– Aviation Week – The North Korean submarine threat looked bad enough after the torpedoing of a South Korean corvette in 2010. It has looked a good deal more serious since, as North Korea has worked to deploy nuclear ballistic missiles in submarines. All of this is making a South Korean program to buy additional maritime patrollers a rising priority. The likely contenders are now the Boeing P-8 Poseiden and Saab’s proposed Swordfish, based on the Bombardier Global 6000. The navy has dropped a plan to buy and refurbish 16 Lockheed Martin S-3 Vikings, shifting its focus to the possible order for new aircraft.
7 Revolutionary Hardware Changes the US Navy Should Make in the Trump Era
– Warzone – Under the new administration the Navy could maximize a planned budget increase and tailor its force to 21st century demands.
The Four Plus One and Global Mega Trends
– CIMSEC – General John Allen outlines the threats the US will face in the future.
Navy Considering More Hulls for Frigate Competition, Expanding Anti-Air Capability
– USNI News – The Navy is considering increasing its future frigate’s anti-air firepower and may open up the frigate design competition to hulls beyond the current two small surface combatants.
Singapore To Buy Maritime Aircraft, UAVs
– Aviation Week – Singapore is likely to field at least five new maritime patrollers in the early 2020s, markedly raising its ability to deal with submarines at a distance while also bolstering ocean surveillance capacity. The aircraft will replace five Fokker 50 Enforcers acquired in the early 1990s, say sources with insight into the requirement. A supplementary force of unmanned aircraft for maritime patrol is also under consideration.
15 Questions With One of VP-5’s ‘Mad Foxes’ on Flying the P-8 Poseidon
– The Drive – We talk with a P-8 pilot about how the jet is rapidly maturing into one of the Pentagon’s most versatile and in-demand assets—one that has now been deployed to most of the major hotspots around the globe.
Japanese warships to join US fleet near North Korea as tensions rise
– The Guardian – Japan is preparing to send several warships to join a US aircraft carrier strike group heading for the Korean peninsula, in a show of force designed to deter North Korea from conducting further missile and nuclear tests.
Hainan’s Maritime Militia: Development Challenges and Opportunities Part 2
– CIMSEC – As it works to improve its maritime militia, Hainan Province is engaged in multiple lines of effort.
Things have gone from bad to worse at the Navy’s flight school
– Navy Times – The head of naval aviation has extended a three-day grounding of all the Navy’s T-45 training jets indefinitely after a group of instructor pilots refused to fly the aircraft.
US Navy considers a more powerful frigate
– Defense News – The U.S. Navy is taking a hard look at upgrading its future frigates to protect other ships from anti-air threats in addition to defending against undersea and surface enemies. The move would be a significant enhancement in the effort to develop a frigate from existing littoral combat ship designs.
Russia Sends More Warships Toward Syria Following U.S. Tomahawk Strikes
– USNI News – A Russian Navy surface action group is headed to the Eastern Mediterranean departing shortly after a U.S. Tomahawk missile strike on a Syrian airfield.
Royal Marines to lose 200 posts
– The Guardian – The Royal Marines will lose 200 posts as the Royal Navy seeks to reshuffle its staff before the arrival of a new generation of vessels.
Hijacked ship’s crew rescued from pirates near Somalia
– BBC – Nineteen crew members have been freed by the Chinese Navy from a ship captured by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
US warships deployed to Korean peninsula
– BBC – The US military has ordered the USS Carl Vinson Strike Group to move towards the Korean peninsula, amid growing concerns about North Korea’s missile programme.
Duterte and generals split on China rapprochement
– Nikkei Asian Review – High stakes internal battle under way over direction of Philippine foreign policy.
Austal Pushes Big Missiles For Small Ships: LCS & VLS
– Breaking Defense – How much firepower can fit on the Navy’s smallest warship? With the Chinese and Russian navies on the rise, American admirals want more “distributed lethality” from everything in the fleet, especially the controversial Littoral Combat Ship.
South China Sea: Duterte orders Philippines military to occupy islands
– CNN – Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday he has ordered military personnel to occupy all Philippines-claimed islands in the disputed South China Sea.
Syria war: US launches missile strikes in response to chemical ‘attack’
– BBC – The US has carried out a missile strike against a Syrian air base in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town. Fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two US Navy ships in the Mediterranean.
This Presence Will Continue Forever: An Assessment of Iranian Naval Capabilities in the Red Sea
– CIMSEC – International attention has focused on the possibilities of an Iranian closure of the Straits of Hormuz, and the catastrophic effect a blockade would likely have on global energy supplies. Even a temporary closure or military disruption in the waterway would cause energy prices to soar and could politically destabilize the Persian Gulf region. Far less attention has been paid to Iranian activity in the Red Sea, however, despite the crucial importance of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait to world oil shipments.
Taiwan to build eight submarines
– StraitsTimes – Taiwan plans to build eight submarines to bolster its current fleet of four ageing vessels, its navy chief said yesterday.
Navy Officials Overshared Sensitive Info On Navy Readiness
– Breaking Defense – In their desperation to convince Congress that budget gridlock hurts military readiness, Navy officials made public some information that they shouldn’t have, Acting Secretary Sean Stackley told reporters here today. It’s this oversharing of readiness data, along with overly detailed talk about future capabilities, that prompted the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson, to issue a March 1 memorandum (below) urging all naval personnel “to ensure we are not giving away our competitive edge by sharing too much information publicly.”
The Role of the Black Sea in Russia’s Strategic Calculus
– CIMSEC – For Russia to achieve its long-term strategic objectives, its supremacy in the Black Sea is a critically enabling factor. The unique geography of the region confers several geopolitical advantages to Russia in its confrontation with the West. As such, the Kremlin has sought measures to strengthen its hold over the region. Firstly, it has sought to weaken NATO’s ties to the regional states, working to drive wedges into these relationships, and using military force when necessary to stop the Alliance’s expansion. Secondly, it has been expanding its military capabilities in order to challenge NATO’s presence in the region and ultimately dominate the Black Sea.
Chinese patrol ships keep presence around Malaysian reefs
– The Guardian – Chinese coastguard vessels maintain a near-constant presence around reefs claimed by Malaysia in the South China Sea, ship-tracking data shared with the Guardian has revealed.
The Demobilization of Latin America’s Only Carrier: Brazil’s NAE Sao Paulo
– CIMSEC – On 14 February, the Brazilian Navy announced that it will suspend the modernization of carrier NAe Sao Paulo (A12) and commence its demobilization and subsequent decommissioning. Oddly, the news is simultaneously surprising and unsurprising at the same time. The Brazilian Navy regarded the extension of the carrier’s operational life as one of its priorities, however, ongoing technical difficulties and rising costs have made it more feasible to get rid of it than to extend its service life. As Brazil is the only Latin American country that possesses an aircraft carrier, its decommissioning must be properly discussed in terms of regional geopolitics.
Uncharted waters: US Navy still searching for path to a bigger fleet
– Defense News – Just about everybody in and around the U.S. Navy agrees there is a pressing need to build a bigger fleet. Just about nobody agrees on a way to get there.
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