Defense News – After showing signs of improvement following two deadly collisions in 2017, the Navy is again under pressure to provide aircraft carrier presence to the Middle East for the American regional force, U.S. Central Command, despite what experts say is limited public evidence that such deployments deter the United States’ top geopolitical adversary in the region: Iran.

USNI News – The Navy faces a conundrum in renovating its centuries-old public shipyards. On one hand, the sooner the yards are redesigned with more efficient layouts and overhauled to have the latest tools and machines, the sooner yard employees can start repairing submarines and aircraft carriers at a faster pace and dig out of the maintenance backlog that plagued the sea service throughout the last decade. On the other hand, the Navy has to continue working on submarines and carriers while overhauling the yards, and any intrusive work in the public shipyards could mean a halt to maintenance activities.

War Zone – The Navy is looking to have all of its Mk VI patrol boats, the oldest of which it acquired just six years ago, decommissioned by the end of the year.

USNI Proceedings – Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Department of Defense (DoD) has not had to consider the possibility of great power competition with a nuclear-capable peer.

War Zone – The SM-2 Block IIIB’s dual-mode guidance system is still unique among the missiles the Navy’s fleet uses to defend against aerial threats.

Defense News – The new Biden administration has been reversing many of the Trump administration’s policies in areas such as immigration and energy, but when it comes to confronting China’s actions in the South China Sea, at the highest levels of power the song remains the same.

Breaking Defense – After a 25-year absence, the Navy will start packing Harpoon ship-killer missiles on its attack submarines as the fleet looks for new ways to counter the growing Chinese navy.

USNI News – Amphibious warship USS Makin Island (LHD-8) Amphibious Ready Group and elements of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit transited the Strait of Hormuz and is now in the Persian Gulf.

War Zone – The U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which had its deployment extended last month, returning to the Middle East in light of continued tensions with Iran, is now in the South China Sea, where it sailed alongside its sister ship, USS Theodore Roosevelt, today. The two carriers and their respective strike groups operating together send a powerful signal to China, which has been increasingly flexing its military muscles in this hotly disputed region in recent weeks.

USNI News – The Navy is in the final stages of fully adopting a Precision Landing Mode for fighter pilots, with young fleet replacement squadron pilots for the first time conducting carrier qualifications with the tool that significantly cuts down on the work required during an approach to the back of an aircraft carrier at sea.

National Interest – James Holmes reminds us that it takes multiple ships to ensure one is forward deployed and actually ready for action.

USNI Proceedings – The LCS is the Navy’s solution for Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

USNI Proceedings – Investing in enlisted warfare tactics instructors would improve the surface force’s combat effectiveness and lethality.

War Zone – MQ-8Cs loaded with sonobuoys could help speed up searches for enemy submarines while reducing the workload on human personnel.

Naval News – The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was a “Hot Topic of discussion” at Surface Navy Association (SNA 2021) Virtual Symposium held in mid-January 2021 during the end of the President Trump Administration. The U.S. Navy discussed the status, plans, upgrades, new weapons, fixes, and Mission Packages of this troubled and often criticized program.

USNI News – The three-ship Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, the 2,500 Marines of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters have taken position in U.S. 5th Fleet in the North Arabian sea and are an easy sail to the Strait of Hormuz.

War on the Rocks – The Maritime Cybersecurity Plan offered an imperfect but useful path forward for the United States to advance its interests in cyberspace. The Biden administration should avoid the classic mistake of ignoring the content because they dislike the messenger. This plan lays out a need for new thinking and new incentives in working with allies and the maritime private sector.

CIMSEC – Organizational inertia and a desire to compete for dollars lead U.S. military services to plan for scenarios that privilege their largest existing programs–even as America’s adversaries are moving on to an entirely different type of warfare.

USNI News – The U.S. Navy’s two key advantages in the Arctic are its partners and allies and the flexibility of the forces it could bring to bear, the head of U.S. naval forces in Europe said today.

USNI News – The Navy’s engineering community has already started conducting light carrier design and engineering studies, even as the Navy and the joint force still consider whether they’d even want to invest in a CVL to supplement supercarriers to bring more distributed capability to the fleet for less cost.

USNI News – The Navy plans to deploy the early models of its Razorback medium-sized unmanned underwater “as soon as we can” even as the service is in the midst of procuring an upgraded model.

USNI Proceedings – James Holmes writes that the responsibilities the United States has taken on require it to build a Navy capable of managing them.

War Zone – The U.S. Navy is looking toward next-generation vertical-lift platforms to replace existing types starting in 2030.

Naval News – At the Surface Navy Association 2021 Virtual Symposium, Naval News asked RADM Paul Schlise, USN, Director, Surface Warfare (N96), whether the U.S. Navy intends to replace the aging Patrol Coastal boats. The direct answer is, “No.”

War Zone – The Navy says conformal fuel tanks, long-touted as a critical upgrade for its Super Hornets, may be turning out to be more trouble than they’re worth.