– Breaking Defense – On Friday, a Navy official told us a critical test report on the embattled Littoral Combat Ship was “unfair.” This afternoon, we found out the Pentagon’s independent test office has already circulated a coldly scathing response.
Unready for War: America’s F-35 Gets a Bad Report Card
– National Interest – Last July, the United States Marine Corps declared their short takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) version of the stealthy Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter operational. However, a new Pentagon operational test and evaluation report shows that the jet is far from ready. Even at the time, many had suspected that the service’s initial operational capability (IOC) was more hope than reality—now there is data to back that up.
Strangle China’s Economy: America’s Ultimate Trump Card?
– National Interest – Winston Churchill once famously remarked that Bolshevism must be “strangled in its crib.” In that same spirit, should the United States now seek to strangle China’s economy as a means of deterring its aggression?
Why the South China Sea Needs Japan’s Navy
– National Interest – Boosting Tokyo’s presence is key to regional security.
‘Mini Red Octobers:’Russia to Push on With Stealth Submarine Program
– The Diplomat – Despite some media reports to the contrary, the Russian Navy will continue building Lada-class subs.
Powers Jockey for Pacific Island Chain Influence
– Defense News – The extensive chains of Pacific islands ringing China have been described as a wall, a barrier to be breached by an attacker or strengthened by a defender. They are seen as springboards, potential bases for operations to attack or invade others in the region. In a territorial sense, they are benchmarks marking the extent of a country’s influence.
This Is China’s Master Plan to Destroy the U.S. Navy in Battle
– National Interest – When Chinese officers go to bed at night, what do they fear most? Despite all the hard work, all the billions of dollars spent, no Chinese sailor wants to tangle with the U.S. Navy. As one retired Chinese senior defense official told me in late 2014: “The 3 A.M. crisis ‘call’ I feared the most is that we were at war with your navy.”
US Navy’s Unmanned Jet Could Be a Tanker
– Defense News – One of the biggest questions facing the future of US Navy carrier-based aviation is what will be the primary mission of its new unmanned jet. Some believe the aircraft – to be produced by the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program – should be a stealthy strike jet able to penetrate an enemy’s defenses without risking a pilot. Others want a spy plane, able to launch from a carrier and produce high-quality, real-time intelligence…Now it would seem a decision has been made between strike and recon. The winner? Aerial refueling.
Reinforcing Deterrence on NATO’s Eastern Flank: Wargaming the Defense of the Baltics
– RAND – Russia’s recent aggression against Ukraine has disrupted nearly a generation of relative peace and stability between Moscow and its Western neighbors and raised concerns about its larger intentions. From the perspective of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the threat to the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — former Soviet republics, now member states that border Russian territory — may be the most problematic of these. In a series of war games conducted between summer 2014 and spring 2015, RAND Arroyo Center examined the shape and probable outcome of a near-term Russian invasion of the Baltic states. The games’ findings are unambiguous: As presently postured, NATO cannot successfully defend the territory of its most exposed members. Fortunately, it will not require Herculean effort to avoid such a failure. Further gaming indicates that a force of about seven brigades, including three heavy armored brigades — adequately supported by airpower, land-based fires, and other enablers on the ground and ready to fight at the onset of hostilities — could suffice to prevent the rapid overrun of the Baltic states.
Sea Power 2016 Almanac
– Sea Power 2016 Almanac – The Sea Power 2016 Almanac, an excellent guide to the US Navy and US Coast Guard, can be freely downloaded as a PDF.
South China Sea: US warship sails near disputed island
– BBC – A US warship has sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea to challenge efforts to limit freedom of access. The vessel passed close to Triton Island in the Paracel Islands, a statement said.
Invisible Bullets: The Navy’s Big Problem In Future War
– Breaking Defense – In the brutal naval battles of the future, the first clash of arms will be a clash of electrons. If you don’t win the invisible battle of the airwaves, you can’t win the visible battle of missiles.
U.S. Navy Confirms ‘Abnormal and Unprofessional’ Iranian UAV Recon Flight Over Carriers Truman, Charles de Gaulle
– USNI News – Officials at U.S. 5th Fleet confirmed to USNI News Iranian forces flew an unmanned aerial vehicle over French carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91) and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) earlier this month.
