Navy Lookout – Today the MoD has announced the Tye 45 destroyers will be upgraded to intercept ballistic missiles. The destroyers will be the first European warships with a full sensor-shooter BMD intercept capability.
Russia outlines militarization of fishing fleet and icebreakers
Barents Observer – The country’s revised Marine Doctrine includes a high stress on use of civilian ships and infrastructure for military purposes.
Stand-In Forces: Disrupting Anti-Access Systems
CIMSEC – The threat of anti-access capabilities is here to stay, and the Marine Corps’ stand-in force concept lends much-needed variety to the toolbox of approaches that will allow the joint force to “break the wall” if needed.
Denmark Sending Ukraine Anti-Ship Harpoon Missiles To Take on Russian Ships in Black Sea
USNI News – The Danish Armed Forces are sending long-range anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters on Monday. The range of Denmark’s coastal defense Harpoons could put Russian ships at risk in the Northern Black Sea.
Israeli Maritime Power and Eurasian Competition
US Naval War College Review – While the U.S. military force structure pivots away from Middle Eastern security concerns toward East Asia, Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, and the Gulf monarchies are all potentially or actively hostile to Israel, or will seek more influence if the United States departs from the Middle East, or both. As Middle Eastern regional rivalries intersect increasingly with Eurasian great-power competition, the maritime element of Israeli grand strategy will grow in importance.
Navy Ships Swarmed By Drones, Not UFOs, Defense Officials Confirm
War Zone – After intense public speculation, stacks of official documents obtained via the Freedom Of Information Act, ambiguous statements from top officials, and an avalanche of media attention, it has now been made clear that the mysterious swarming of U.S. Navy ships off the Southern California coast in 2019 was caused by drones, not otherworldly UFOs or other mysterious craft. Raising even more questions, a similar drone swarm event has occurred off another coast, as well.
Does The Littoral Combat Ship Really Need To Die?
1945 – James Holmes asks can’t the Littoral Combat Ship be repurposed?
Let the Navy Retire LCS and Build a U.S. Maritime Constabulary Instead
CIMSEC – The U.S. Congress should let the Navy retire its Littoral Combat Ships and shift small-ship missions to services committed to doing them.
Swedish Officials Ask Pentagon to Increase U.S. Naval Presence in Baltic Sea
USNI News – Swedish officials are requesting a larger U.S. naval presence in the Baltic Sea as part of the ongoing diplomatic push for Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
Holland Announces Only Two LCF Frigates to be Modernized
Seawaves – 2 of the 4 air defense and command frigates (LC frigates) will be equipped with new air defense missiles and technology from 2028. These are so- called Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 missiles. In 2018, the plan was to equip all 4 frigates of the navy with this.
(Thanks to Alain)
PLA bombers hold drills in West Pacific ‘in coordination with carrier group’
Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy reportedly sent its most powerful bombers on Wednesday for drills in the West Pacific, joining the Liaoning aircraft carrier group, which has been holding exercises there since the start of the month, a move experts said could be a rehearsal for keeping foreign forces from interfering in the Taiwan question.
First Time Rare Fully-Submersible Narco Submarine Caught
Covert Shores – Just when our eyes are fixed on the Ukraine War, a narco submarine surfaces on the other side of the world. It’s been relatively quiet on the Narcosub front these past few months. But the one found last week in Venezuela is one of the most significant developments for some time.
(Thanks to Alain)
What’s new in Navy and Marine Corps unmanned boats
Defense News – The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps promised a “build a little, test a little, learn a lot” approach to unmanned vessels, and the lessons learned are already leading to some changes.
Satellite images raise prospect of new class of Chinese submarine
Reuters – Military analysts say a vessel spotted in a Chinese shipyard in rare, recent satellite images could be a new or upgraded class of nuclear-powered attack submarine.
(Thanks to Alain)
Amateur Hour Part I: The Chinese Invasion of Taiwan
War on the Rocks – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine set off a flurry of handwringing over Taiwan. Russia, in this interpretation, “broke the ice” by attacking Ukraine, emboldening China versus Taiwan. But any such action by China would likely run into a similar buzzsaw of resistance, while lacking Russian advantages such as access to overland transit. Ukraine is not Taiwan, and regardless of what Chinese leadership thinks they are learning about the benefits of naked aggression, the People’s Liberation Army lacks the necessary power projection and sustainment capability and capacity to execute an opposed occupation of a densely urbanized island packed with citizens who have no interest in living under Communist rule.
