War Zone – The U.S. Navy is moving ahead with plans to expand its unmanned undersea vehicle capabilities with the acquisition of a new large-displacement design as part of its Snakehead program. The service wants these drones, which its nuclear-powered submarines will be able to launch and recover underwater, to initially be able to scout ahead or monitor certain areas, as well as perform other intelligence-gathering missions. It has plans to use them in other roles, including as electronic warfare platforms, in the future, as well.

Navy News – An UNCLASSIFIED November 23, 2020 public domain photo showing the United States Special Forces Command Combat Craft Assault next to the USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4) has revealed some interesting features…

USNI Blog – Naval warfare is changing. A host of new weaponry, technologies, and sensor systems are fundamentally altering the projection of naval power. The new weapons—hypersonic missiles, directed-energy weapons, and precision-guided munitions, among others—present new threats to the U.S. Navy. Similarly, artificial intelligence and improved sensor networks make it easier for competitors to find, fix, and finish Navy units. The proliferation of modern technologies—such as precision-guided munitions and unmanned systems—to non-peer competitors further multiplies the threat. Consequently, the United States faces a dangerous strategic and operational environment amid a constrained budget environment.

War on the Rocks – The 2018 National Defense Strategy, directs conventional U.S. military and special operations forces to organize and prepare to counter near-peer competitors. While the threat is global, strategists recognize that the maritime environment, including global littorals, the “island chains” of the Pacific and Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, the Black Sea, the North Sea, and the Baltic coasts are all areas of expected conflict. Winning in these coastal areas and island chains will require a variety of tactics, methodologies, and specialized equipment. A modern Shetland Bus program would not address every contingency, but it would represent a Swiss Army knife-like tool that may provide flexibility and address several key needs.

CDR Salamander – Bryan McGrath offers one of the better situation reports of where our Navy finds itself in the first year of what will be an incredibly challenging decade. 

Defense News – The logistical challenges that would be faced in a conflict with China are daunting.

1945 – James Holmes writes that the closer the United States and its allies come to fielding a cohesive democratic armada, the better their chances of deterring aggressors and shoring up the rules-based international order at sea. 

Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s new shipbuilding plan shows that over the next five years it plans to decommission 11 cruisers with more than 1,340 vertical launch tubes, but Congress doesn’t think the Navy has a serious plan to replace them with a new generation of large surface combatants, according to the text of a recent funding bill.

1945 – We recently spoke with Dr. Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy in the U.S. Naval War College (NWC)’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI), to get his take on the newly released U.S. maritime strategy, Advantage at Sea.