– Reuters – Russia is sharply upgrading the firepower of its Baltic Fleet by adding warships armed with long-range cruise missiles to counter NATO’s build-up in the region.
The Pentagon’s ‘Terminator Conundrum’: Robots That Could Kill on Their Own
– New York Times – The United States has put artificial intelligence at the center of its defense
strategy, with weapons that can identify targets and make decisions.
Russian warships: Spain says refuelling request withdrawn
– BBC – Russia has withdrawn a request for three warships to dock at the Spanish port of Ceuta for refuelling, following concern among Nato allies.
Spain urged not to allow refuelling of Russian warships
– BBC – Spain is coming under pressure from Nato allies not to allow the refuelling of Russian warships in the Kuznetsov carrier group bound for Syria.
USS Wasp to Japan Next Year in Support of Marine F-35B Squadron Next Year; USS Bonhomme Richard to San Diego
– USNI News – Next year the Navy will relocate big deck amphib USS Wasp (LHD-1) from Naval Station Norfolk, Va. to a new homeport in Sasebo, Japan as the USS Wasp has been recently modernized to accommodate the Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35B).
French Navy’s new frigate design unveiled
– Janes – The concept design for the new Frégate de Taille Intermédiaire (FTI) for the French Navy was unveiled by the French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on 18 October.
US troops to be stationed in Norway in break with tradition
– BBC – Norway has announced it is to allow more than 300 US Marines to be stationed on its soil for a trial period in 2017.
Distributed STOVL Operations and Air-Mobility Support
– US Naval War College Review – This article examines the logistical support requirements of distributed short-takeoff–vertical-landing (STOVL) operations (DSOs) by U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighters, and alternative solutions to fulfilling those requirements.
New jet will likely change how America fights wars
– San Diego Union Tribune – A look at what current US Marine F-35 pilots think of their new aircraft.
A Thousand Splendid Guns
– US Naval War College Review – In Out of the Mountains, David Kilcullen provides a framework for his “theory of competitive control.” His work focuses on irregular warfare, and in general he addresses nonstate armed groups as one increment along a spectrum of actors competing to control a population. He theorizes that the competitor who can impose predictable norms through persuasive, administrative, and coercive means will succeed. The members of the target audience, for their part, need consistency, and will adhere to this normative system regardless of whether they inherently agree with it or with the competitor’s values.1 What do we learn when we apply Kilcullen’s core principles to China and its conduct in the wider western Pacific as a state-level competitor?
Major Russian naval deployment to intensify Aleppo assault
– Reuters – Russian warships off the coast of Norway are carrying fighter bombers that are likely to reinforce a final assault on the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo in two weeks, a senior NATO diplomat said on Wednesday, citing Western intelligence.
Countering Chinese Expansion Through Mass Enlightenment
– CIMSEC – From Newport to New Delhi, a tremendous effort is currently underway to document and analyze China’s pursuit of maritime power. Led by experts in think tanks and academia, this enterprise has produced a rich body of scholarship in a very short period of time. However, even at its very best, this research is incomplete—for it rests on a gross ignorance of Chinese activities at sea.
Pakistan Navy Submarine Force to Equal the Indian Navy’s in Numbers with Purchase of 8 Chinese Subs
– Yibada – Pakistan has finalized a deal to acquire eight Chinese-made S20 diesel-electric submarines for the Pakistan Navy, making this class of submarine the most numerous in the navy’s Submarine Service Force (SSF) and giving the SSF numerical parity with its opposite number in India.
German Navy to receive five additional K130 corvettes
– Janes – Germany will buy an additional five K130 type corvettes in 2017 to offset delays to the MKS 180 Multi-Role Combat Ships (MRCSs) program.
U.S. military wraps up Haiti relief mission after huge airlift effort
– Navy Times – The head of U.S. Southern Command said Saturday that he expects the U.S. military’s role in the aid mission to Haiti to wrap up in the next four days after delivering hundreds of thousands of pounds of rice and medical supplies.
What the U.S. should learn from Britain’s dying navy
– Reuters – Britain used to boast the most powerful navy in the world. No more. That’s a serious problem for allies like the United States.
Turkey’s Thirty Year Coup
– New Yorker – Did an exiled cleric try to overthrow Erdoğan’s government?
Navy, Marine Corps Considering Adding Vertical Launch System to San Antonio Amphibs
– USNI News – The Navy and the Marine Corps are studying installing a vertical launch system in its San Antonio class of amphibious warships that would allow the ships to field larger offensive missiles.
US, UK Do ‘Groundbreaking’ Drone Exercise Off Scotland
– Breaking Defense – The multinational Unmanned Warrior exercise off the coast of Scotland is doing “really groundbreaking” work on naval drones, said one participating US scientist. There’ve been “a number of world firsts” in networking unmanned vehicles of different types and from different nations into a single unit.
Entering the Bear’s Lair: Russia’s A2/AD Bubble in the Baltic Sea
– National Interest – With NATO’s eyes on the defense of its Baltic members and a growing view that Poland is NATO’s new center of gravity in the East, a Kaliningrad A2/AD zone projects advanced ground, naval, and air threats, creating significant security challenges.
U.S. Navy Expanding Maintenance Capability in Western Pacific
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy’s Commander of Logistics Group Western Pacific/Task Force 73 is in the process of expanding its maintenance and support capabilities.
New Army Long-Range Missile Might Kill Ships, Too: LRPF
– Breaking Defense – “Outranged and outgunned” by Russian and Chinese missiles, the US Army wants a new long-range artillery rocket of its own. The nascent Long-Range Precision Fires program could do much more than replace the 25-year-old ATACMS missile, however. LRPF could become a linchpin of what the Army is calling Multi-Domain Battle, extending ground-based artillery’s reach not only to unprecedented ranges — hitting distant targets once reserved for airstrikes — but out to sea.
Ford Carrier Problems Worse Than LCS: Navy Secretary Mabus
– Breaking Defense – The $13 billion supercarrier USS Ford and the $500 million Littoral Combat Ship are both suffering engine trouble. But Navy Secretary Ray Mabus took pains today to defend LCS even as he derided Ford as “a textbook example of how not to build a ship.”
One Last Chance to Save the Royal Navy’s Flagship
– War is Boring – The helicopter carrier HMS ‘Ocean’ will sail into the sunset unless Britain finds the money … and the sailors.
Yemen conflict: US strikes radar sites after missile attack on ship
– BBC – The US has hit radar sites in Yemen after one of its warships in the Red Sea came under missile attack for the second time in days.
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