Can John Arquilla’s Rules of New Age Warfare Be Taken to Sea?
CIMSEC – Thomas Friedman’s 13 April New York Times opinion piece recounts an interview with John Arquilla, a distinguished former grand strategy instructor at the Naval Postgraduate School. In explaining Ukraine’s impressive military performance in the face of the Russian invasion, Arquilla cites three rules of new age warfare from his book Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare, and their application is quite fitting. If these rules concocted for cyberwarfare apply to ground warfare, might they also apply to warfare at sea? If so, what are the implications?
Pacific Marines move to formalize role as the stand-in force
Defense News – As China expanded the reach of its weapons throughout the South China Sea over the last decade, U.S. weapons development focused on increasing the standoff range, so American forces could stay safe as an outside force shooting in. But U.S. Marines in the Pacific have continued to operate inside that striking range, and they’re now doubling down with a new concept outlining their role as a stand-in force.
Incredible Success Of Ukraine’s Bayraktar TB2: The Ghost Of Snake Island
Naval News – The Ukrainian Navy’s investment in the Bayraktar TB2 drone is paying off. Russia enjoys a complete technological and numerical advantage. Yet its navy is proving easy prey to the small, slow and lightly armed UAV.
China Maritime Report No. 21: Civilian Shipping and Maritime Militia: The Logistics Backbone of a Taiwan Invasion
Chinese Maritime Studies Institute – Most analysts looking at the Chinese military threat to Taiwan conclude that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is incapable of invading the island because it lacks the landing ships to transport adequate quantities of troops and equipment across the Taiwan Strait. This report challenges that conventional wisdom, arguing that the PLA intends to meet these requirements by requisitioning civilian vessels operated by members of China’s maritime militia (海上民兵). Since the early 2000s, the Chinese government and military have taken steps to strengthen the national defense mobilization system to ensure the military has ample quantities of trained militia forces to support a cross-strait invasion. Despite ongoing challenges—including poor data management, inconsistent training quality, and gaps in the regulatory system—and uncertainties associated with foreign-flagged Chinese ships, this concept of operations could prove good enough to enable a large-scale amphibious assault.
Navy Eyeing Life Extension Of Nine Ohio Class Submarines
War Zone – The U.S. Navy is considering tacking a few more operational years onto a number of its aging Ohio class submarines.
Breaking the Black Sea Blockade
Comment is Freed – Sir Lawrence Freedman writes that “There is, however, another aspect to this war which has received insufficient attention, though it is now slowly coming into focus and where pressure could build for a NATO operation. This is the need to relieve the blockade Russia has successfully inflicted on Ukraine’s southern ports in the Black Sea. This is urgent not only because of the effect on Ukraine’s battered economy but also on supplies of essential agricultural products to the rest of the world. If Russian forces continue to be pushed back, and as the diplomacy to bring the war to a conclusion is stepped up, this will be a critical issue to be addressed, possibly linked to Russian demands for relief from sanctions. If this is not addressed diplomatically then there could be demands on the major maritime powers to mount freedom of navigation operations to break the blockade.”
Great Wall of Naval Targets Discovered in Chinese Desert
USNI News – China has been honing its ship-killing skills for potential future conflicts on new targets in a remote desert, according to new satellite photos reviewed by USNI News. New analysis shows the People’s Liberation Army is testing the ability to hit ships in port with long-range ballistic missiles.
Is a new Navy shipyard realistic, or just a ‘tall order?’
Breaking Defense – In interviews with Breaking Defense, lawmakers say they’re concerned about the Navy’s revitalization plan, but still aren’t sold on a fifth public shipyard.
How The Russian Navy Is Losing Dominance: The Curse Of Snake Island
Naval News – One of Russia’s first moves in its invasion of Ukraine was the capture of Snake Island. Two months later they are desperately struggling to keep it. This is a sign of their weakening dominance over the Northern Black Sea.
The littoral combat ship’s latest problem: Class-wide structural defects leading to hull cracks
Navy Times – Half of the Navy’s littoral combat ship fleet is suffering from structural defects that have led to hull cracks on several vessels, limiting the speed and sea states in which some ships can operate
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