– USNI News – Last month the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) returned home from a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific – the first time in several years a carrier from the continental United States had deployed specifically to that region rather than simply passing through on the way to and from the Middle East. In addition to highlighting a shift in focus to the Pacific, the deployment featured an opportunity to practice high-end warfighting skills with another U.S. carrier strike group, several exercises with allies and partners in the region, and persistent but professional contact with Chinese ships sent to shadow Stennis.
Pågan: the tropical paradise the US wants to turn into a war zone
– The Guardian – Former residents and environmental campaigners to launch a lawsuit against Pentagon’s plans to use the Marianas islands for bombing practice.
China, Russia Kick Off Joint South China Sea Naval Exercise; Includes ‘Island Seizing’ Drill
– USNI News – China and Russia kicked off more than a week of naval exercises in the South China Sea that will include an “island seizing” exercise.
LCS Crewing, Operating, Basing Schemes Are Changing
– Defense News – After more than twelve years insisting the unique crewing and modularity schemes for the Littoral Combat Ship will work, US Navy leaders are changing those plans as part of a larger shakeup of the long-troubled program.
China’s High Seas Ambitions
– Der Spiegel – With its Maritime Silk Road, China is tapping the world’s oceans for its own strategic purposes. It’s a bold plan that is causing unease in India and the United States — and also has implications for Europe.
Silence, tight quarters and no women: On board Israel’s most advanced submarine
– Haaretz – Haaretz’s military correspondent joined the crew of INS Rahav, the Israel Navy’s newest submarine, on a brief training cruise. He learned about the unique physical and mental demands of service on the IDF’s most expensive war machine, its technological capabilities and why Israeli subs are still off-limits to women.
The Israeli Navy in Context
– CIMSEC – This piece aims to provide an overview of the Israeli Navy and the maritime dimension of Israel’s national security.
Navy Sidelines First 4 LCS; Overhauls Deployment, Crewing
– Breaking Defense – After a series of embarrassing breakdowns, the Navy is overhauling how it operates its controversial Littoral Combat Ships. It’s not only big news for the Navy but a cautionary tale for would-be innovators.
Deglobalization Will Change the Mission of Naval Forces
– CIMSEC – This article will argue that the convergence of new technologies is dramatically changing how we make things, what we make, and where we make them. These technologies plus trends in energy production, agriculture, politics, and internet governance will result in the localization of manufacturing, services, energy, and food production. This shift will significantly change the international security environment and in particular the role of the U.S. naval forces.
New South Korean Destroyers to Have Ballistic Missile Defense Capability
– USNI News – A trio of planned South Korean guided missile destroyers will be built with the capability to intercept ballistic missile threats. The addition of the capability will give the Republic of Korea (RoK) Navy a powerful organic BMD capability in addition to U.S. Army ground-based interceptors peppered throughout South Korea.
LCS Troubles May Stem From Double Engine
– Breaking Defense – After two years of embarrassing breakdowns in both variants of the embattled Navy Littoral Combat Ship, there are worrying signs that a reliability problem is built into the design. At issue: the unhappy combination of an unusually small crew struggling with a uniquely complex propulsion system, one that yokes gas turbines and diesel engines together.
Iranian Boats Harass Another U.S. Navy Patrol Coastal Ship In Persian Gulf
– USNI News – A U.S. Navy patrol coastal ship was harassed by seven Iranian vessels on Sunday and narrowly avoided colliding with one, in the latest in a string of incidents in the Persian Gulf.
US Navy Orders Engineering Stand Down, Retraining for LCS Crews
– Defense News – Following two more serious engineering incidents involving separate littoral combat ships, the commander of US naval surface forces ordered an engineering stand down on all LCS crews and directed all LCS sailors to be retrained in engineering procedures.
5 Greatest Threats the U.S. Navy Faces Today
– National Interest – Such a vast area of responsibility also means that the U.S. Navy has to be able to prevail against an equally vast array of threats. From the low-tech speedboats and mines of the Iranian Navy to the high-tech antiship ballistic missiles of the People’s Republic of China, the Navy must be prepared to deal with them all. Here’s a roundup of five of the greatest threats.