Type 45 destroyers: UK’s £1bn warships face engine refit
– BBC – The Royal Navy’s most modern warships are to be fitted with new engines because they keep breaking down.
Many Ships = Few Wars: The Case For A Big Fleet
– Breaking Defense – Think of international conflicts as earthquakes. Many little ones are better than one “Big One” — a global war. Social science suggests that the more often two rival powers interact, the more likely they are to resolve their differences through many small, manageable conflicts rather than one violent conflagration. That makes naval presence worldwide a very desirable capability.
Can China Copy the U.S. Marine Corps?
– National Interest – Much has been reported about the recent structural reforms undertaken by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—the end goal being a leaner and meaner military force, capable of undertaking a broad spectrum of missions under modern, high-tech conditions. Part of this drive towards a “new-age” PLA has been efforts to modernize the PLA Marine Corps (PLAMC).
Robot Subs, Electronic Warfare & Cyber: Navy’s Role In Offset Strategy
– Breaking Defense – As the Pentagon prepares to roll out its 2017 budget, one strategically crucial piece is the so-called Third Offset Strategy. That’s the US military’s high-tech, high-stakes plan to keep our edge over Russia, China, and other rapidly advancing rivals. This morning, the Chief of Naval Research outlined some of what the Navy’s piece of that strategy would be.
US Navy Sharpens Stealth Tactics Against Russia
– Defense News – The US Navy in Europe is going dark. The four destroyers in Rota, Spain, and ships operating in 6th Fleet are switching off their radars and sensors to operate with more stealth and train for fighting cyber and electronic attacks
This Could ‘Sink’ the U.S. Navy: Lethal Stealth Submarines
– National Interest – Thanks to advances in modern, ultra-quiet conventional diesel-electric submarines, Washington will need to adjust its tactics if it were to tangle with any nation sporting these increasingly sophisticated weapons of war.
Textron’s CUSV In Production As Minesweeping Vehicle, May Take On Minehunting Soon
– USNI News – Textron’s Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV) program has moved into the production phase and will begin delivering its minesweeping capability to the fleet by early next year, even as the program is also situating itself to enter the minehunting, patrolling and other surface warfare mission areas.
LCS Can Too Fight Russia, China: Navy Leaders
– Breaking Defense – Is the Littoral Combat Ship a real warship? That question has bedeviled the small, sleek, lightly armed ships for years. Now it’s taken on new urgency as the Defense Department and the Navy both refocus on high-intensity, high-tech warfighting against “great powers” — i.e. China and Russia.
280 Special Purpose MAGTF Marines Set to Return Home From Europe, Africa Deployments
– USNI News – 280 Marines serving with the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis-Response Africa (SPMAGTF-CR-AF) are set to return home to Camp Lejeune, N.C., later this week after a six-month deployment to Spain and Italy.
Pakistani Naval Modernization Appears Stalled
– Defense News – Pakistan’s naval modernization program appears stalled, with no discernible progress being made on efforts to modernize and expand the surface and sub-surface fleet. This comes amid moves ensure the security of the deepwater port of Gwadar, and fears of mass obsolescence vis-a-vis arch rival India.
Breakdowns leave 2 of Navy’s newest ships stuck in port
– CNN – The past two months have been anything but smooth sailing for the U.S. Navy’s newest class of warship, the littoral combat ship. Troubles for the ships, which cost around $360 million apiece, began in December, when the USS Milwaukee (LCS 5), broke down off the East Coast and had to be towed 40 miles to a naval base in Virginia…Just a month after the Milwaukee mishap, its sister ship, the USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), is tied up at a dock in Singapore with what the U.S. Pacific Fleet calls “a casualty to the ship’s combining gears.”
Cautious US gives Japan edge in subs
– The Australian – Serious doubt that Washington will be willing to provide the US Navy’s most advanced combat systems to Australian submarines if they are built by Germany or France is emerging as a trump card for Japan in the three-way battle to construct the new boats.
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