Royal Navy aims for jet-powered carrier-launched drone at sea within two years

Navy Lookout – The RN has launched project VANQUISH, seeking proposals from industry for a Fixed-Wing, Short Take Off and Landing, Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP). This is the first step towards meeting the First Sea Lord’s vision for a large technical demonstrator UAS to be flown from an aircraft carrier in a very short timeframe.

Plan For the Worst: Why the Marine Corps Stand In Forces Concept Demands a Premortem

Modern War Institute – Marine Corps leadership has not clearly articulated the demands stand-in forces will face and the joint dependencies they will generate. To prepare for war in the Pacific, leadership must anticipate and define these forces’ worst day. Through this necessary—yet sobering—visualization, the Corps can identify and train for the challenges they will face when (not if) crisis strikes in the Pacific.

Technical Interoperability in Contested Environments is a Must

CIMSEC – The Navy must ruthlessly pursue two seemingly disparate capabilities  technical interoperability and the capability to operate in contested communications environments. The need for interoperability in naval operations has never been more critical. However, these operations will increasingly be forced to occur in contested communication environments, where data access and connectivity cannot be guaranteed. Balancing these two imperatives—interoperability and resilience in contested conditions—will be vital to successful maritime operations.

The Imperative For Integrated Maritime Operations

CIMSEC – As the 21st century’s strategic environment becomes increasingly complex with peer competitors, the enemy’s advanced anti-access/area-denial capabilities, and the proliferation of long-range precision fires, the Navy and Marine Corps must embark on a new phase of naval integration. The CNO, in conjunction with the CMC, should provide guidance on how to enhance maritime lethality to transcend the traditional ARG/MEU construct, thereby forging an integrated naval force capable of securing contested littorals and responding to emergent threats. 

Coast Guard ‘naming and shaming’ amid spike in Chinese activity near Alaska

Breaking Defense – Multiple officials, including the head of US Northern Command, told Breaking Defense China’s activities in and around American waters have increased this past year, the latest development in a broader pattern that started in 2021. But the subsequent public responses and objections by the Coast Guard is new, a trend that analysts said is designed to deter Chinese activity that close to the US.

Start Building Small Warships

CIMSEC – Small warships have a long history in the U.S. Navy and are poised to offer an evolutionary leap in capability. Small, highly automated, lightly crewed, blue-water warships will help offset the capabilities of competing fleets and ensure enduring maritime superiority for the U.S. Navy. It is time to build a prototype of the Lightly Manned Automated Combat Capability ship and its flotilla of innovations.

Flood the Zone: III Marine Expeditionary Force’s Mobility Mandate

War on the Rocks – In the Indo-Pacific, the first to arrive may not just win — their very arrival may prevent the fight. Without reliable mobility, III Marine Expeditionary Force risks becoming the most forward-postured but strategically stranded force in the joint arsenal. The task ahead is clear: fund the platforms, train the crews, and flood the zone before deterrence fails.

To Win the Fight We Must First Win the Mind: Create NDP-1.1 Naval Warfighting

CIMSEC – The central challenge of modern naval warfare is grappling with profound decision-making under uncertainty. Our current doctrine, NDP-1 Naval Warfare, is an essential description of our forces, but it is insufficient as a guide for thinking through the friction, fluidity, and ambiguity inherent in conflict. To truly equip our Sailors to fight and win for tomorrow, the CNO should supplement this document with a doctrine focused on the cognitive art of warfighting. The solution is to champion a new, companion publication – NDP-1.1 Naval Warfighting.

BAE Systems’ large uncrewed warship proposal

Navy Lookout – As part of the Royal Navy’s Future Air Dominance System (FADS) concept, BAE Systems has proposed low-cost, rapidly-built uncrewed/ minimally crewed vessels to supplement the Type 83 destroyer. Drawing on the legacy of the Triton trimaran demonstrator built for the RN in 2000, the proposed Sensor-Effector Platforms (SEP), could form a key element of the disaggregated air defence architecture.

The Indian Ocean an Opportunity to Strengthen Alliances and Deter China

CIMSEC – The U.S. Navy and its Pacific allies can promote cooperation with European navies in Indo-Pacific theater. It can mark a catalyst that mobilizes and focuses Western resources while improving burden sharing. This initiative will strengthen our friendship and naval cooperation, and will represent a key factor in strengthening deterrence.

CMSI Translations #23: The Elusive “Deep-Sea Beast”: Analysis of the Performance of the Main Equipment of the U.S. Navy Virginia-Class Nuclear Attack Submarine

China Maritime Studies Institute – In the vast expanse of the blue ocean, the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine, with its exceptional performance and advanced technology, has become the backbone of the U.S. Navy’s undersea force in the 21st century. As one of America’s most modern nuclear attack submarines, the Virginia-class leads the global development of nuclear submarine technology with its multifunctional and multi-purpose design, exceptional stealth, and powerful combat capabilities.

Anchor Acquisition and Force Development on Targeting China’s C4ISR

CIMSEC – The key to China succeeding is maintaining their anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) approach intended to keep adversary forces out of the first island chain. U.S. Navy operational concepts must make an explicit priority of targeting the C4ISR architecture that fundamentally enables China’s A2/AD approach and have it serve as a core organizing principle for Navy acquisition and force development.