– The Telegraph – The US has linked India’s ability to detect Chinese submarines in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea to the signing of an agreement that will permit sensors and equipment on US planes to talk and share data with those on Indian warships and planes.
Flashman, the foreign correspondent’s role model
– The Economist – Victorian England’s foremost rotter would have made a great journalist.
Science Fiction Futures
– Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory – A collection of science fiction stories written by Marines and other service members from an Art of the Future Project and Marine Corps Warfighting Lab workshop.
Underbelly
– US Military Academy Modern War Institute – This short story by August Cole explores what war in Europe against an increasingly aggressive Russia might look like with a dramatically reduced US commitment to NATO.
Art of Future Warfare Project
I am a big fan of the Art of Future Warfare Project, whose work I have linked to in the past. The project advocates the use of fiction / science fiction to explore potential futures in warfare. Here is a list of naval fiction short stories from their most recent contest, which I highly recommend for use in helping one visualize what the future of naval warfare will be like. I will also be linking to 2 of their newest works in the next few days. Enjoy!
Now Hear This – Another Course Change for LCS
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The Navy has scrapped “3-2-1” crew manning of the Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) in favor of a Blue-Gold crew concept. It also will permanently assign mission modules to hulls and dedicate four hulls to research and development (R&D). These changes resulted from a program review initiated by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson that coincidently was announced shortly after the third and fourth LCSs suffered catastrophic engineering casualties.
The Development of Vietnam’s Sea-Denial Strategy
– US Naval War College Review – This article examines Vietnam’s geostrategic circumstances to understand better its choice of a sea-denial strategy. Hanoi’s current achievements in building its sea-denial capability, as well as the characteristics and limitations of that capability, are reviewed. Finally, as the United States and its allies vis-à-vis China increase their military presence in the South China Sea, the article discusses the effects of Vietnam’s sea-denial strategy and the country’s relevant military capabilities on the geostrategic situation.
Navy Will Get Supercarrier USS Ford In April – Finally
– Breaking Defense – The long-delayed super-carrier USS Ford is “99 percent” complete and will be delivered to the Navy in April, the Navy announced late Wednesday. A date for commissioning the $13 billion ship into service has still not been yet.
Fix Readiness First, Shipbuilding Second: Navy To Trump
Breaking Defense – Sure, the Navy needs more ships, but first and most urgently, it needs to fix the ships it already has. That’s what Navy leaders are telling Donald Trump.
2016 World Naval Operational News Highlights
The ten most significant naval news stories / trends / themes this year included:
- The election of Donald Trump. During his presidency will concrete progress be made in enlarging the US Navy to 350 ships to help relieve it from the overstretch it now faces?
- The continued high operational tempo of the Russian Navy. Is this tempo sustainable in the long term or will it eventually become “fake news?”
- The recognition that Russia has turned the Baltic Sea into an anti-access area-denial zone, centered around its enclave in Kaliningrad. What steps will NATO, Finland, and Sweden take to counter it?
- The increased interest in the US Army in reclaiming its coastal artillery role. When will we see their anti-aircraft, anti-ship, and land-attack missiles deployed in the Baltic or Pacific?
- The continued belligerence of China in the South China Sea – despite a UN tribunal rejecting China’s claims there this year – as evidenced by this year’s militarization of its newly created “sand castles” and its seizing of a US Navy underwater drone. What incident will China create to test the new President Trump?
- The increasing realization that China’s Maritime Militia is playing a key role at sea. Will 2017 be the year they are formally called out by the governments they are harrassing?
- The increasing acceptance by Japan of the threat China poses to the Senkaku Islands. How will China next test Japan’s resolve over the Senkaku’s and how will Japan respond?
- The continued shift in the US Marine Corps strategic thinking towards the Pacific. What new hardware, tactics, techniques and procedures will they create to address the adversary they now face there?
- The continued belligerence of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy in the Gulf of Hormuz. When will their actions finally break the US Navy’s patience?
