– Global Times – Japanese media on Tuesday claimed in a report that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will hold military drills for a “takeover of Dongsha Islands occupied by Taiwan” in August, resulting in heated discussions on the island of Taiwan. While the Taiwan defense authority claimed they could secure the Dongsha Islands, experts in Taiwan speculate the PLA is aiming to open a passage for aircraft carriers into the Pacific Ocean and prepare for the establishment of an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea.
Former boss of China aircraft carrier programme in corruption probe
– South China Morning Post – The head of China’s aircraft carrier programme is being investigated by the nation’s anti-corruption watchdog – months after the company was hit by a scandal over the leaking of confidential information.
Navy Scraps Big Carrier Study, Clears Deck For OSD Effort
– Breaking Defense – Acting Navy Secretary James McPherson has scuttled a major initiative of his ousted predecessor, canceling a planned 6-month study on the future of the aircraft carrier, relying instead on a DoD-led effort to determine the size and structure of the future fleet.
Modest Proposals: Solutions for the Surface Navy in the Absence of a Robust Industrial Base
– USNI Blog – In a conflict with China, the United States will be pressed for time, personnel, and especially ships. U.S. industrial capacity struggles to produce a 355-ship Navy even in peacetime. In a hot war where the Navy is contested on the high seas, losses will be taken. New ships will need be needed to fill the gaps left by bloody battles of attrition. If the industrial base has difficulty meeting the needs of a peacetime Navy, one can only speculate that the strain after the opening salvos of a conflict. Between 1975 and 2000, the U.S. shipbuilding industry declined from 80 ships a year to just eight. The lack of industrial surge capacity shows a serious weakness in U.S. military capability, especially for the Navy.
To Compete With Russia and China at Sea, Think Small
– Defense One – Great power competition requires more than preparing for great power conflict.
A new ‘Marine Littoral Regiment’ specializing in ship-to-shore capabilities is coming to Hawaii
– Stars and Stripes – A new “Marine Littoral Regiment” coming to Hawaii — the first of its kind in the Marine Corps — represents a major shift for the service in the “great power” competition playing out in the Western Pacific and preparation for a high-tech missile war in the region.
Navy MQ-4 Triton Flying Operational Missions From Guam
– USNI News – Almost three months after arriving in Guam, a pair of MQ-4C Triton autonomous, unmanned aircraft have integrated into fleet operations and training flights and stretched the Navy’s maritime domain awareness across the Indo-Pacific.
The Russian autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicle Vityaz reaches the bottom of the Mariana Trench
– BMPD – The Russian Advanced Research Foundation said that on May 8, 2020, at 22 hours 34 minutes Moscow time, the Russian autonomous uninhabited underwater vehicle Vityaz plunged to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The Vityaz sensors recorded a depth of 10,028 meters. During this dive, a pennant was delivered to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. (In Russian)
(Thanks to Alain)
Pakistan’s Mystery Submarine
– Indian Defence Review – An article that appeared last month in foreign media talked of a new mystery submarine in Pakistan which presumably meant for marines of the Special Services Group – SSG (N).
(Thanks to Alain)
The US Navy returns to an increasingly militarized Arctic
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s Barents Sea patrol is the latest sojourn into an increasingly militarized Arctic, where questions of international law are proliferating.
Failure to communicate: US Navy seeks faster data transfers amid Arctic ice
– Defense News – Research in the Arctic Ocean is no small feat. The area can prove inaccessible at times, and sensors can fail to communicate data from under the ice or get crushed by slabs of ice.
U.S. Navy Maintains Operations In Western Pacific as Other Navies Slow Down
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy is continuing to run missions to ensure freedom of navigation and show presence in the Western Pacific while other militaries are scaling back their operations amid COVID-19 concerns.
South Korea’s Mid-Term Defense Procurement Plan Largely Unaffected By COVID-19 Crisis
– Naval News – Despite the COVID-19 crisis, South Korea’s defense budget remains mostly unaffected. Budget reductions in the “2020-2024 mid-term defense acquisition plan” will be limited to programs deemed as “non essential” and to a limited number of foreign procurement programs.
Blurred Lines: Gray-Zone Conflict and Hybrid War—Two Failures of American Strategic Thinking
– US Naval War College Review – The terms in question and the concepts arising from them cause more harm than good, contributing to a dangerous distortion of the concepts of war, peace, and geopolitical competition, with a negative impact on U.S. and allied security strategy.
Naval Intelligence Must Relearn Its Own Navy
– USNI Proceedings – To best support their warfighting customers, naval intelligence professionals must know the threat and U.S. combat capabilities.
Get Your First Look At The Navy’s Block III F/A-18 Super Hornet Test Jet
– War Zone – Boeing has released a video of the rollout of the first of two Block III F/A-18F Super Hornet test jets for the U.S. Navy. The service plans to use these aircraft, which do not feature the full set of upgrades, for various flight tests and to explore new concepts of operation ahead of the delivery of jets with the complete Block III package, which is set to begin later this year.
Russia to float out new sub to carry Poseidon nuke drone in late June
– Tass – The second submarine to serve as a basic carrier of Russia’s Poseidon nuclear-capable underwater drones will be floated out approximately in late June.
(Thanks to Alain)
US Ships Aid Malaysia As China Tries ‘Bullying’ In South China Sea
– Breaking Defense – A mix of US ships have probed waters illegally claimed by China in the South China Sea in recent weeks, as the PLA Navy continues to harass civilian ships of neighboring countries.
American flags in the Barents Sea is “the new normal,” says defence analyst
– Barents Observer – The US and UK naval group leaves the Barents Sea Friday evening after five days in waters where Russia’s Northern Fleet normally exercises. The voyage marks a new age with U.S. Navy surface warships sailing in the north.
Hospital Ship Mercy No Longer Treating Patients, Remains in L.A. for COVID-19 Support
– USNI News – Six weeks after arriving in Los Angeles to help regional hospitals cope with the COVID-19 outbreak, hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) discharged its final patient on Tuesday, five days after it stopped receiving patients.
France Deploys Two Frigates As It Joins Operation IRINI To Enforce Libya Arms Embargo
– Naval News – France is joining the European Union’s EUNAVFOR MED IRINI operation in the Mediterranean Sea.
FREMM Selection Signals U.S. Engagement
– National Review – Jerry Hendrix writes that the U.S. Navy’s decision last week on a new frigate design for domestic production undercuts the argument that the United States is withdrawing from the world.
Navy Wants Robot Boats But Will Still Need Sailors To Fix Them
– Breaking Defense – The Navy just isn’t equipped to deploy or sustain a new fleet of unmanned vessels yet.
Here’s the DARPA project it says could pull the Navy a decade forward in unmanned technology
– C4ISRNet – A project inside the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has the potential to pull the Navy’s unmanned surface vessel aspirations forward a decade.
Russia Builds Up Mediterranean Naval Force
– Naval News – The Russian Navy is reinforcing its naval group in the Mediterranean Sea. Two new submarines with Kalibr cruise missiles joined it. Other warships are to arrive. The Mediterranean group is reinforced on the background of the escalating civil war in Libya and the tanker war in the Gulf.
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