– Defense News – David Lartner with a dose of reality on hypersonic weapons.

– CIMSEC – The Naval Services must develop and train a naval expeditionary force that is tailored to support stand-in forces within the adversary’s weapons engagement zone…new force packages that are better aligned with future missions and force structure will make for a more preferable interim solution. One solution is a set of stand-in force constructs that are complementary to current formations and fleet tactics – the Littoral Combat Team (LCT), the Littoral Combat Group (LCG), and Littoral Strike Squadron (LSS).

– USNI News – The Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) community is modernizing the way it mans, trains and equips its force to leverage new technology and lessons learned in nearly two decades of ground wars in the Middle East.

– CIMSEC – The U.S. Navy has perhaps the toughest problem among the U.S. armed services for planning long-term force structure. Navy ships and submarines are much more expensive and require far longer times to procure compared to the military equipment of the other services. As a result, Navy force planners must consider long-term time horizons to create the force structure the nation needs given the projected threat environment and operational conditions.

– War Zone – The system is likely the service’s new “ODIN” laser dazzler that is meant to blind enemy optics on ships, boats, aircraft, and missiles.

– USNI News – With the Columbia ballistic missile submarine program set to take up a large portion of Navy shipbuilding funds in the next two decades and flat budgets expected in the near-term, the Navy’s undersea warfare community has clearly prioritized where any available funds should go to support the National Defense Strategy.

– War Zone – The advanced electronic warfare program uses swarms in the air and sea to cooperatively fool a wide variety of sensors dispersed over a large area.

– War Zone – With thousands of hours flying naval H-60 variants, we get the bottom line on some of the unique aspects of flying the hugely popular helicopter.

– War Zone – The Navy runs on youth and it is downright amazing how hard young sailors work to make the Navy’s mission possible every single day around the globe.

– USNI News – The Navy had previously meant to replace its legacy mine countermeasures triad of helicopters, wooden-hull ships and divers with a Littoral Combat Ship mission package that could mostly do it all with unmanned systems – but unexpected success with a separate family of systems is leading to a new triad of capabilities for fleet commanders to employ.

– USNI News – The U.S. submarine community wants to preserve its ability to operate as a silent service under the seas while also contributing to the wider fleet and joint fight.

– CIMSEC – This paper is intended to begin to build a theoretical understanding of influence, particularly how forward present naval forces influence events and actors ashore.

– USNI News – The U.S. Navy is taking offensive mining more seriously under the National Defense Strategy and is working to bring new technologies and tactics to the fleet to modernize mine warfare for a high-end fight.

– Breaking Defense – The long road the F-35 took to finally being ready to deploy has forced the Navy’s new $13 billion carrier class to leave the plane behind — for now at least.

– War on the Rocks – The Navy should increase missile-firing allowances for strike-fighter squadrons and explore ways to specialize squadrons for either fighter (air-to-air) or attack (air-to-ground) roles.

– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is preparing to sign a contract for nine Virginia-class attack submarines, eight of which will include a 84-foot section that boosts the boat’s strike missile capacity, which is down from 11 boats planned for in this year’s budget submission.

– USNI News – The Navy is gaining enough experience with unmanned vehicles on and below the water’s surface that it’s becoming easier to kick off new programs, as each can build on previous program’s lessons learned.

– USNI News – The Navy and the Marine Corps have been assessed as “marginal” in their ability to meet the challenges from rival powers in Beijing and Moscow, as well as regional threats coming from Tehran and Pyongyang, according to annual report on U.S. military strength from The Heritage Foundation.

– USNI News – The Commandant’s Planning Guidance has sparked several questions about the future of the amphibious ship fleet – how many ships are needed, and what kinds of ships will have a role in the future – and while answers are still in development, the expeditionary warfare community has a lot of thoughts on the matter.

– Breaking Defense – As the Navy scrambles to get enough parts and people to move carriers back out to sea, it’s facing a crowded waterfront at Norfolk.

– USNI News – The Navy has concentrated more capability – and therefore more cost – onto a smaller number of ships, and that force design may not work well in a high-end fight against a peer adversary.

– Defense News – Submarine building, the pride of the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding efforts over the past decade, is facing a mountain of uncertainty.

– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is preparing to ink one of the largest contracts in its history with General Dynamics Electric Boat and the firm’s partner shipyard Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News that will make the new generation of attack submarines a major force in strike warfare.

– National Interest – James Holmes asks if the U.S. Navy had to refight the Battle of Leyte Gulf in contemporary times—clashing arms with a new Asian contender along Asia’s first island chain—how would it use its latest surface combatant ships to advance the cause?

– Breaking Defense – A top Navy official suggested today the service is reconsidering its long-stated goal of a 355-ship fleet, floating the idea that a number around 310 ships would be about the best it can do if current funding projections hold.