– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Like the Soviet Navy before it, the Russian Navy’s true power lies in its submarine force. Although recovering from a prolonged period of limited investment and confined activity, the various nuclear-powered fast attack submarines (SSNs), guided-missile submarines (SSGNs), and ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs) Russia inherited from the Soviet Union make it a capable adversary in the undersea domain. If Russia is to remain a relevant player beneath the waves in the 2020s and 2030s, however, it will have to substantially recapitalize its aging submarine force in the coming decade. Fortunately for Russia’s submariners, reinvigorating submarine construction has been one of the visible accomplishments of the Russian Navy’s modernization program for 2011–2020.
The U.S. Navy will start losing its largest surface combatants in 2020
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s surface fleet will start losing some its biggest guns in 2020 at a two-per-year clip.
Australia’s Amphibious Force Nearing Full Operational Capability
– USNI News – The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is nearing full operational capability of its amphibious force, after a six-year effort to turn an Army battalion into the heart of a joint-service expeditionary capability akin to the U.S. Marine Corps.
The US Army Is Buying New Boats to Replace Vietnam-Era Landing Craft
– War Zone – The service’s little known fleet is important to operations around the world, but is sorely in need of new watercraft.
Royal Navy could lose its two amphibious assault ships in cuts
– The Guardian – HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark could be taken out of service, leaving the navy with no way to attack enemy-held beaches.
Humanitarian Operations With CDR Andrea Cameron
– CIMSEC – The military plays an integral role in dangerous humanitarian operations. What are these operations and how exactly does the humanitarian world work?
Building an Asymmetric Ukrainian Naval Force to Defend the Sea of Azov, Part 2
– CIMSEC – The following two-part series will analyze the maritime dimension of competition between Ukraine and Russia in the Sea of Azov. Part 1 analyzed strategic interests, developments, and geography in the Sea of Azov along with probable Russian avenues of aggression. Part 2 will devise potential asymmetric naval capabilities and strategies for the Ukrainian Navy to employ.
Fixing a Navy in crisis: A conversation with House Seapower Chairman Rep. Rob Wittman
– Defense News – Congress has also taken notice of the Navy’s continuing problems. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., the chairman of the House Armed Services’ Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, traveled to Japan to visit the fleet and speak with Navy leaders and sailors about what Congress can do to help get the service back on track. Upon returning, he sat down with Defense News naval reporter David Larter to talk about the trip.
USS Wasp Bringing More Helos to Help in Hurricane Maria Disaster Relief in Puerto Rico
– USNI News – Amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) will join the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group in Puerto Rico later this week with additional helicopters to assist with Hurricane Maria disaster relief efforts there.
US Navy worked around its own standards to keep ships underway
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy’s top officer in the Pacific is reviewing a program that allowed ships from the Japan-based U.S. 7th Fleet to operate with expired certifications amid a wide-ranging probe into two deadly collisions that killed 17 sailors and caused untold hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to two destroyers.
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.
Ways to Follow NOSI
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Navy Will Provide Puerto Rico with Direly Needed Hospital Services in Wake of Hurricane Maria
– USNI News – Hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) is steaming to Puerto Rico, as part of Hurricane Maria relief effort, just as federal officials stated only one of the island’s 69 hospitals is fully operational.
US Coast Guard’s last heavy icebreaker won’t make it past 2023
– Defense News – The U.S. Coast Guard’s last remaining icebreaker has just over half a decade left in it at most, putting enormous pressure on the service to get a ship designed and built on a constrained timeline.
Royal Navy chief looks east to forge new trade partnerships
– Defense News – British naval forces will need to return to the Asia-Pacific region on a regular basis if the country is to forge new trading partnerships in the area, according to the Royal Navy’s first sea lord, Adm. Sir Philip Jones.
What Would the Athenians Think of Recent U.S. Navy Mishaps?
– National Interest – The Greeks took official accountability too far. The U.S. Navy might not take it far enough.
The Real Story of the USS Ponce as the American Sea Base Sails Into Retirement
– War Zone – One of the U.S. Navy’s most unique ships, the USS Ponce, has returned home to the United States after spending more than five years as a floating base in and around the Arabian Sea. Though she was the subject of intense public interest during that time, thanks to internal histories The War Zone obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, we can tell the story of a ship that went from being infested with bugs and headed to the scrap heap to a hub for conventional and special operations elements in the Middle East that helped set the stage for an all-new classes of ships.
The US Navy Has Created Its First Ever Underwater Drone Squadron
– War Zone – The U.S. Navy has created its first ever dedicated underwater drone unit, Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron One, or UUVRON 1, splitting it off from a secretive submarine unit in the process. The decision highlights the steadily growing importance of unmanned craft within the service, which hopes to have dedicated operational unmanned undersea elements by the end of the decade, and across the U.S. military in general.
A Thoroughly Efficient Navy For The 21st Century Part 2
– CIMSEC – This article reviews America’s current naval strategy and is divided into two parts. Previously, Part 1 analyzed U.S. naval defense strategy in light of 21st Century national defense threats. Part 2 will recommend changes to the Navy’s force structure to gain significant cost savings while still satisfying America’s naval defense requirements.
The Royal Navy and Freedom of Navigation Operations
– CIMSEC – In July, two major announcements were made renewing the Royal Navy’s commitment to the principle of freedom of navigation in the coming years. Firstly, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Right Honourable Michael Fallon, told Reuters that Britain was intending to send a warship to the South China Sea in 2018. The Defence Secretary explicitly stated that, “we have the right of freedom of navigation and we will exercise it.” In a direct reference to China, he added, “we won’t be constrained by China from sailing through the South China Sea.” Shortly afterward, the Foreign Secretary, the Right Honourable Boris Johnson, announced that the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers (the first of which is currently undergoing sea trials in UK waters) would deploy to the Pacific region to conduct freedom of navigation operations “to vindicate our belief in the rules-based international system and in the freedom of navigations through those waterways which are absolutely vital for world trade.”
Hospital ship Comfort heading to Puerto Rico
– Military Times – Federal and military aid for Puerto Rico increased Tuesday, including news that the hospital ship Comfort would be deployed, as officials got a clearer picture of the obscene destruction Hurricane Maria wrought on the U.S. territory.
Marine Aviation Deaths Are Six Times Navy’s
– Breaking Defense – If you know a young person who dreams of flying for their country over land and sea, tell them they’re a lot safer in the Navy than in the Marines. The MV-22 tilt-rotor that crashed in August, killing three, and the KC-130T transport that crashed in July, killing 16, are just the tip of a very ugly iceberg. According to data obtained by Breaking Defense, aircraft accidents have killed 62 Marines in the last six years, compared to just 10 personnel from the much larger Navy.
Navy, Marine Corps Providing Around-the-Clock Hurricane Maria Relief
– USNI News – Navy and Marine Corps are working to reopen airfields and clear debris from the main roads of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as part of the ongoing Hurricane Maria relief efforts.
Obama tried to give Zuckerberg a wake-up call over fake news on Facebook
– Washington Post – How Russia conducts information warfare against the US, via Facebook.
HMS Ocean arrives in Caribbean to boost UK disaster relief effort
– ReliefWeb – The Royal Navy’s flagship HMS Ocean has arrived in the British Virgin Islands to support those affected by Hurricane Irma and Maria.
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