– USNI News – This year’s Iron Fist exercise marked the first time this group of 310 Japanese soldiers – 3rd Company with 2nd Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment Landing Team – launched from a ship and landed ashore in a coordinated mission alongside Marines, who earlier had launched their AAVs from the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD-27).
Strengthening the U.S. Defense Maritime Industrial Base: A Plan to Improve Maritime Industry’s Contribution to National Security
– Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments – CSBA’s report finds that a robust maritime industry, and the policies that support it, are increasingly important in an era of great power competition.
Navy Confirms Global Strike Hypersonic Weapon Will First Deploy on Virginia Attack Subs
– USNI News – The Navy intends to deploy its conventional prompt strike hypersonic weapon on Virginia-class attack submarines, after previous discussions of putting the weapon on the larger Ohio-class guided-missile submarine (SSGN).
MHI To Build 2 Multi-Role Response Vessels For The Philippine Coast Guard
– Naval News – The Philippines Department of Transportation signed a procurement contract with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for two 94-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRVs) for the Philippine Coast Guard.
Reclaim the Coast Guard’s Military Roots
– USNI Proceedings – Despite a history of warfighting, the Coast Guard has trouble explaining why it is a military branch.
Russia To Upgrade All Pacific Fleet’s Project 1234 Nanuchka III-Class Corvettes
– Naval News – All Nanuchka III-class small missile ships (corvettes) of project 1234 of the 114th brigade of the Pacific fleet will be upgraded. They will get new arms and radars, communications, and economical and powerful diesel engines.
Is the U.S.-Philippines Alliance Dying?
– National Interest – Terminating the U.S.-Philippine Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) could ripple throughout Southeast Asia to the detriment of not just the Philippines’ defense but U.S. maritime strategy toward China.
U.S. Navy Destroyer USS Ross Joins French Carrier Strike Group
– Naval News – On the night of February 8, the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) joined the French Navy (Marine Nationale) Carrier Strike Group, also known as Task Force 473, currently deployed as part of the “Foch” mission.
U.S. Sealift Lacks Personnel, Hulls, National Strategy
– USNI News – An aging and inactive government fleet dependent on a shrinking pool of merchant mariners to get underway is how a new report describes the U.S. military’s strategic sealift capability.
The US Navy is planning to get serious about a next-generation large surface combatant
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy in 2021 is planning to kick off a five-year research, testing and design effort for its next generation of large surface combatant.
Scary reality: China’s secret Cambodian military base
– News.Com.Au – It’s supposed to be an international airport. It’s supposed to be part of a holiday resort on a pristine piece of coastline. But it’s not.
Fixing first four littoral combat ships not worth it, US Navy says
– Defense News – The cost of upgrading and repairing the first four littoral combat ships is too high and it’s better just to decommission them, the U.S. Navy’s budget director said during the service’s budget roll-out.
Here’s the US Marine Corps’ plan for sinking Chinese ships with drone missile launchers
– Defense News – The U.S. Marine Corps is getting into the ship-killing business, and a new project in development is aimed at making their dreams of harrying the People’s Liberation Army Navy a reality.
JMSDF P-1 MPA Testing Next Generation Anti-Ship Missile
– Naval News – Photos taken on February 10, 2020 show a P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) flying with four new air-to-ship missiles (ASM) which are currently under development.
As China expands navy, US begins stockpiling ship-killing missiles
– Defense News – The stunning growth of the Chinese fleet over the past decade has prompted the U.S. Navy to plan a full-on buying spree of ship-killing missiles over the next five years, according to projections in the sea service’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget documents.
Marines Will Soon Reveal Plans to Divest Old Systems, Invest in New Tech to Fight China
– USNI News – The Marine Corps is on a course to overhaul its force design in just a matter of years to better position itself to deter and, if needed, defeat China in the Pacific, the commandant said today. The outcomes of two future force reviews should be publicly released within the next month, he said, though they’re currently waiting for final approval from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Russia will withdraw sunken nuclear submarines from the bottom of the sea
– El Snorkel – The priority is the refloating of the Komsomolets K-27 and K-278 nuclear submarines.(in Spanish)
(Thanks to Alain)
Weeks-long ‘Red October’ style hunt for Russian subs off East Coast FAILED as Navy warns waters no longer ‘safe haven’
– The Sun – The US Navy Second Fleet command trawled the North Atlantic for Russia’s most powerful submarine, the Severodvinsk, but said it remained undetected despite a mission to find it lasting several weeks.
(Thanks to Alain)
Navy’s New Shipbuilding Plan ‘Dead on Arrival,’ Lawmakers Say
– USNI News – The proposed Navy shipbuilding plan that cuts a Virginia-class submarine, a frigate and an oiler that were previously planned for FY 2021 received immediate bipartisan pushback from the House and the Senate.
Here’s the timeline for the US Navy’s next-generation frigate
– Defense News – The Navy is expected to buy its first next-generation frigate this year, so here’s what the next few years are going to look like in FFG(X)-land.
US Navy looks to hire thousands more sailors as service finds itself 9,000 sailors short at sea
– Defense News – The Navy is pouring money into its manpower budget as the number of unfilled billets on ships has swollen to 9,000 — up 2,750 from last year.
Navy Cuts Super Hornet Production to Develop Next-Generation Fighter
– USNI News – The Navy wants to truncate production of the legacy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in favor of pumping money into accelerating the development of its long-gestating next-generation carrier-based fighter program.
Esper backs a bigger Navy fleet, but moves to cut shipbuilding by 20 percent
– Defense News – U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is calling for a 355-ship fleet by 2030, but for fiscal 2021, shipbuilding took a big hit in the Defense Department’s budget request.
Navy Gets First Bell-Boeing CMV-22B: What It Means
– Breaking Defense – The Navy’s Osprey differs from the Marine Corps and Air Force versions, boasting an enhanced fuel capacity, which required wing modifications to deal with the greater weight.
Damen Hands Over POLA-Class Vessel ARM Reformador To Mexican Navy
– Naval News – The Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico (SEMAR) has held a ceremony marking final acceptance and delivery of the Long Range Ocean Patrol (POLA) Class vessel ARM Reformador.
