– Radio Free Europe – The Sea of Azov, a rich fishing ground in Soviet times that has been of great strategic importance to independent Ukraine, has emerged after months of growing friction as the latest flash point in the four-year conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.
Tradewinds 2018 and the Caribbean’s Maritime Security Challenges
– CIMSEC – The first two phases of the multinational, Caribbean-focused military exercise Tradewinds 2018 took place between 4-21 June. Said maneuvers, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), brought together an estimated 1,700 troops from almost two dozen nations. Given the ongoing maritime security challenges that the Greater Caribbean continues to face, these confidence and interoperability-building exercises continue to be very important.
War Without End
– New York Times Magazine – C.J. Chivers writes that the Pentagon’s failed campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan left a generation of soldiers with little to fight for but one another.
US sub hunters to operate from RAF station in Scotland
– BBC – US submarine hunting aircraft are to operate out of RAF Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth.
The Role of the Human Operator in the Third Offset Strategy
– US Naval War College Review – New gadgets are useful, but our personnel are the most critical component to continued operational success. The Third Offset Strategy provides a near-unique opportunity to leap forward in optimizing human performance. We must establish priorities, tangible deliverables, and a timeline.
Producing Unmanned Systems Even Lawyers Can Love
– USNI Proceedings – Advances in artificial intelligence, coupled with popular movies such as Ex Machina where robots turn on their humans, have exacerbated concerns the military might lose control of armed autonomous systems. Augmented intelligence may be the answer.
Lifting the Fog of Targeting: “Autonomous Weapons” and Human Control through the Lens of Military Targeting
– US Naval War College Review – Military targeting practices should be the core of any analysis that seeks a better understanding both of the concept of meaningful human control within a context of increasingly autonomous weapons, and of what human-machine relationship we require.
Be Aces For All Seasons
– USNI Proceedings – In October 2016, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Navy gave the public a glimpse into the future of aerial combat in the skies above Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
Into the Abyss?: European Naval Power in the Post–Cold War Era
– US Naval War College Review – A survey of how Europe’s naval forces have evolved since the end of the Cold War amid a complex and threatening security environment. More than two decades of fiscal austerity have jeopardized Europe’s ability both to ensure good order at sea and to provide credible deterrence, and have limited its ability to promote common interests and shape events abroad.
When China and Japan Went to War
– National Interest – Even as Western strategists spill gobs of ink recalling the Great War that convulsed Europe a century ago, Chinese military thinkers are actually fixated on another anniversary. 120 years ago, Japan shocked the world with a lightning campaign that not only reduced the faltering Qing dynasty to its knees in a matter of months, but more to the point: put the pride of China’s then ascendant fleet on the bottom of the Yellow Sea.
Visualize Chinese Sea Power
– USNI Proceedings – As China has built its naval power, it has relied on a variety of ideas—old and new, Eastern and Western. For U.S. military leaders seeking to understand China’s naval aspirations, certain images can bring the strategy into focus—like the crumple zones built into a modern automobile, designed to give but not fail.
Japan’s Defense Readiness: Prospects and Issues in Operationalizing Air and Maritime Supremacy
– US Naval War College Review – Facing a fluid regional security environment and the need to strengthen its alliance role, Japan has worked to increase the capabilities of the Japan Self-Defense Forces by adjusting the relevant bureaucratic, political, and operational frameworks and making key investments in new force structures.
Maritime Innovation
– CHIPS – A discussion with NPS faculty and students from Captain Wayne Hughes.
The Baltic, Poland, and President Trump’s Warsaw Declaration
– US Naval War College Review – There may be no greater potential flash point in Europe today than the Baltic Sea region (BSR). The convergence of the Kaliningrad outpost; the riparian powers, neutrals, NATO allies, and Russia; and economics and military force in general makes for an explosive brew that may merely simmer—or may boil over and ignite a larger conflict. While much of the debate focuses on the Baltic littorals and hinterlands, it is the Baltic Sea itself that sits, physically and strategically, at the center of the issue. It is critical for naval policy makers and scholars today to understand the history of the BSR.
Mission Command and Zero Error Tolerance Cannot Coexist
– USNI Proceedings – To enable true mission command, the Navy must dismantle its zero-defect mentality. It is doubtful World War II heroes Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, and Raymond Spruance would reach even the rank of captain today.
“Sea of Peace” or Sea of War—Russian Maritime Hybrid Warfare in the Baltic Sea
– US Naval War College Review – Russian destabilization efforts aimed at the Baltic States are most likely to come from the Baltic Sea; be maritime, nonlethal, and nonnaval; and use political, diplomatic, informational, psychological, and economic tools, and perhaps paramilitary forces.
The Other Mine Warfare Will Work
– USNI Proceedings – The Navy has a blind spot about offensive mining, but technological advances and a new concept of operations could make it a game changer.
China Is Studying Russia’s Robot Submarines—and Is Building One of Their Own
– National Interest – Chinese naval strategists have watched the development of Russia’s Status-6 large-scale UUV with considerable interest.
Underway—Beijing’s Strategy to Build China into a Maritime Great Power
– US Naval War College Review – In its official documents, China has defined what it means by the term maritime great power and has laid out how it intends to achieve that status, becoming the world’s “main maritime power” by 2049.
Peace Through Strength: What It Really Means
– USNI News – In 1970 in the Mediterranean, the USS Independence (CVA-62) and the Soviet destroyer shadowing her activated their fire-control radars and locked onto each other. The author, a young ensign at the time, recalls his disappointment when the tensions came to naught but concludes the strength of Sixth Fleet kept the Soviets from pushing too far.
Mission Command in a Future Naval Combat Environment
– US Naval War College Review – Naval officers must understand the considerations required to exert effective mission command as operations devolve into forms characterized by lesser degrees of structure and control.
The Carrier’s Role is Narrowing
– USNI Proceedings – Long the centerpiece of the U.S. Navy, the aircraft carrier will become a more focused player.
Japan’s New Super-Sized Destroyer Will Help Defend Against Ballistic Missiles And More
– War Zone – The pair of ships could shoot down North Korea missiles, as well as challenge Chinese claims and aid Japan in projecting power beyond its shores.
A Maritime Oil Blockade Against China—Tactically Tempting but Strategically Flawed
– US Naval War College Review – The political, economic, and financial aspects of sustaining an oil blockade against China mean that even a militarily successful blockader could find its political, economic, and diplomatic position untenable well before a blockade could exert its full effects.
20,000 Drones Under the Sea
– USNI Proceedings – More than century ago, Jules Verne envisioned what an individual might do if able to operate uncontested in the underwater domain. Captain Nemo, the iconic antihero in Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , harnessed his wealth and engineering genius to build the ultimate disruptive machine of his time, the submarine Nautilus . Today, the undersea domain is an active arena of competition, but nonstate actors do not play a significant role. That almost certainly will change in the next decade, and the United States is not prepared for the threat this new reality will present.
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