– Breaking Defense – For years, we’ve heard about how vulnerable aircraft carriers are to enemy fire. They’re big. They’re not that fast — compared to a missile. But a big airbase isn’t exactly mobile. While it can be hardened, its location is well known.
What Secretive Anti-Ship Missile Did China Hack From The U.S. Navy?
– War Zone – Details surrounding the Navy’s Sea Dragon program remain scarce, but there are some distinct possibilities.
The US Navy’s fleet is getting old. It might get a lot older
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is considering extending the service life of all its ships by at least seven years, and could stretch the life of some ships by 13 years.
Marines Won’t Need a Carrier for High-End Fight With MUX Unmanned System
– USNI News – The Marine Corps and Navy are preparing for a high-end fight that will require ships to be distributed across the ocean rather than clustered around an aircraft carrier, and the Marines’ future Group 5 unmanned aerial system will give them the airborne early warning capability to break free from the carrier and its E-2D Advanced Hawkeye early warning aircraft.
U.S., India, Japan Navies Start Malabar Exercise Tomorrow in Guam
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy is hosting naval forces from India and Japan in Guam for the annual Malabar Exercise, set to start Thursday in the Philippine Sea.
Israel Deploying to Eastern Europe, Pacific for First Time Alongside U.S. Forces
– Breaking Defense – The Trump Pentagon is undergoing a major shift to focus on great power competition. And it’s looking for allies to step up in places that might come as a surprise.
How to Spot the Secretive Activities of Rogue Fishing Boats
– BBC – For years it’s been impossible to see illegal acts happening at sea, from overfishing to human rights abuses. Now that’s changing.
Troubling U.S. Navy review finds widespread shortfalls in basic seamanship
– Defense News – A three-month internal review conducted by senior U.S. surface fleet leaders found that nearly 85 percent of its junior officers had either some or significant concerns in ship handling and that many struggled to react decisively to extricate their ship from danger when there was an immediate risk of collision, according to an internal message obtained by Defense News.
BALTOPS 2018 Continues Emphasis on Air-Sea Integration, Complex Free-Play Phase
– USNI News – The annual Baltic Operations exercise is underway for the 46th time, continuing last year’s priorities of increasing the integration of aircraft and ships and boosting the difficulty of the free-play phase that concludes the exercise.
Marines Forward-Deploy Portable Drone-Killing System
– USNI News – Forward-deployed Marines are using a new system to protect U.S. troops from the threat of cheap and lethal unmanned aerial vehicles.
Marine Corps Wants Forces in U.S. Ready to Surge for Major War
– USNI News – The Marine Corps wants to focus its continental U.S.-based forces training for a high-end large-scale war, in case a conflict on the Korean Peninsula or elsewhere requires a massive surge force.
At delicate moment, U.S. weighs warship passage through Taiwan Strait
– Reuters – The United States is considering sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait, U.S. officials say, in a move that could provoke a sharp reaction from Beijing at a time when Sino-U.S. ties are under pressure from trade disputes and the North Korean nuclear crisis.
France, Britain to sail warships in contested South China Sea to challenge Beijing
– South China Morning Post – Defence ministers tell security forum they are contributing to rule-based order.
Why A ‘Human In The Loop’ Can’t Control AI: Richard Danzig
– Breaking Defense – How do you stop a Terminator scenario before it starts? Real US robots won’t take over like the fictional SkyNet, Pentagon officials promise, because a human being will always be “in the loop,” possessing the final say on whether or not to use lethal force. But by the time the decision comes before that human operator, it’s probably too late, warns Richard Danzig. In a new report, the respected ex-Navy Secretary argues that we need to design in safeguards from the start.
U.S. Special Operations Command’s Elusive Mothership Is Packing Stealth Speedboats
– War Zone – We finally have high-quality images of the entire ship in its completed state.
10 Naval Infantry Units from Around the World
– USNI Blog – The United States Marine Corps is a well known and respected combat force, but the United States is not the only country to employ troops of this type.
Russia has plans for its future nuclear subs, and it involves hypersonic missiles
– Defense News – Russia’s next generation of multipurpose nuclear submarines, reportedly known as the Husky class, will be armed with hypersonic missiles, with the lead boat slated for launch in 2027
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War Studies Primer
– Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.
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.
Time to Launch a Combined Maritime Task Force For The Pacific
– War on the Rocks – The United States needs new ideas to generate regional balancing against Chinese behavior while simultaneously deterring future actions like the consolidation of control at disputed features like Scarborough Shoal.
Using satellites to count buildings in South China Sea
– Reuters – Shrouded in Chinese military secrecy and hidden from the eyes of journalists, Beijing’s build-up of man-made islands on reefs deep in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia is a vexing story to report.
Raytheon Awarded LCS Over-the-Horizon Anti-Surface Weapon Contract; Deal Could be Worth $848M
– USNI News – The Norwegian-designed Naval Strike Missile has been officially selected to serve as the Littoral Combat Ship’s over-the-horizon anti-ship weapon.
We spent 3 days on a top contender for the Navy’s future frigate. Here’s what you need to know.
– Defense News – The Italian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare FREMM Alpino is in the United States on a tour of the East Coast. The Fincantieri-built warship is a contender for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation frigate, the FFG(X), and the Alpino is on this side of the Atlantic giving the service a look at what the hull can do.
A Little-Noticed Player Goes Big in the Indo-Pacific
– War on the Rocks – While many eyes are on China’s port investments in the Indian Ocean, Japan has also been busy. The scale of its infrastructure investments in the region rivals, and sometimes exceeds, that of China. But Japan argues that its growing presence in the Indian Ocean is qualitatively different, focused on transparency, economic sustainability, and a rules-based order that should become part of regional norms.
We Need an Atlantic Rebalance
– Breaking Defense – The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) John Richardson made a major organizational announcement with major strategic implications when he announced the Navy would re-establish the Second Fleet, which covers the Atlantic. But that would, so far, only mean adding 250 people to the command. Without making larger strategic changes, that is not enough.
