Modern War Institute – In a recent CNA study, we found that in a future, large-scale conflict, Chinese forces will likely employ a modern and unique irregular warfare concept, focused on information and influence, tightly integrated with conventional capabilities. A return to great power competition does not portend a shift away from irregular warfare to conventional warfare, but rather an amalgamation of the two.
China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier group crosses Miyako Strait, patrols Diaoyu Islands, ‘warning to Japan’
Global Times – The Liaoning aircraft carrier task group of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy reportedly crossed the Miyako Strait again on Monday and sent an aircraft near the Diaoyu Islands on Tuesday, which Chinese experts said sends a warning to Japan amid the country’s recent, repeated wrong statements on China’s Diaoyu Islands. Similar PLA activities will likely become routine depending on China-Japan relations, experts said.
Navy SEALs to shift from counterterrorism to global threats
Associated Press – Ten years after they found and killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. Navy SEALs are undergoing a major transition to improve leadership and expand their commando capabilities to better battle threats from global powers like China and Russia.
China’s coast guard continues patrolling waters surrounding Diaoyu, defying US reaffirming security commitment to Japan
Global Times – Although the US reaffirmed earlier in April that it is committed to the defense of Japan under their security treaty, which covers the Diaoyu Islands where China and Japan have a dispute, the China Coast Guard (CCG) continued to send its vessels to patrol the surrounding waters on Sunday, with analysts saying that China is making it clear to relevant countries that they are unable to challenge China’s determination to safeguard its territories.
Spencer Johnson on Writing and Briefing the Maritime Strategy
CIMSEC – CIMSEC discussed the 1980s Maritime Strategy with Captain Spencer Johnson (ret.), who was instrumental in assembling the first briefed iteration of the Maritime Strategy in 1982. In this conversation, Capt. Johnson discusses how the strategy had to quickly come together to inform Navy programming, how it was received in its initial briefings by senior leadership, and how the Soviet Union reacted to the Maritime Strategy toward the end of the Cold War.
3 new world-class warships commissioned together, shoring up ‘nuke retaliation, S.China Sea security, island seizing’
Global Times – President Xi Jinping commissioned three main battle warships into the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Friday, the service’s 72nd founding anniversary, with analysts saying on Saturday that the unprecedented, concentrated warship commissioning represents the rapid development of the PLA Navy and Chinese shipbuilding industry amid the grave military struggle pressure China is facing.
Russian Fleet Protects Iranian Ships Smuggling Arms, Israelis Say
Breaking Defense – Amid confused reports of a drone attack on an Iranian ship in the Mediterranean on its way to Syria, Iran appears to have moved its weapons shipments to Syria and Lebanon from the land — where Israel has regularly tracked and destroyed them — to ships that may be receiving protection from Russian vessels in the Mediterranean.
Russia Tracking First U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Visit to the Black Sea in 12 Years
USNI News – A Coast Guard Cutter is now in the Black Sea, a first for the service since 2008.
Xi Likes Big Boats (Coming Soon to a Reef Near You)
War on the Rocks – When General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Tanmen village in April 2013, he famously urged China’s South China Sea fishers to “build big boats, charge forth on the deep sea, and catch big fish.” As recent scenes from Whitsun Reef reveal, however, very little “charging” is taking place, which means very few “big fish.” But, in one respect, Chinese fishers have clearly obeyed Xi’s command: They have built some very large boats.
Northern Fleet starts removing oldest ballistic missile subs
Barents Observer – Time has come for the Russian navy to withdraw from service the last class of Soviet-era strategic submarines. Phase-out, however, will take time and happen over years until all new modern Borei class submarines are delivered from the shipyard in Severodvinsk.
Navy Patrol Craft Fired Warning Shots At Harassing Iranian Boats In the Persian Gulf
War Zone – The incident took place yesterday and is the second instance of Iranian boats harassing American military vessels in less than a month.
Iran’s Used Its Wacky Catamaran To Cut Off U.S. Coast Guard Ships In The Persian Gulf
War Zone – One of Iran’s oddest ships was used to torment U.S. Coast Guard crews operating in the Persian Gulf.
