Time.News – Again an incident of a fire outbreak on an Israeli Navy vessel – and this time inside a submarine. Maariv has learned that on Tuesday last week a submarine fire broke out during technical treatment at a base in Haifa, apparently due to a human error by one of the technical staff.
(Thanks to Alain)
USNI News – The current six-month-plus deployment of German frigate FGS Bayern (F217) to the Indo-Pacific is the initial step toward a regular biannual naval deployment to the region, German Navy Chief Vice Adm. Kay-Achim Schönbach said today.
Nikkei Asia – China is reportedly looking to build a military presence in Equatorial Guinea, which would be its second such facility in Africa and the first along the Atlantic Ocean. But China’s options are not limited to the small country, analysts say.
Breaking Defense – The Navy has completed the first operational demonstrations of an MQ-25 Stingray onboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), the service announced today, marking a major milestone for the highly-anticipated unmanned tanker program.
China Maritime Studies Institute – This report examines the potential roles and missions of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) new rotary wing capabilities in a cross-strait invasion. Looking specifically at the helicopter units of the PLA Army (PLAA), it discusses two possible scenarios in which these forces could serve as the main thrust in a campaign to seize control of Taiwan. In the first scenario, the PLAA would use nearly all of its rotary wing inventory simultaneously to overwhelm Taiwan’s defenses and quickly convince the country’s political leadership to surrender. In a second “unconventional” scenario, the PLAA would risk the destruction of older helicopters in order to launch a sudden attack against the island, thereby achieving the element of surprise while saving its most capable platforms for lengthy follow-on operations to fully subdue the island. Based on analysis of the scale, complexity, and frequency of recent PLAA exercises, this report argues that China is at best a decade away from having the ability to seize Taiwan by either approach.
USNI Proceedings – The Marine Corps should leverage its security cooperation expertise to gain and maintain persistent access during expeditionary advanced base ops.
Naval News – The U.S. Navy and the French Navy (Marine Nationale) inked a Strategic Interoperability Framework (SIF) on 17 December 2021. The agreement paves the way for increased cooperation between the two navies for the next twenty years, especially their ability to “plug and fight” side by side.
USNI Proceedings – With a smaller naval force, forward deployment must be managed on a global basis.
Global Times – China recently revealed an upgraded version of the J-15 ship-borne fighter jet that has just wrapped up test flights, with reports saying the new aircraft received enhancements in its missile pylons, the infrared search and track system, the radar and the wings.
RUSI – The prospect of greater Russian involvement in the war in Ukraine raises questions about the possible role of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and how it could support Russia’s Ground Forces.
The Diplomat – A preview of how the Philippine Marine Corps will operate in the current and future security environment.
USNI News – Iran’s drive for naval modernization and self-sufficiency has had another recent setback the when Iranian Navy’s newest frigate capsized in its dry dock. Last week, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps showed off more than 100 of their latest homegrown fast attack craft – new types of missile boats, unique torpedo boats and other craft – in Bandar Abbas.
Defense News – One of two U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicles operating in the Pacific for the last two years has returned home, allowing the service to move forward with Triton development and fielding.
USNI News – Illegal and unreported fishing “is happening on an industrial scale” around the globe and the culprit often is China’s subsidized fishing fleet, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said today.
CIMSEC – In the spring of 2021, defense-minded internet message boards and social media were ablaze at headlines that the U.S. Navy would be decommissioning the first hulls of the decade-old Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). A chorus of “good riddance” posts and thought pieces followed. Though the Navy maintains it intends to keep using both Independence and Freedom variants of the LCS, it is no secret that the program has been beleaguered with class-wide mechanical issues. As many in naval thought circles lament and debate what the Navy will do in the way of near shore combatants in contested waters, a unique opportunity has emerged for the U.S. Coast Guard.
USNI News – The Marine Corps will keep its fleet of decades-old Amphibious Assault Vehicles out of the water except in emergencies, the service announced on Wednesday.
Defense News – The Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 2 (LCSRON 2) is, in one way, coming off a rough patch: Two of its Freedom-variant LCSs suffered major engineering failures at sea in 2020 and had to limp home from deployments to U.S. Southern Command. As the U.S. Navy realized the severity of a combining gear flaw in the propulsion system, it stopped accepting deliveries of new ships from Lockheed Martin early this year and imposed operating restrictions on the ships already in the fleet to avoid another at-sea breakdown.
Navy News – Nuclear submarines offer significant advantages over non-nuclear ones. South Korea has been looking to acquire them for many years and now has the industry to do it.
AP – The U.S. Navy announced Wednesday it tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in the Mideast, a system that could be used to counter bomb-laden drone boats deployed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
Naval News – According to the Iranian news outlet IRIB News, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy received 110 indigenously made combat speedboats on December 11 during a ceremony in Bandar Abbas.
Defense News – The U.S. Marine Corps is in a vulnerable position as it prepares for fiscal 2023, having made enough progress on its Force Design 2030 effort that it shed a significant amount of outdated capabilities but is lacking replacements.
Defense News – Britain’s Parliamentary Defence Committee has fired a broadside at the government, raising significant concerns about the future size and capabilities of the Royal Navy.
The complete report can be read here: “We’re going to need a bigger Navy”
War Zone – The sailboat test is part of an effort to learn how unmanned platforms can help in the Middle East and, eventually, globally.
Barents Observer – The design of the icebreaker is to be completed in 2025 and used for rescues alongside China’s “Polar Silk Road” trade route, as a part of the country’s grander Belt and Road Initiative.
1945 – James Holmes looks to Theodore Roosevelt for inspiration.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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