– Washington Post – Robert D. Kaplan says that there is a direct contradiction between Trump’s aggressive economic nationalism and his administration’s commitment to defend the South China Sea. The South China Sea is not the United States’ home waters; it is China’s. Geography still matters. And because the United States is so far away, its only hope is to offer an uplifting regional vision that anchors its military one.
The Navy’s Terrible Accident Record Is Now Hidden From Public View
– The Atlantic – The latest incidence of a government agency quietly removing data from its website demonstrates the dangers of an ever-changing internet.
U.S., NATO Naval Forces Pushing Back Against Russian Harassment
– USNI News – U.S. and NATO ships are focused on conducting freedom of navigation operations in Europe to push back against a Russia that is increasingly harassing commercial shipping and introducing new anti-access weapons into the theater.
Drones in Africa: A Leap Ahead for Maritime Security
– CIMSEC – The leap-ahead capabilities that unmanned surveillance aircraft could provide to coastal security around Africa are clearly evident. African navies with adequate resources should make acquisition of unmanned air systems a priority. Likewise, western foreign military assistance programs should focus on providing contracted or organic unmanned aircraft capabilities.
Japan’s women sailors serve on frontline of gender equality
– Reuters – Women serving on Japan’s biggest warship, the Kaga, are a tight-knit group on the frontline of a push to transform the Japanese navy into a mixed-gender fighting force, where men outnumber them more than 10 to one.
How the Fleet Forgot to Fight, Part 4: Technical Standards
– CIMSEC – Combat systems are rapidly evolving in the Information Age and are frequently upgraded through new software updates. This adds to the challenging of maintaining current skills and can require a force to regularly retrain its people. However, warfighting culture characterized by scripted training can mask a decline in technical competence. Such a decline can be seen in how standards fell for some of the most important tools that help the Navy guard against tactical surprise.
The US Army is preparing to fight in Europe, but can it even get there?
– Defense News – With Russia’s reemergence as a menace in Europe, the U.S. Army has been laying the foundations to fight once again on the continent it defended through most of the 20th century. But if war were to break out tomorrow, the U.S. military could be hard-pressed to move the number of tanks, heavy guns and equipment needed to face off with Russian forces. And even if the Army could get there in numbers, then the real problems would start: how would the U.S. sustain them?
Readiness Of Navy And Marine Aircraft And Crews Is Improving, But It’s Still Pretty Dismal
– War Zone – After enduring years of sequester and dubious funding priorities, Navy and USMC flying communities are slowly digging out of a deep, dark hole.
Train For Maritime Cyber Warfare
– USNI News – Continual improvements in computer technology, specifically decryption (“hacking”) software, has invoked a new threat that requires the Coast Guard to add maritime cyber security to its mission set considering 90 percent of the goods used by Americans are transported by sea.
The New York Naval Militia in Operation Sandy
– CIMSEC – New York is unique in continuously maintaining its federally recognized Naval Militia. Title 10 USC does not include the Naval Militia as a reserve component but does authorize the Secretary of the Navy to set standards that the Naval Militia must meet, including the requirement that 95 percent of unit members be U.S. Navy (USN) or U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) reservists, to qualify for federal material support.
This Is China’s Way of Warmaking
– National Interest – Beijing’s military wants to sow paralysis in an enemy system-of-systems for long enough to accomplish its goals—that way it will not need to bother trying to annihilate its adversary.
US Navy proposing major show of force to warn China
– CNN – The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet has drawn up a classified proposal to carry out a global show of force as a warning to China and to demonstrate the US is prepared to deter and counter their military actions.
It Takes More Than Sex Appeal to Beat China in a War
– National Interest – Mariners must disentangle the passions they feel toward their platforms from cool calculation if they hope to design fleets fit to execute strategy.
Aussies At Impasse With France Over New Sub; Japan May Win
– Breaking Defense – France and Australia must resolve major differences over the Aussie’ new submarine program before a new Australian government is elected next year, and the most obvious alternative is Japan.
Adm. Foggo Warns of Russian Submarines Challenging U.S. Defenses
– USNI News – The head of naval forces in Europe warned that Russia is preparing an underwater battlespace in the Northern Atlantic and that U.S. naval presence is more important now than any time since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Geopolitical Gerrymandering and the Importance of Key Maritime Terrain
– War on the Rocks – Projections of naval power must overlay what has been termed “key maritime terrain,” an extension of the traditional maritime concept of chokepoints, to be successful. Key maritime terrain is any maritime area whose seizure, retention, or control enables influence over the traffic, flow, or maneuver of military, commercial, illicit, and civilian vessels, communication networks, and resources.
Marine Warbot Companies Are a Right of Boom Solutions for a Left of Boom World
– War on the Rocks – The Warbots concept is certainly creative, but it is a right of boom solution for a left of boom world, and consequently risks ceding strategic ground.
Collision Course in the South China Sea?
– Royal United Services Institute – The United States and Chinese navies have just narrowly avoided a dangerous collision. This was not an accident but an escalation, a show of force on the part of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to drive out the US Navy from what China considers its territorial waters in the South China Sea.
China’s Atypical Response To US Navy FONOPS May Be a Message to Trump Administration
– USNI News – China ratcheted up its response to U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operation over the weekend, sending a Luyang-class destroyer on a near-collision-course with USS Decatur (DDG-73), but the reasoning behind the move is likely more nuanced than defending territory.
Hope on the Horizon: Taiwan’s Radical New Defense Concept
– War on the Rocks – Last year, Taiwan’s Chief of the General Staff, Adm. Lee Hsi-ming quietly proposed a revolutionary new approach to Taiwan’s defense, called the Overall Defense Concept. This new concept, if effectively implemented, could turn the tables and give Taiwan a fighting chance of preventing China from being able to take it by force.
Expanded Marine rotational force deploys to Norway
– UPI – About 700 Marines have deployed to Norway, the first deployment of a larger Marine Corps presence in the country following a request earlier this year.
Russian buildup worries Norway before big NATO military exercise
– Reuters – On the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, the sun does not rise for four months of the year and it is so cold that no trees grow there. But Norway, which has sovereignty over Svalbard, fears tensions between Russia and the West could spill over to this frozen and barren outpost because of growing interest in the Arctic’s valuable oil, gas and shipping routes.
War Studies Primer
– Visit the War Studies Primer for an introductory course on the study of war.
Look at slides 2 and 3 in the War Studies Primer for its Table of Contents, and then choose a lecture to read and enjoy.
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How the Fleet Forgot to Fight Part 3: Tactics and Doctrine
– CIMSEC – The force structure of competitors is far more wholesomely armed with anti-ship weapons, but the carrier-centric U.S. Navy chose to confront these threats with offensive missile firepower coming from a sole, central source. This echoes a now familiar theme. By forcing the air wing to take on so many kinds of missions – scouting, counterscouting, outer air battle, defeating sea-skimming threats, and attacking ships – the U.S. Navy inflicted distributed lethality against itself.
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