- The democratization of the submarine launched ballistic missile with successful tests this year of missiles by India and North Korea. What effect will this have on the deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems?
How China wins the South China Sea war without firing a shot
Asia Times – China is engaged in a broad-ranging information warfare campaign as part of a covert effort to take control of the South China Sea — in the words of ancient strategist Sun Tzu, without firing a shot.
Interview: Vice Adm. Tom Rowden, Commander, US Naval Forces
– Defense News – From his perch in San Diego, COMSURFOR – the commander of US Naval Forces – oversees the preparation and training of all the US Navy’s surface warships – cruisers, destroyers, littoral combat ships, amphibious ships and mine warfare ships. Tom Rowden has had a major hand in the force’s development over the past five years, first as the director of the Surface Warfare Division N96 at the Pentagon, then as the service’s top surface warfare officer in San Diego. He’s championed the concept of distributed lethality and the reinvigoration of combat power in the surface forces. Now, in a new Surface Force Strategy released Jan. 9, he’s harkening back to another classic naval concept.
Major LCS Mission Package Decision Nears
– Defense News – A revised decision on a contractor to proceed with a major component of the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) antisubmarine warfare (ASW) mission module could be imminent, several sources said — a key step in moving ahead with two of the package’s most significant underwater sensors.
New Strategy Emphasizes High-end Surface Warfare
– USNI News – A new strategy for the surface force – released today – creates an outline for a navy that anticipates a return to high-end warfare it hasn’t known since the Cold War.
America cannot disengage from the rest of the world
Gulf News – Robert D. Kaplan writes that its geography fiercely argues for a balance: Be wary of nation-building, but remember the global responsibilities of a maritime nation.
Cyberwar for Sale
– New York Times Magazine – After a maker of surveillance software was hacked, its leaked documents shed light on a shadowy global industry that has turned email theft into a terrifying — and lucrative — political weapon.
The Fighter
– New York Times Magazine – C.J. Chivers writes that the Marine Corps taught Sam Siatta how to shoot. The war in Afghanistan
taught him how to kill. Nobody taught him how to come home.
Russia Pulling Carrier Admiral Kuznetsov from Mediterranean
– USNI News – Russia is recalling the Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov from the Eastern Mediterranean and sending the ship back to its homeport in northern Russia.
A Bigger Problem than ISIS?
– New Yorker – The Mosul Dam is failing. A breach would cause a colossal wave that could kill as many as a million and a half people.
Navy’s advanced Hawkeye squadron is moving from Norfolk Naval Station to Japan
– Virginian Pilot – A squadron of advanced early warning and control aircraft is moving from Norfolk to Japan as part of a Navy effort to place its most-advanced units in the Pacific as China grows more assertive.
Egypt’s Failed Revolution
– New Yorker – President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has unwittingly revealed more about his country’s political structures than anybody could have imagined.
Russia Wants to Sell Arms to the Philippines, Hold Joint Naval Drills
– USNI News – As the U.S. relationship with the Philippines has come under rhetorical assault from President Rodrigo Duterte, Moscow has moved closer to Manila offering to sell arms and to start a bilateral military exercise program.
Beijing Confirms Chinese Carrier Launched Fighters in South China Sea
– USNI News – A Chinese carrier strike group has conducted training drills and launched fighters in the South China Sea – a first for the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
Towards Breakout in the South China Sea: The PRC Shapes a Way Ahead
– Second Line of Defense – The seizure of a USN Drone operating 50nm northwest of Subic Bay operating in International waters of South China Sea (SCS) highlights the evolution of PRC policy and reflects a way ahead. The drones and its tender USNS Bowditch were well away from any PRC claims and beyond the 9 dash line. This act could be viewed as piracy on the high seas by the PRC regime’s navy or alternatively, as the logical extension of PRC policy toward the SCS.
War Studies Primer 2017 Released
The War Studies Primer 2017 edition has just been released.
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