CIMSEC – IMSEC discussed the 1980s Maritime Strategy with Dr. Stanley Weeks, who as a Navy Lieutenant Commander helped assemble the first briefed iteration of the Maritime Strategy in 1982. In this discussion, Weeks looks at how that briefing came together, how it rapidly traveled up the chain of command, and how maritime forces can make the strategic difference in great power conflict.

CIMSEC – CIMSEC discussed the 1980s Maritime Strategy with Capt. Robby Harris (ret.), who helped draft the 1986 unclassified version of the strategy that published in Proceedings. In this discussion, Harris discusses how the unclassified version was initiated, how steady state competition and crisis response figured into the strategy, and how bold leadership at the highest levels of Navy leadership elevated the importance of maritime strategy.

CIMSEC – CIMSEC discussed the development of the 1980s Maritime Strategy and the role played by the CNO Strategic Studies Group (SSG) with Dr. John Hanley. Dr. Hanley served as a core member of the SSG during the 1980s and 1990s. In this discussion, he provides unique insights into the changes brought about by the strategy, the organizations and factors that contributed to its development, what made the SSG effective, and what lessons the strategy and the SSG have for the modern era.

National Defense – James Holmes asks Whither the “Quad”? Is the Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue—a loose grouping of likeminded Indo-Pacific nations—a military coalition in the making?

CIMSEC – CIMSEC discussed the 1980s Maritime Strategy with Capt. Peter Swartz (ret.), who at the time served as a naval strategist on the OPNAV staff, and worked to refine and disseminate the Maritime Strategy. In this discussion, Swartz defines the contents of the strategy, its primary tenets, and how it maintained a remarkable degree of continuity across nearly a decade of naval leadership.

War on the Rocks – America should act now to strengthen its Western Pacific forward posture. Neglecting it further raises the risk of war — and defeat.

CIMSEC – CIMSEC discussed the 1980s Maritime Strategy with Secretary John Lehman, who served as the 65th Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration from 1981-1987. In this discussion, Secretary Lehman looks at how the Navy tied the Maritime Strategy to force structure goals, how it built credibility with Congress, and how the Navy could offensively leverage command of the seas in a major conflict today.

Texas National Security Review – In 2005, a U.S. Navy plan was forwarded to Congress: It entailed reducing force structure and transforming to a capabilities-based forward force posture. However, the Navy continued to pursue unattainable force levels and, today, has lost command of the seas to China in the Western Pacific. China’s pace of war is the speed of light through cyberspace, leaving U.S. forces blind and deaf, while America’s is 30 knots, taking weeks to arrive at the fight. A fundamental shift in mindset needs to be made. The focus should no longer be on the number of hulls, but on a return to the plan for a capabilities-based, more forward force posture, primarily by commanding cyberspace in order to regain command of the seas.

War Zone – The modules are too large for the ship’s existing vertical launch cells, so they would likely take the place of its all but abandoned deck guns.

USNI Blog – The Navy must examine historical data to understand the effect of mines in prior conflicts and to develop new strategies to ensure U.s. success in countering the threats.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy is reworking its tenuous plan to revitalize its public shipyards, where the fleet’s nuclear maintenance is done, as it has become clear that the facilities can’t meet the needs of the current fleet, let alone accommodate a growing fleet.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy released March 16 its long-discussed Unmanned Campaign Plan, intended to map the road ahead for the service’s unmanned systems. But the plan is short on details and measurable goals, which left key national security leaders wondering if the service had anything else to share.

USNI News – Today, as the Navy and Marine Corps are planning a transition into a hybrid manned-unmanned force, the services are big on vision but short on specifics for how they’ll achieve their goals from a programmatic and leadership standpoint – leaving lawmakers uneasy with the absence of a clear parent to guide the unmanned fleet.

Defense News –  Raytheon plans to deliver next week the first of the U.S. Navy’s new Block V Tomahawk, an upgraded version of the service’s venerable land-attack missile that will ultimately include the ability to target ships at sea at extended ranges.

USNI News – With limited and costly ways for a surface warship to physically take out an incoming anti-ship missile, the Navy has been pursuing more ways a warship could use the power of electronic spectrum to splash threats. To that end, the first array of a massive update of the Navy’s surface electronic warfare systems is preparing for its ground tests later this year. 

War on the Rocks – The world’s most important strategic chokepoints lie in the Indian Ocean, making the region a key theater in geopolitical competition. Then why is it still missing from Washington’s Indo-Pacific priorities? U.S. Pacific Command was recently re-named United States Indo-Pacific Command in order to highlight the importance of the Indian Ocean region. Yet, the Indian Ocean, in its entirety, remains largely absent from the command’s priorities and engagements.

Navy Times – The crew of the fast-attack submarine Connecticut has been subjected to a bed bug infestation in their racks, and sailors assigned to the sub allege that the boat’s command has been slow to fix the problem.

USNI News – The sea services see themselves moving toward a future where they are just as likely to perform a mission with an unmanned platform as a manned one, based on the specifics of the mission and what assets are available. A third of the Navy’s fleet and half of Marine Corps aviation could be unmanned under this hybrid vision the two services are pursuing, which they argue in a new Department of the Navy Unmanned Campaign Framework is necessary to stay ahead of adversary capabilities without breaking the bank.

CIMSEC – There is a long-running debate in the United States Navy over building smaller aircraft carriers. These arguments generally focus on cost and hull count. Rather than dive into these arguments and attempt to argue for what should be done, we will instead explore how we use these arguments to rethink requirements and produce a more robust concept.

1945 – James Holmes writes that the competitor who blunders the least wins.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey, commonly called INSURV, was established in 1868 to provide an independent evaluation of the condition of ships and their ability to perform their missions. This report reflects the 2020 evaluation based on 40 ship evaluations.

CIMSEC – The current structure of the Unified Command Plan bakes in an inefficient approach to the execution of the national grand strategy and its maritime component. When the United States enjoyed a robust force structure this inefficiency could be tolerated; in the current environment of resource scarcity it creates more strategic risk than is necessary by limiting the global mobility of naval forces, and to some extent other forces. 

War Zone – The Blackwing drones, which can be fired from countermeasures launchers, will carry surveillance payloads, and possibly more in the future. 

Naval News – Here is the latest information on the status of the three DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyers.

USNI Blog – The “final solution” to mine countermeasures (MCM) warfare essentially is the same as it was during World War II, and that is to detonate the mine(s) (usually) in place…Therefore, once detected, located, and marked, how best to neutralize enemy mines?