1945 – The question put to me for today is: what are some aspects of the Western way of maritime war that opponents can exploit?

CIMSEC – The future of aviation is unmanned aircraft – whether remotely piloted, autonomously piloted, or a combination. There is simply no reason that a human needs to be in the cockpit of a modern, let alone next-generation aircraft. AI technology is progressing rapidly and consistently ahead of estimates. If the Navy waits to integrate AI into combat aircraft until it is mature, it will put naval aviation a decade or more behind.

War on the Rocks – This is a hell of a way to run a Navy. The Department of the Navy’s revolving door of senior civilian leadership over the past four years, including two secretaries and three acting secretaries, has done a disservice to U.S. national security. New leadership will soon arrive, but the department should not squander precious time on restarting strategic studies, force assessments, and process improvement programs. Instead, steady and strategic civilian leadership is required to make progress in the marathon implementation of integrated force redesign.

War Zone – A strong naval service operating routinely around the world has historically been viewed as the prerequisite for a liberal international order. Data support this idea, showing that maritime conflicts between countries are less frequent and managed more effectively when the U.S. achieves sea power dominance and helps to maintain naval parity in allies’ conflicts. Even eloquent advocates of moderating U.S. foreign policy ambition view the Navy as the military capability most essential for protecting America’s national interests.

War Zone – The Navy hopes that small resupply drones could revolutionize its at-sea logistics chains for carriers and other warships.

War on the Rocks – The United States should give up its quest for command of the maritime commons in the Western Pacific. The struggle is based on a false premise — that if the United States loses command of the seas, China will step in the fill the vacuum. In fact, even if the United States loses command of the maritime commons, China is not positioned to gain it. However, by positioning China as an existential threat, the United States is boxing itself in politically. The United States courts disaster when it overextends itself 

1945 – James Holmes asks does countering Iran promise exceptional rewards for the U.S. Navy and the Pentagon, do the U.S. armed forces command decisive superiority over China and Russia, and can the armed forces keep up a Gulf aircraft-carrier presence without running grave risks in the strategic competition with those great-power rivals? Unless the answer to all three questions is a throaty yes, the Biden Pentagon should rethink the U.S. military posture in the Middle East.

Naval News – Admiral Burke gave a webinar presentation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) held in February, 2021 regarding the U.S. Navy’s presence and influence in the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans. Admiral Burke presented a different perspective compared to the tensions in the INDO-PACOM region and the Pacific Ocean.

War on the Rocks – At a time when the United States is on the hook to deter four rivals across three theaters, all of its military services, including the sea services, are busy refocusing their attention on great-power competitors and reorienting their concepts, equipment, and operating patterns to deny aggression. Unless the United States scales back commitments or spends enough on defense to enjoy a surplus of power, overstretch is a very real possibility under these conditions.

War on the Rocks – Both China’s navy and coast guard are larger than their American counterparts and increasingly well equipped. In the event of a conflict, the U.S. Navy will have to think outside the box: Hiring privateers to raid Chinese maritime interests is one such strategy.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy is collecting proposals for a new autonomous glider drone that can collect data — such as water temperatures over time — as a way to improve how it hunts for enemy submarines.

USNI News – A Navy carrier strike group got a first glimpse at what future operations could look like, with SEALs providing forward targeting data and Marines on expeditionary bases providing another missile strike option to supplement the strike group’s aircraft- and surface ship-based weapons.

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.