India Closer To Procuring Third Aircraft Carrier, More MPA

Naval News – Indian Navy’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar publicly affirmed the Navy’s interest in placing a repeat order for the Vikrant type aircraft carrier. More MPAs are also on the horizon, with Boeing making efforts to revive the reportedly shelved plan to procure six additional P-8I long range MPAs even as DRDO develops medium range MPAs based on the Airbus C-295. 

Digital Piracy Returns to Sea: Protecting Autonomous Ships From Online Attacks

War on the Rocks – Commercial shipping has made major strides in recent decades toward digitalization. Supply-chain concerns, green technology, and costs across the industry have led to a new push for automation. This promises greater efficiency, but it also creates a massive new target for cyber attacks. Where the internet once borrowed the term “piracy” from the maritime domain, we are rapidly reaching the point where it will be possibly to digitally hijack a container ship on the high seas. 

Plus Ca Change: A French Approach to Naval Warfare in the 21st Century

War on the Rocks – A recent contribution by two French naval officers, Thibault Lavernhe and François-Olivier Corman, stands out. Seeking to refocus discussion naval warfare on naval tactics and reconnect with naval doctrine, they push back against what one might refer to as technological determinism. In the process, they offer a highly informative take on naval warfare that makes the case for keeping humans in the loop for tactical rather than ethical reasons.

The European Union’s Quest to Become a Global Maritime-Security Provider

US Naval War College Review – The European Union (EU) seeks to become a global maritime-security actor, yet strategic challenges influence its maritime-security strategy process. Is there a distinctive and coherent EU approach to global maritime security, and how should the EU address the growing range of maritime challenges, including the intensification of militarized competition in the Indo-Pacific?

Tirpitz’s Trap

US Naval War College Review – Chinese leaders probably believe that America’s worldwide commitments mean that the United States never will concentrate its entire naval strength against them in a conflict. But “Tirpitz’s Trap” serves as a warning of the consequences of challenging a maritime rival at sea while retaining the commitments inherent in a continental state with strategically significant land borders and powerful neighbors.

Smart Balancers Kill Many Birds with Few Stones—Sino-Russian Security Cooperation in the Maritime Domain

US Naval War College Review – Minimizing the costs and risks of balancing is crucial for a coalition facing stronger opponents—such as China and Russia facing the United States and its partners. The motives of Sino-Russian security cooperation should be understood within the context of a full spectrum of balancing strategies in international relations and the relatively lower risk of escalation in the maritime domain.

The Final Countdown?—Charting a New Course for Capital Ships in Pacific War Plans

US Naval War College Review – The Navy’s World War II fleet demonstrated that success came from employing the capital ship of the time—the battleship—collaboratively with aircraft carriers. Today, the Navy and the joint force should combine today’s capital ship—the aircraft carrier—with a reinvestment in surface and undersea platforms with extended-range standoff weapons.

Selective Engagements—Chinese Naval Diplomacy and U.S.-China Competition

US Naval War College Review – As China enters a period of heightened strategic competition with the United States, the PLAN will adjust its foreign-engagement strategy. China will forge stronger naval relations with non-U.S. major powers, including Russia; the United States will attempt to deny China new overseas naval facilities; and both countr

Old Lessons For New Maritime Statecraft

War on the Rocks – As Washington enters an era of great power competition, it can gain valuable insights from the Navy’s interwar success in conducting peacetime operations while still preparing for war. This means thinking about, talking about, actively developing new doctrines for, and understanding how to plan the complex needs of the peacetime missions of the Navy and Marine Corps. 

Can the US Navy save money by accepting the LCS as a sunk cost?

Defense News – Decommissioning the Littoral Combat Ships early amounts to a loss of almost $7 billion based on analysis by Defense News using data from the Congressional Budget Office. But experts say the opportunity cost is more significant as the Pentagon prepares for a potential war with China, which in the last 20 years has built extensive anti-access, area denial defenses to keep ships like the LCS away from its shores.