– CIMSEC – The most important challenges faced by the U.S. Navy in achieving sea power are not technological, but human.

– CIMSEC – This article explores sea control at the tactical level of war in an age defined by precision-guided munitions and post-industrial production.

– CIMSEC – Sea Control operations require a delicate balance of protecting the hunters and releasing the hounds.

– War Zone – After nearly two decades of trying to advance its advanced semi-autonomous unmanned combat air vehicle dreams, Boeing finally gets its shot.

– USNI – In the May 2018 U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Navy Captain Dale Rielage published a “future history,” written as a first-hand account of a defeated Pacific Fleet Commander in the 2025 timeframe. Titled “How We Lost the Great Pacific War,” Rielage’s article was superb—thought-provoking, well-researched, and forcefully argued. The alternative future history below is intended to provide a more optimistic view, and another potential path.

– National Interest – They’re cheap. You can build a lot of them. And Beijing won’t have an easy time responding. And our allies will be pleased. What could be wrong with that?

– CIMSEC – The age of battleships laying broadsides into beaches may have been over when the USS Iowa was decommissioned, but the increasing threat of anti-ship missiles and A2/AD may draw a curtain on the modern surface combatant doing likewise. For a contested ship-to-shore movement to be successful at the shore overmatch is required at the landing zone both in terms of quantity of troops and firepower. Unable to conjure enough firepower out on the beach due to obvious constraints, extensive supporting firepower must come from the air and the sea.

– USNI News – Navy Picks Boeing to Build MQ-25A Stingray Carrier-Based Drone.

– USNI News – The Navy’s next large surface combatant will have all the space, weight and power margins the sea service could need now and into the future to accommodate new weapons in development – but the director of surface warfare said the Navy would not accelerate weapons development to get them ready in time to outfit the new ships.

– USNI News – The boundaries of the Navy’s reestablished U.S. 2nd Fleet extends well past the old submarine stomping grounds of the Cold War and into waters north of Scandinavia and the Arctic Circle, near the submarine headquarters of Russia’s Northern Fleet.

– USNI News – The Navy will buy the first of its Future Surface Combatants in 2023 – a large warship that will be built to support the Arleigh Burke Flight III combat system and will pull elements from the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) and Zumwalt-class (DDG-1000) destroyer designs.

– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to modernizing its cruisers.

– Defense News – Four littoral combat ships are on track to be available to deploy in 2019, the head of the U.S. surface Navy told Defense News in an interview.

– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is slowly making progress to restore to fighting condition its hard-worn fleet of F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters, which last year had just one in three of its fighters ready to deploy.

– BBC – US submarine hunting aircraft are to operate out of RAF Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth.

– US Naval War College Review – New gadgets are useful, but our personnel are the most critical component to continued operational success. The Third Offset Strategy provides a near-unique opportunity to leap forward in optimizing human performance. We must establish priorities, tangible deliverables, and a timeline.

– USNI Proceedings – Advances in artificial intelligence, coupled with popular movies such as Ex Machina where robots turn on their humans, have exacerbated concerns the military might lose control of armed autonomous systems. Augmented intelligence may be the answer.

– USNI Proceedings – In October 2016, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Navy gave the public a glimpse into the future of aerial combat in the skies above Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.

– CHIPS – A discussion with NPS faculty and students from Captain Wayne Hughes.

– USNI Proceedings – To enable true mission command, the Navy must dismantle its zero-defect mentality. It is doubtful World War II heroes Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, and Raymond Spruance would reach even the rank of captain today.

– USNI Proceedings – The Navy has a blind spot about offensive mining, but technological advances and a new concept of operations could make it a game changer.

– USNI News – In 1970 in the Mediterranean, the USS Independence (CVA-62) and the Soviet destroyer shadowing her activated their fire-control radars and locked onto each other. The author, a young ensign at the time, recalls his disappointment when the tensions came to naught but concludes the strength of Sixth Fleet kept the Soviets from pushing too far.

– US Naval War College Review – Naval officers must understand the considerations required to exert effective mission command as operations devolve into forms characterized by lesser degrees of structure and control.

– USNI Proceedings – Long the centerpiece of the U.S. Navy, the aircraft carrier will become a more focused player.

– US Naval War College Review – The political, economic, and financial aspects of sustaining an oil blockade against China mean that even a militarily successful blockader could find its political, economic, and diplomatic position untenable well before a blockade could exert its full effects.