Is It Time For The U.S. Navy To Build The Drone Carrier Warship?
Naval News – As the Pentagon and Congress grapple on determining what to build to meet the “500-ship U.S. Navy goal,” a couple of years-old ideas and artist renderings may lead to a more flexible future for the U.S. Navy’s global operations.
Top Priority: Marines Want New Loitering Drones
Breaking Defense – The drones would be part of a new multi-domain Mobile Reconnaissance unit that includes unmanned ships and new ground vehicles
Marines Update Force Design 2030 After a Year of Experimentation in the Field
USNI News – After the March 2020 release of Force Design 2030, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger today released an annual update to the document that lays out the progress already made and the steps still to come, as the service continues to learn more about what it will need to deter evolving threats in the Pacific and around the globe.
British name enormous carrier strike group heading for the Indo-Pacific
Defense News – The largest fleet of Royal Navy warships to deploy internationally since the 1982 Falklands War is heading to the Indo-Pacific region next month as the British government seeks to raise its presence in the Far East.
Ford Carrier Strike Group Maximizes New CVN’s Gear, Design In Final Test Event Before Shock Trials
USNI News – USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its air wing and strike group had a chance to fully show off their combat capabilities, using a recent at-sea testing period to demonstrate not only that Ford can keep up with its Nimitz-class counterparts but can use its new gear to perform better and faster, leaders in the strike group told USNI News today.
Marines Eyeing New ‘LXX’ Concept As More Lethal Alternative to LPD Flight IIs
USNI News – The first LPD Flight II amphibious warship is still in the early stages of construction, but the Marine Corps is already eyeing a more lethal replacement for the ship.
Explosive-laden ‘drone’ boat targets Saudi port of Yanbu
AP – A remotely piloted boat packed with explosives targeted the Saudi port of Yanbu in the Red Sea on Tuesday, the kingdom said, with the blast sending black smoke into the sky off the coast.
An Unmanned Future For The U.S. Navy And Marine Corps?
1945 – James Holmes writes that the key point of the newly published Unmanned Campaign Framework is to advance a hypothesis, namely that unmanned systems promise to help maritime forces accomplish their mission “through unlocking constraints on manned systems.” It seems the chief virtue of a family of unmanned systems isn’t leap-ahead technology. It’s that they have no crews, and thus are unbound by the demands and resources necessary to field and operate manned aircraft, surface ships, and submarines.
Joint U.S.-Norwegian Bases Are A ‘Tripwire’ Russia Won’t Like
1945 – James Holmes writes that stationing U.S. forces in a country under threat puts them in harm’s way, ensuring that the United States would fight if that country came under assault. The U.S. Army kept a “tripwire” brigade in West Berlin throughout the Cold War to put the Soviet leadership on notice that America would take up arms to defend that Western enclave behind the iron curtain and, by extension, would uphold its treaty commitments across Europe and the globe. Joint U.S.-Norwegian bases will perform a similar function vis-à-vis Russia today.
Israel Continues Development Of New External Fuel Tanks For Its F-35I Adir Jets
Aviationist – A local newspaper reported that the development of external fuel tanks for the F-35 is still ongoing and will possibly be complete in two years.
What is a Navy For?
USNI Proceedings – Strategic purpose is not the same thing as operational necessities.
This Tiny Drone Boat Is Being Tested During The Navy’s Big Manned-Unmanned Teaming Experiment
War Zone – In a possible glimpse of the future of naval warfare, an apparently new type of very small unmanned surface vessel, the ADARO, has been operating with U.S. Navy surface combatants during exercises off the coast of Southern California. The drone boat, which is reminiscent of a waterborne version of a mouse droid from Star Wars, is apparently intended, at least in part, to extend intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) coverage for the fleet when operating in regions close to the coast.
The Baltic Sea is Not Las Vegas: The Mare Balticum in Broader Context
CIMSEC – “The Baltic Sea has grown to a never-seen strategic significance in the past years.” This is how Vice Admiral Andreas Krause, former Chief of the German Navy (2014-2021), described the current situation of what is sometimes referred to as a ‘flooded meadow’ in naval circles.
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