Riding a New Wave of Professionalization and Militarization: Sansha City’s Maritime Militia
– CIMSEC – We previously examined in depth the maritime militia forces of Sanya, Danzhou, and Tanmen (Parts One and Two). No examination of the maritime militia of Hainan Province would be complete, however, without scrutinizing the Sansha Maritime Militia.
British warship sent to Libya to target people-smugglers
– The Guardian – Deployment of HMS Diamond part of EU crackdown as number of migrants trying to cross Mediterranean reaches record level
To Buy the Next Fleet, We Must Change the Navy
– USNI News – The problem is that the way the US Navy fights is inefficiently and ineffectively supported by the way the Navy thinks about fighting, and the way the Navy thinks about fighting is inadequately supported by how it acquires the platforms, sensors, weapons and networks that enable it.
F/A-18 crashes rise rapidly as budget constraints have led to overused planes, undertrained pilots
– Stars and Stripes – A year ago, Navy and Marine Corps leaders gave a dire warning to Congress: Budget cuts have hurt nondeployed units and could cost lives during a major conflict. The losses happened, but not in combat. Pilots died training at home. Since May, four F/A-18 Hornet or F/A-18E/F Super Hornet crashes involving nondeployed units killed two pilots and destroyed five planes. The crashes are the latest in a sharp increase in military aviation accidents overall for nondeployed squadrons, which have absorbed the bulk of budget cuts through reduced training and delayed maintenance at home so the best aircraft and personnel can be used on the front lines.
Here’s how the U.S. Navy will defeat Iran’s speedboats
– Reuters – The Pentagon is well aware of the danger Iran’s swarms pose, however, and is devising new weapons to counter them, including small, precision-guided rockets and even lasers.
War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable
– RAND – Premeditated war between the United States and China is very unlikely, but the danger that a mishandled crisis could trigger hostilities cannot be ignored. Thus, while neither state wants war, both states’ militaries have plans to fight one. As Chinese anti-access and area-denial (A2AD) capabilities improve, the United States can no longer be so certain that war would follow its plan and lead to decisive victory. This analysis illuminates various paths a war with China could take and their possible consequences.
Rear Admiral Jonathan Mead Focuses On The Way Ahead for the Royal Australian Navy
– Second Line of Defense – Rear Admiral Mead is the Navy’s joint capability manager and is clearly focused on the cross-cutting dynamics of maritime modernization within the context of the overall evolution of the ADF.
Pentagon Conducting New Review of Gerald R. Ford Carrier Program
– USNI News – The Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer is kicking off an independent review into the Navy’s Gerald Ford-class next-generation carrier program citing questions of performance of key systems aboard.
Another LCS Breaks Down, This Time in Mid-Pacific
– DefenseNews – In yet another incident in what is turning out to be a bad year for the US Navy’s littoral combat ship program, the LCS Coronado is reported to have suffered a propulsion problem in the mid-Pacific and has turned back to return to Hawaii. The latest issue, this time with an Independence-class LCS variant, follows a series of problems striking ships of the Freedom class.
Held Up In the Shipyard, Carrier Bush Is Under The Gun To Deploy On Time
– Defense News – The USS George H. W. Bush, newest of the fleet’s operational carriers, is under the gun. The ship emerged from a shipyard in late July five months late – seven if compared to the original schedule. It’s facing a planned deployment later this year that needs to be on time if the Bush is to relieve another carrier already operating on the far side of the world. With a compressed training schedule, Norfolk-based Fleet Forces Command (FFC) is wrestling with how to get the ship, its air wing and supporting strike group fully ready to deploy to a combat zone, a situation its Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP) was conceived to handle.
USS Freedom Sidelined After Propulsion Casualty, Diesel Engine Contaminated with ‘Rust and Seawater’
– USNI News – The Littoral Combat Ship USS Freedom (LCS-1) is sidelined in San Diego, Calif. for repairs after Navy inspectors found extensive damage in one of its two main propulsion diesel engines.
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