– National Review – Jerry Hendrix writes that a strategic design update is due for US aircraft carriers.
With challenges aplenty, Europe’s navies are coming to grips with high-end warfare
– Defense News – The former head of the U.S. Navy said in June testimony that as the service grapples with establishing the right type of force, it must account for the degraded capabilities of its allies, hinting at the once substantial Cold War-era European navies.
The Tamil Sea Tigers: Exploiting the Maritime Domain
– Stable Seas – Despite being geographically isolated and faced with conventionally stronger Sri Lankan government forces, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were able to maintain a high-intensity insurgency for decades. In the face of these challenges, what allowed the LTTE to continue conducting sophisticated operations? One significant factor was their exploitation of the maritime domain.
Foreign sub, likely Chinese, seen in Japan’s contiguous zone
– Asahi Shimbun – A submarine of foreign origin, presumed to belong to the Chinese Navy, was spotted passing through the contiguous zone off the coast of Amami-Oshima island in southern Japan.
Known Enemies
– NATO Innovation Hub – This FICINT short story is part of August Cole’s contribution to the NATO Operations 2040 study by the NATO Innovation Hub.
Japan’s Aegis Ashore: A Tale Of Two SPYs
– Naval News – The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced this week its intention to halt deployment of the Aegis Ashore missile defense system citing difficulties in ensuring that rocket boosters from the interceptors do not fall in populated areas. The real reason may actually have to do with the radar system, namely SPY-6 and SPY-7.
China Commissioned Its Ninth Type 056 Corvette So Far In 2020
– Naval News – In total, nine Type 056 corvettes have joined the People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) since the beginning of 2020. The “Jingdezhen” (617) was admitted to active service in the PLAN East Sea Fleet and assigned to the 16th fleet based in Xiamen.
TR Investigation Fallout: Crozier Won’t be Reinstated, Strike Group CO Promotion Delayed
– USNI News – Capt. Brett Crozier, who commanded USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) until April, will not be reinstated to lead the ship, will not be eligible for future command and faces additional administrative punishment that will be overseen by U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. John Aquilino.
The Pentagon wants to forge ahead with robot warships, but Congress wants to slow the train
– Defense News – In the latest sign of Congressional ambivalence on unmanned surface warships, the House Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee called for restricting funding for procurement of any large unmanned surface vessels – LUSVs – until he Navy can certify it has worked out an appropriate hull, mechanical and electrical system and that it can operate autonomously for 30 days consecutively.
Discards
– Modern War Institute – a FICINT short story by August Cole.
Lack of Future Fleet Plans, Public Strategy Hurting Navy’s Bottom Line in Upcoming Defense Bills
– USNI News – Frustrations are mounting in Congress over the limited insight lawmakers and the public have into the Navy’s future fleet, and the service now faces fiscal consequences in upcoming defense bills.
Marines Considering Adding Land-Based Hypersonic Weapons to Arsenal
– USNI News – The Marine Corps is in talks with the Pentagon’s research and development community over how a land-based hypersonic weapon could be incorporated into the smallest service’s quick-maneuver concept.
Blue Books For the Green Side: A Reading List on Naval Integration
– CIMSEC – We have assembled a short reading list focused along the theme of naval integration…
In War, Chinese Shipyards Could Outpace US in Replacing Losses; Marine Commandant
– Breaking Defense – “Replacing ships lost in combat will be problematic,” Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger writes in a forthcoming paper. “Our industrial base has shrunk while peer adversaries have expanded their shipbuilding capacity. In an extended conflict, the United States will be on the losing end of a production race.”
Why is Turkey the key to unlocking a NATO-EU naval operation?
– Defense News – Turkey is hindering European Union attempts to secure NATO’s help with a maritime arms embargo on conflict-torn Libya, according to diplomats and officials in Brussels.
Exploring China’s Unmanned Ocean Network
– Center for Strategic and International Studies – China has deployed a network of sensors and communications capabilities between Hainan Island and the Paracel Islands in the northern South China Sea. These capabilities are part of a “Blue Ocean Information Network” (蓝海信息网络) developed by China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), a state-owned company, to aid in the exploration and control of the maritime environment using information technology. The network constructed in the northern South China Sea between early 2016 and 2019 is referred to as a demonstration system. However, future plans for the Blue Ocean Information Network involve expanding the sensor and communications network to the rest of the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and other ocean areas far from Chinese territory. While the Blue Ocean Information Network is largely cast as an environmental monitoring and communications system, the military utility of its sensing and communications functions makes its development important to monitor.
Nukes, Nubs And Coners: The Unique Social Hierarchy Aboard A Nuclear Submarine
– War Zone – Getting assigned to your first sub doesn’t make you a submariner and once you become one you’ll find yourself in a social structure unlike any other.
Nuclear submarine missile cruiser “Prince Vladimir” commissioned by the Russian Navy
– BMPD – On June 12, 2020, in Severodvinsk, the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise Production Association JSC (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC – USC) hosted the ceremony of hoisting the Russian Navy’s flag on the strategic nuclear-powered submarine missile cruiser K-549 “ Prince Vladimir ” project 09552 (955A; code” Borey-A “).(In Russian)
(Thanks to Alain)
Italy considering sale of two FREMM frigates to Egypt
– Defence Web – Italy is considering the sale of two FREMM frigates to Egypt.
(Thanks to Alain)
Why Yemen Matters
– CIMSEC – While it is not practical, nor advisable, for the United States to commit blood and treasure to unilaterally resolve Yemen’s civil war, the instability that spills over Yemen’s borders threatens American interests.
Japan Backing Away From Aegis Ashore
– USNI News – Japan is backing away from installing two Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems in the country over technical concerns.
U.S. Navy SSBN USS Maryland Conducts Full At-Sea Crew Exchange
– Naval News – Last week, the U.S. Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) USS Maryland conducted a full at-sea crew exchange to prevent sailors from possible COVID-19 exposure. At-sea crew transfer is quite unusual. Transfer of the entire crew of a submarine is even more exceptional.
100,000 Tons of Inertia
– USNI Proceedings – If the day ever comes when the Navy decides it should stop building aircraft carriers, will it be able to?
The Geopolitics of Alaska
– National Interest – James Holmes writes that Alaska is much in the news during this incipient age of great-power strategic competition. Almost daily, it seems, U.S. Air Force fighter jets scramble to intercept lumbering Russian bombers approaching North American airspace to the extreme northwest. That means our thinking about Alaska needs to change.
Angry Trident
– Atlantic Council – What if Norway was under threat from a dynamic and unconventional Russian incursion designed to redraw the borders on NATO’s northern flank? FICINT by August Cole.
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