– War on the Rocks – Since reading the commandant’s Force Design report, we, too, have reflected on what the changes will mean for the Marine Corps — and by extension, the Department of the Navy, the joint force, our allies, partners, and most importantly, the American people. Regular War on the Rocks readers likely know that our writing team has, at times, been critical of the Corps’ decisions. In this case, however, we, like T.X. Hammes, are encouraged about the potential future that awaits our naval service.
Marine F/A-18 Hornets Fly Armed With Live Harpoon Anti-Ship Missiles In Japan
– War Zone – The exercise sent a clear signal that Marine Hornets are ready to reach out and counter hostile maritime activities.
The US Navy selects Fincantieri design for next-generation frigate
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s newest surface combatant has Italian heritage. In a major win for Wisconsin’s Marinette Marine shipyard, the Navy selected Fincantieri’s so-called FREMM design, an acronym that stands for “European multi-purpose frigate,” in its original Italian.
Damn! Torpedoes!
– USNI Proceedings – The Navy is starting to pay attention to offensive mine warfare again.
Looking beyond the coronavirus, military powers jostle for dominance in Indo-Pacific region
– South China Morning Post – As the Covid-19 global health crisis continues to rage around the world, infecting more than 3 million people and causing more than 210,000 deaths, military manoeuvres are being analysed to see if the pandemic has changed the balance of force in the region.
Japan is working on a hypersonic anti-ship missile that may be a threat to Chinese navy activities
– South China Morning Post – Japan is developing a hypersonic anti-ship missile, a weapon that can cruise at high altitudes and could pose a threat to Chinese aircraft carriers in the East China Sea.
Chinese navy puts two new nuclear submarines into service
– South China Morning Post – Chinese navy puts two new nuclear submarines into service.
PLA expels trespassing US warship from Xisha Islands, urges it to fight COVID-19 at home
– Global Times – The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Tuesday expelled a US warship that trespassed into Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea as the US’ move could have easily caused an accident, a Chinese military spokesperson said on Tuesday, who also urged the US side to focus on COVID-19 prevention and control at home rather than destabilizing regional security and peace.
China expands Marine Corps’ aerial assault capabilities following Type 075 ship launch
– Global Times – In addition to intensive training, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy is boosting the aerial assault capabilities of its Marine Corps by systematically expanding it with combat-proven former Army units, a timely move to ready personnel in advance to maximize the power of the two recently launched Type 075 amphibious assault ships.
China sends new naval fleet for escort mission
– China Daily – The 35th fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Tuesday left the port city of Zhoushan in East China’s Zhejiang province for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia to escort civilian ships.
Human Intelligence: The Missing Piece to Comprehensive Maritime Domain Awareness
– CIMSEC – To effectively govern the maritime space, states need an accurate picture of what is happening and where in order to establish normal “patterns of life” at sea. With this picture, states can identify suspicious activity and task assets to respond. This ability to collect, analyze, share, and respond to information in the maritime realm is often called maritime domain awareness (MDA).
U.S. Marines Launch Amphibious And Air Assaults On Saudi Islands In The Persian Gulf
– War Zone – The training exercises come amid a new spike in hostility with Iran, which uses its own nearby islands to stage various naval operations.
Navy Readies To Buy New Frigates As Industrial Base Wobbles
– Breaking Defense – The Navy has decided to split the frigate class, recompeting the program after the first 10 ships are under contract, leading to a new award and another bite at the apple for the bidders who lost out the first time around.
The Rest of the Story: Evaluating the US Marine Corps Force Design 2030
– War on the Rocks – While the world is worried about pandemics, trade, and migration, U.S. defense leaders remain laser focused on treating China as the new pacing threat. Each service has marched in step to the 2018 National Defense Strategy and linked their force modernization to great power competition. The focus of the Marine Corps Commandant’s Planning Guidance and new force design report illustrate this trend. Are the concepts and formations called for in these documents flexible enough to respond to other, more likely conflicts?
Dynamic. Distributed. Deadly.
– USNI Proceedings – The Harry S. Truman Strike Group’s April 2018 deployment offers a host of lessons for the Navy as the service renewed the concept of dynamic force employment with today’s fleet.
How China Sees the World
– The Atlantic – And how we should see China according to H.R. McMaster.
The Pentagon will have to live with limits on F-35’s supersonic flights
– Defense News – An issue that risks damage to the F-35’s tail section if the aircraft needs to maintain supersonic speeds is not worth fixing and will instead be addressed by changing the operating parameters. The deficiency means that at extremely high altitudes, the U.S. Navy’s and Marine Corps’ versions of the F-35 jet can only fly at supersonic speeds for short bursts of time before there is a risk of structural damage and loss of stealth capability. The problem may make it impossible for the Navy’s F-35C to conduct supersonic intercepts.
Destroyer USS Zumwalt Delivers to Navy After Combat System Activation
– USNI News – USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) was delivered to the fleet after completing its combat system activation and subsequent at-sea trials.
COVID-19 and British Nuclear Deterrence
– War on the Rocks – In early April, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson nearly died. Suffering from COVID-19, Johnson spent three nights in the intensive care unit before eventually recovering and being discharged. Without the expert and round-the-clock attention of his medical team, the prime minister later admitted, he may not have survived. Johnson’s stint in an intensive care unit raised a sensitive question related to British national security — with the prime minister incapacitated, who was authorized, if required, to launch the country’s nuclear weapons?
Battle For The Arctic: Russia Plans Nuke Icebreaker, US Counters China In Greenland
– Breaking Defense – Two Russian companies announced an agreement today to build the world’s most powerful nuclear icebreaker, the first step in a bold new Arctic strategy Moscow hopes will bring riches and drive open lucrative new shipping routes.
French Navy Receives Third Upgraded ATL2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft
– Naval News – The third Atlantique 2 (ATL2) maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) upgraded by Dassault Aviation, Thales and Naval Group was delivered by DGA to the French Navy at the Lann-Bihoué naval air base.
Mission Capable: How More Ready Jets Is Helping the Navy Create Deadlier Pilots
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy’s improvement in pilot performance comes as a direct result of a push in 2018 to get more jets to a better state of material readiness.
Mission Capable: How the Navy Harnessed Its Data to Achieve 80% Fighter Readiness
– USNI News – By embracing data and developing the Naval Sustainment System and Performance to Plan frameworks for aviation readiness, the Navy had 340 more aircraft flying in March 2020 compared to March 2019, including 90 more Super Hornets.
To Prepare For a Crisis, Read Fiction
– War on the Rocks – …As policymakers make hurried judgments with vast, life-altering consequences, they draw on a stock of intellectual capital assembled over decades. Every discipline — psychology, economics, biology, history — examines the world through a particular prism. Yet only fiction invites us inside the minds of others, transports us across time and place, and produces in us a kind of experience we could otherwise never attain. By enmeshing us in its characters and stories, reading fiction helps policymakers better understand the human condition, and more ably fashion responses to it.
Pentagon Leaders Say Trump Tweet on Iranian Attack Boats Was ‘Important Warning’
– USNI News – The Navy’s existing policy for dealing with the small Iranian vessels prevalent in the Persian Gulf matches the sentiment of a Wednesday morning Tweet from President Donald Trump.
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