War Zone – The U.S. Navy’s quartet of Arleigh Burke class destroyers that are forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, and makeup Destroyer Squadron 60, sport a unique configuration. The most notable alteration is the inclusion of the self-contained SeaRAM Rolling Airframe Missile launcher system on the ships’ rear pedestal mount. This is in addition to the Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systemlocated on their bows. It was installed to beef-up the destroyers’ defenses against advanced anti-ship cruise missiles due to the high-threat areas they would be regularly operating in—especially the Black Sea, which is a nearly land-locked super anti-ship missile engagement zone. They were also among the first to receive an upgraded SEWIP Block II electronic warfare suite. But another unique and so far totally overlooked enhancement involves a far more obscure electronic warfare system, one that, as far as we know, is totally unique to these vessels. 

Task and Purpose – The Navy has repeatedly blamed Capt. Brett Crozier for the unprecedented novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt last year, but newly-released emails show several of Crozier’s colleagues instantly recognized that he had put the lives of his crew above his own career.

War Zone – The plans include calls for deploying long-range missiles in the Western Pacific, new missile defenses and sensor networks, and more.

USNI News – After the Navy last week issued a $235-million contract modification to Austal USA to build its latest multi-purpose Expeditionary Fast Transport ship, new details of the ambulance variant have come to light.

War Zone – We go in-depth with Lockheed’s point man on Aegis about the combat system’s revolutionary past, evolving present, and universal future.

USNI News – Building an Aegis Ashore facility on Guam would relieve three guided-missile destroyers from missile defense work and make them available for Navy tasking, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Thursday.

War on the Rocks – The U.S. Navy handicaps itself in great-power competition. “Though we are not exchanging fire with our competitors,” according to the chief of naval operations, “we are battling for influence and positional advantage.” Much of this battle is waged in information environments, and the new tri-service maritime strategy includes influence within the information domain in the very definition of “naval power.” Yet the U.S. Navy neglects part of its arsenal for influence, namely military information support operations.

USNI News – U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is seeking $4.68 billion in the upcoming fiscal year for the year-old Pacific Deterrence Initiative.

Nikkei Asia – The U.S. will deploy its Indo-Pacific military presence far and wide rather than keep it concentrated at a handful of bases as it seeks to protect itself from China’s advanced missile capabilities.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s surface fleet continues to struggle to keep its ships adequately maintained, according to the Board of Inspection and Survey, an entity responsible for monitoring the condition of the service’s ships.

USNI News – USS Gabrielle Giffords’ (LCS-10) recently completed 17-month deployment to the Pacific will refine how the Navy thinks about operating and maintaining the Littoral Combat Ship forward.

War on the Rocks – Why are so many countries opting to invest as much — if not more — in their coast guards compared to conventional naval forces? Perhaps the more pressing question for naval planners, strategists, and statesmen alike is why the United States is not following suit.

War Zone – Unmanned surface and underwater vehicles capable of deploying drone swarms in contested territory could be game-changing for the Navy.

War on the Rocks – What kind of navy should the United States build with its defense dollars? Does America want one that will win wars? Of course. How about one that deters other nations from starting a war in the first place? No doubt. Perhaps it is also useful to have a navy that can “show the flag” to generate diplomatic and economic influence, or to bolster the liberal international order? And wouldn’t it be nice if Americans could have more guns, and more butter, while also lowering their taxes?

1945 – Sports imitates life. And vice versa.

CIMSEC – Budget justifications portray Medium Unmanned Surface Vehicles (MUSV) as both “attritable assets if used in a peer or near-peer conflict” and “key enablers of the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations concept.” American industry must build these and other key enablers even faster than the enemy can attrite them, but where? To overcome the limited capacity of American shipyards in pursuit of this requirement, Congress should develop a distributed shipbuilding industrial base through a variety of structured incentives.

War Zone – F/A-18C/D Hornets have ended their almost four-decade tenure aboard the aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy. The final carrier deployment by the “Legacy Hornet” has officially concluded after the return of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, or VMFA-323, the “Death Rattlers,” from its final cruise aboard the supercarrier USS Nimitz.

The Aviationist – The U.S. Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers have launched the first deterrence patrol from Orland Air Station to the eastern Barents Sea, where they integrated with RNoAF F-35A.

Breaking Defense – While the Navy’s modernization efforts lead the list of concerns Pentagon leadership is looking to tackle, the service’s top admiral is mapping a plan to get hypersonic missiles and lasers on ships as quickly as he can. 

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