Defense News – The Navy and Marine Corps’ fiscal 2024 budget request would invest in long-range missiles and the platforms that shoot them — surface combatants, fighter jets and nimble Marine Corps units — while slashing the amphibious ship fleet.
Why the US Navy wants to retire eight ships early
Defense News – The U.S. Navy intends to decommission 11 ships in fiscal 2024, including eight ahead of their planned end of service life — fewer than the 24 it requested to decommission in its FY23 submission, but still likely to reignite debate on Capitol Hill.
The Daring Ruse That Exposed China’s Campaign to Steal American Secrets
New York Times Magazine – How the downfall of one intelligence agent revealed the astonishing depth of Chinese industrial espionage.
Australia to join Royal Navy SSN(R) submarine programme
Navy Lookout – The leaders of Australia, Britain and the US met today at a summit in San Diego to discuss the AUKUS pact. The centrepiece of the agreement is the deal to supply nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Here we examine the implications of the announcements and look at the future Anglo-Australian SSN(R) submarine project.
Fighting DMO Part 4: Weapons Depletion and the Last-Ditch Salvo Dynamic
CIMSEC – The concentration and distribution of a force will flex and evolve as its platforms suffer depletion. As commanders look to employ mass fires, they must be mindful of how to spread depletion across the force, how to interpret the adversary’s expenditures, and how inventory pressures can be manipulated through the last-ditch salvo dynamic.
Tackling the Underwater Threat: How Ukraine Can Combat Russian Submarines
RUSI – Given that building anti-submarine warfare capabilities along Western lines would require significant time and resources, how can Ukraine best counter the Russian submarine threat?
Unseen but vital: Britain and undersea security
Council on Geostrategy – While the fight to repel Russia’s territorial ambitions takes place in Ukraine, this war has also proved that a critical component of the centre of gravity of European economic security rests on the vulnerability of an invisible network of undersea connectors. More broadly, undersea spaces matter to Euro-Atlantic security, and not least to the United Kingdom (UK) as an insular nation.
Navy Won’t Buy Any More San Antonio Amphibs in the Next Five Years
USNI News – The Defense Department’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request will not seek to buy any San Antonio-class amphibious warships in the next five years, exposing a continued fissure between Pentagon and Marine Corps priorities.
UK commandos set up training Camp Viking in Northern Norway
Barents Observer – The new Arctic operation base will support Britain’s commandos for the next ten years. By the way, the Norwegians don’t call it a “base” because the country’s self-imposed restraints don’t allow for allied countries to stay permanent.
Surface force lays out tech development timeline for industry
Defense News – The next five-year defense budget plan, slated for release later this month, will focus its surface Navy investments on Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and Constellation-class frigates, according to the service’s surface warfare director.
Ukrainian Attack On Russian Port In Black Sea Shows No Base Is Safe
Naval News – The February 28 2023 drone strike on Tuapse shows the growing distances of Ukraine’s attacks. The strategic port is located on the Russian coast north of Sochi. The implication is simple: no Russian base in the Black Sea is beyond Ukraine’s reach.
Canadian military found Chinese monitoring buoys in the Arctic
Globe and Mail – The Canadian military found and retrieved Chinese monitoring buoys in the Arctic this past fall, a development whose public exposure adds another item to a list of pressing concerns about Beijing’s interventions in Canadian affairs, including interference in recent federal elections.
(Thanks to Alain)
Snapshot: The Royal Navy escort fleet in March 2023
Navy Lookout – In this article we summarise the current activity of RN surface combatants and look at the health of the force.
US Nuclear Submarine, USS Springfield, Makes Port Call In South Korea Amid Flaring Tensions With North
EurAsian Times – On Saturday, the US 7th Fleet announced the arrival of its fast-attack submarine USS Springfield at the naval base in the South Korean port city of Busan in an apparent show of force aimed at the North.
(Thanks to Alain)
China Maritime Report No. 26: Beyond the First Battle: Overcoming a Protracted Blockade of Taiwan
China Maritime Studies Institute – If there is a war over Taiwan, an extended Chinese blockade is likely to determine the outcome. While a blockade might include intercepting ships at sea, the primary focus would be on sealing airfields and ports, particularly on the west coast of Taiwan. China could sustain that type of blockade indefinitely. Penetrating a prolonged blockade and keeping Taiwan alive would require a serious U.S. investment in systems and operational concepts that we currently do not have. Unless we make that investment, we may win the first battle, defeating an attempted landing. But we cannot win the war.
British hunter-killer nuclear submarine in Gibraltar after long Mediterranean patrol
Majorca Daily Bulletin – One of Britain´s latest nuclear submarines has docked in Gibraltar after a long Mediterranean patrol which has seen her tracking the Russian navy. HMS Audacious is returning home after many months of operations across the Mediterranean.
(Thanks to Alain)
Ukraine denies involvement in Nord Stream pipeline blasts
BBC – Ukraine has denied any involvement in September’s attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany. The denial follows a report from the New York Times, which cites anonymous US intelligence officials who suggest a pro-Ukrainian group was to blame.
War Studies Primer
We invite you to try War Studies Primer – an introductory course on the study of war and military history. Its purpose is to provide an introduction to the study of war.
War Studies Primer is presented as a lecture curriculum at the university level. It is a free, non-credit, self-study course that consists of 28 topics and over 1,900 slides and is updated on a yearly basis.
Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.
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Bigger Than a Balloon: The Chinese C4ISRT Complex as Hyperobject
CIMSEC – Decades of Chinese investment in sensors, networks and data management means that Allied operations in the Western Pacific are now occurring within a dynamic, complex, shifting, and expanding Chinese C4ISRT ecosystem. The national security community should heed Morton’s hyperobjects and how they provide a better framework for understanding the reality-altering nature of the Chinese C4ISRT complex as a hyperobject. The exact extent and scale of the hyperobject is difficult to ascertain, thereby making it hard to say definitively whether one is being tracked by it at any given time, particularly during this uneasy period of great power competition. Through decades of hard work and investment, China created this hyperobject, and by doing so, it has changed the long-range surveillance and targeting game.
Managing ocean sustainability from above: leveraging space capabilities to combat illegal fishing
The Space Review – The oceans are integral to our global ecosystem. As a source of nutrition and livelihood for much of the world’s population, ocean health is critical for UN development goals. Activities that jeopardize the sustainability of marine resources, particularly illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, are therefore a major international issue. Fortunately, space capabilities such as satellite radar and multispectral imaging are making it easier for the international community to track, characterize, and combat illegal fishing.
US, Philippine marines team up to bolster littoral warfare skills
Defense News – The Philippine Marine Corps is growing its territorial defense capability, after spending more than 50 years focused on domestic counterinsurgency operations. The service is now tasked with fending off Chinese aggression at sea and fishing fleet incursions into Philippine territorial waters.
Marines to Test Prototype Landing Ship to Support New Force Design
USNI News – After making a series of modifications to an offshore support vessel, the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab is ready to start experimenting with a prototype for a landing ship the Marines say is key to the service’s island-hopping future in the Western Pacific.
US Navy reviews cost-saving design changes before resuming amphib buys
Defense News – The U.S. Navy is taking a “strategic pause” from buying amphibious ships, and using that time to study not just how many ships it wants but also the capabilities they should have when the service resumes buying them.
Iranian Warships Finally Dock in Rio de Janeiro After U.S. Issues Sanction Threat
USNI News – A pair of Iranian warships pulled into Rio de Janeiro on Sunday after a month of waiting in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
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