Popular Mechanics – Beachcombers on the Scottish Isle of Tiree called the local coastguard after discovering a mysterious boat-like object. They found the American-made drone wedged between two rocks, presumably after it ran aground. As of now, no one has claimed ownership of the uncrewed boat, and the details of how it washed up in Scotland remain a total mystery.

(Thanks to Alain!)

CIMSEC – A hybrid commercial-military approach to force projection in contested environments deserves closer examination, and is an approach that is immediately available. It offers an evolutionary and rapid path to the future.

USNI Proceedings – There have been far too many shipbuilding programs with unacceptably high cost overruns. The Navy needs to stop repeating the same process while expecting a different result.

CIMSEC – Given the need for the Navy team to perform at its peak under challenging circumstances, the Navy would be well-served by incorporating more management education into PME for both officers and enlisted sailors.

USNI News – The U.S Navy and Coast Guard remain committed to supporting and building the maritime security capabilities of its African partners.

Defense News – Navy inspectors found serious technical issues across all three U.S. Navy ship classes being built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi in 2018 and 2019, according to an unclassified report sent to Congress earlier this year.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that Battle Force 2045 aspires to accomplish Mahanian strategic goals using a non-Mahanian fleet to prosecute non-Mahanian operations. Can it work?

gCaptain – Boston-based autonomous marine navigation company Sea Machines says it has been awarded a U.S. Department of Defense contract to develop a prototype autonomous barge that will essentially serve as floating gas station for military aircraft.

War on the Rocks – China is now the official “pacing threat” for the U.S. armed forces. Simply put, the Pentagon considers the People’s Liberation Army its most serious competition. This is a major and vital shift. But competing with China is a tremendously broad concept that could take any number of forms, and the reality is that China is too powerful to permit the U.S. defense establishment to fritter away money. The Defense Department needs to focus. Most of all, it needs to be capable of achieving U.S. objectives against China in a war.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy must rapidly grow its attack submarine force, field smaller manned and unmanned combatants and examine changing the role of aircraft carriers in the coming decades as part of a massive expansion of the fleet to maintain American dominance on the seas, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Tuesday.

USNI News – Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced a new future fleet plan for the Navy that would grow the attack submarine force, supplement nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with light carriers to achieve greater day-to-day presence, and invest heavily in small and unmanned ships for distributed operations.

USNI News – The Navy is getting closer to operating the new and larger MQ-8C Fire Scout variant on its Littoral Combat Ships, with two squadrons taking possession of their first aircraft and working towards safe-for-flight certification.

Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s aging surface fleet is getting harder to maintain, and overall is showing declining health in several key areas, such as its main propulsion systems, electrical systems and Aegis combat systems, according to an annual report of the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey submitted to Congress earlier this year.

Naval News – The U.S. Navy has announced that USNS Burlington will carry out a proof-of-concept test: The EPF ship will serve as an afloat forward staging base style platform, transporting a Maintenance Expeditionary Team of active duty sailors and their equipment and repair materials to various Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) locations for scheduled maintenance.

War Zone – SEWIP Block III will introduce new electronic attack capabilities and other enhancements as the Navy prepares to defend its ships in a high-end fight.

Breaking Defense – America has a new military homeport in the Mediterranean, as a US warship will call a small outpost on the Greek island of Crete home, signaling Washington’s deep concerns over the eastern Mediterranean and Russian and Chinese activities in Africa.

War Zone – The P-8 reportedly flew near the southern tip of Taiwan, over tense waters that have been frequented by the Chinese Navy as of late.

War Zone – As competition in the Arctic heats up, the Navy is looking to drastically increase its awareness of what is going on up there.

War Zone – The Navy is standing up the unit now to ensure personnel are as prepared as they can be for the arrival of these drones in the coming years.

USNI News – The first of three inputs to the Pentagon’s Future Naval Force Study was released this week, the Hudson Institute is calling for a future U.S. Navy fleet of 581 battle force ships through the addition of 80 corvettes, 99 unmanned surface vessels, 40 unmanned submarines and 27 new small amphibious ships

Full report is here: American Sea Power at a Crossroads: A Plan to Restore the US Navy’s Maritime Advantage

Defense News – In deciding how to move forward with the warped and carbonized hulk of the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, U.S. Navy leaders face a series of choices and all of them are bad.

USNI News – Destroyer USS Stout (DDG-55) recently achieved a record-breaking deployment length after operating at sea for more than 200 days, the Navy announced.

National Interest – James Holmes writes that the Thresher and Scorpion crews were lost at sea is a tragedy. That the U.S. Navy learned from the disasters and made itself better means they did not die in vain. Machiavelli would nod knowingly at the institutional inertia that preceded the accidents—and salute the learning process that followed.

War Zone – The U.S. Navy’s forthcoming force structure review may call for a fleet with up to 534 ships and submarines, including various kinds of unmanned vessels. The is far bigger than the existing Congressionally-mandated goal of a 355-ship fleet, which has long proven to be a struggle for the service to achieve. Plans for an even larger force could run into significant budgetary, recruiting, sustainment, and other hurdles. 

USNI Proceedings – The learning curve is steep, and the T-6B Texan trainer is complex. An instructor pilot offers advice on how to prepare and perform well in this environment.