

USNI Proceedings – The all-volunteer force is on a collision course with the Navy budget.

US Naval War College Review – The Navy’s World War II fleet demonstrated that success came from employing the capital ship of the time—the battleship—collaboratively with aircraft carriers. Today, the Navy and the joint force should combine today’s capital ship—the aircraft carrier—with a reinvestment in surface and undersea platforms with extended-range standoff weapons.

USNI Proceedings – After the Cold War, the United States led the way in nuclear nonproliferation, including voluntarily giving up tactical nuclear weapons at sea. In recent years, Russia, China, and other nations have highlighted an unfortunate need to bring those weapons back.

USNI Proceedings – In recent decades, military planning has leaned more heavily on science than art, but success in a peer-level fight will depend on commander’s intent and the art of warfare.

USNI Proceedings – After the Cold War, the United States led the way in nuclear nonproliferation, including voluntarily giving up tactical nuclear weapons at sea. In recent years, Russia, China, and other nations have highlighted an unfortunate need to bring those weapons back.

War on the Rocks – As Washington enters an era of great power competition, it can gain valuable insights from the Navy’s interwar success in conducting peacetime operations while still preparing for war. This means thinking about, talking about, actively developing new doctrines for, and understanding how to plan the complex needs of the peacetime missions of the Navy and Marine Corps. 

Defense News – Decommissioning the Littoral Combat Ships early amounts to a loss of almost $7 billion based on analysis by Defense News using data from the Congressional Budget Office. But experts say the opportunity cost is more significant as the Pentagon prepares for a potential war with China, which in the last 20 years has built extensive anti-access, area denial defenses to keep ships like the LCS away from its shores.

Navy Times – A multi-billion dollar effort to modernize the warships has not gone as planned

CIMSEC – The CNO can accelerate the Navy’s journey to achieve a robust hybrid fleet by directing a down-select of MUSV candidates and establishing programs of record. The U.S. Navy can diversify its capabilities and make itself more competitive for great power challenges by accelerating its adoption of unmanned vessels.

CIMSEC – The U.S. Navy’s human resources (HR) policies are failing, and not because the policies themselves are ineffective, but because of their poor digital implementation.