– US Naval War College Review – Much has been written about the challenges posed by the Chinese adoption of what the US military calls “A2/AD” (antiaccess/area-denial) in the western Pacific. Accordingly, the Pacific remains a key focus area for the US Navy and Air Force, and more recently the Army, with the Navy promising to put 60 percent of its forces in that theater as part of the “Pacific pivot.” Yet as focus remains on the Pacific, the rest of the world is not standing still. This is exemplified in the eastern Mediterranean, where the Russians have begun laying the seeds to create an A2/AD zone in the region against the United States and its allies. If fully realized, an A2/AD envelope would put Western access to the Suez Canal, the Black Sea, and the resource-rich eastern Mediterranean at the mercy of an increasingly aggressive Russian regime.
North Korea Conducts Successful Submarine Missile Test
– Washington Free Beacon – North Korea’s military carried out a successful ejection test of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile recently, an indication that an earlier test failure has not derailed the underwater missile program.
SECDEF Carter Clarifies South China Sea Freedom of Navigation Operation in Letter to McCain
– USNI News – After two months, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter provided a clear explanation of an U.S. Oct. 27 South China Sea freedom of navigation operation (FON op) that both enraged China and left domestic maritime observers with lingering questions on American intentions.
PRC warships monitor undesea cables
– Flash//Critic – Chinese maritime security forces disclosed last month that one of its missions is to provide protection for undersea communications cables.
Iran conducts ‘provocative’ live rocket tests near US ships
– BBC – Iran’s navy conducted rocket tests last week near US warships and other commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Officials Confirm Construction of First Domestic Chinese Aircraft Carrier
– USNI News – China is in the midst of building its first domestic carrier, Ministry of National Defense officials confirmed last week.
Work starts on second aircraft carrier
– BBC – China is building a second aircraft carrier – but this time made entirely from domestic technology, its defence ministry has announced.
DARPA’s Vertical Take Off And Landing Combat Drone Could Revolutionize Naval Combat
– FoxtrotAlpha – Northrop Grumman scored another win this last year after its Tactically Exploited Reconnaissance Node (TERN) concept was tapped for full-scale demonstration. The DARPA and Office of Naval Research-led program seeks to give Navy surface combatants, like destroyers and Littoral Combat Ships, fixed-wing aircraft carrier-like capabilities, albeit on a smaller scale. It’s a move that could change naval warfare, and warfare in general, as we know it.
U.S. Fears Grow of a ‘Newly Awakened’ Russian Navy
– Daily Beast – A new report from the U.S. Navy’s intelligence branch paints a sobering picture of Putin’s increasingly aggressive fleet—and its deadly international shows of force.
NOSI is taking a short break and will next update on January 4th, 2016
NOSI is taking a short break and will next update on January 4th, 2016
During this time, please consider visiting our related site and downloading 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.
A General Review of the History of China’s Seapower Theory Development
– US Naval War College Review – A historiographical survey of the critical Western and Chinese texts and thinkers who have shaped the concept of sea power in China.
If China’s Goliath Threatens Asia, Then Arm David
– National Interest – There is a Goliath menacing the western Pacific. China’s construction of three huge artificial islands with obvious military capacity in the South China Sea has already destabilized the security equilibrium in the region. Given the rising tensions and outright challenges to the established international security order in the western Pacific, it is time for the United States to align its Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program with its Pivot to Asia initiative, in order to strengthen the region’s Davids.
Chinese naval hospital makes first stop in South America
– AP – A Chinese naval hospital ship is making a first-ever call at a South American port in a sign of the Asian economic giant’s growing influence in the resource-rich region.
Military to Military
– London Review of Books – Seymour M. Hersh on US intelligence sharing with the Syrians in the Syrian war.
Port Visits Resume for Nuclear-Armed Navy Subs
– AP – Nuclear-armed U.S. submarines that went more than a decade without calling on foreign ports in part because of post-Sept. 11 security concerns are once again visiting other countries, a shift intended to underscore their global presence and lift sailor morale.
German-made submarine heads to Israel for delivery
– UPI – The latest German-built Dolphin-class submarine INS Rahav is en route to Haifa to be delivered to the Israeli Navy.
The Russian Navy Report You Missed (But Need to Read, Now)
– National Interest – After its near collapse in the 1990s following the Soviet Union’s demise, the Russian navy is now on a path towards recovery.
Making Sense of the Latest Taiwan Arms Deal
– USNI News – Taiwan-watchers waited for long four years for new arms sales, but their patience was not met with large reward when the news about imminent arms sale to Taiwan emerged at the end of November.
Carter’s Rebuke of Navy Budget Propsoal Points to Split Between Service, DoD Priorities
– USNI News – Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s list of directives Monday to the Navy to retool its budget for Fiscal Year 2017 revealed a split in priorities between the Secretary of the Navy and the Pentagon on the future of the force.
The Russian Navy – A Historic Transition
– Office of Naval Intelligence – ONI’s most recent unclassified report on Russia’s navy, The Russian Navy – A Historic Transition, looks historically and currently at the role played by Russian Naval forces. It is the first such report discussing the Russian Federation Navy by ONI since the seventh and last issue of Understanding Soviet Naval Developments published in 1991.
Vietnam builds military muscle to face China
– Reuters – Vietnam’s military is steeling itself for conflict with China as it accelerates a decade-long modernization drive, Hanoi’s biggest arms buildup since the height of the Vietnam War…Most significantly, Hanoi is creating a naval deterrent largely from scratch with the purchase of six advanced Kilo-class submarines from Russia. In recent months, the first of those submarines have started patrolling the South China Sea, Vietnamese and foreign military officials said, the first confirmation the vessels have been in the strategic waterway.
Pentagon Cuts LCS to 40 Ships, 1 Shipbuilder
– Defense News – The US Navy’s fight to buy 52 variants of its littoral combat ship (LCS) from two shipbuilders may have taken a fatal blow this week after the secretary of defense directed the service to cap its buy at 40 ships and pick only one supplier. The directive also orders the Navy to buy only one ship annually over the next four years, down from three per year.
Truman Carrier Strike Group Enters U.S. 5th Fleet To Begin Anti-ISIS Operations
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy once again has an aircraft carrier in U.S. Central Command, after the Truman Carrier Strike Group passed through the Suez Canal on Monday and became a U.S. 5th Fleet asset. The region had gone without any naval air power for a stretch of time, after the Theodore Roosevelt CSG and the Essex Amphibious Ready Group departed the region in mid-October. The Kearsarge ARG entered 5th Fleet on Nov. 1 and began air strikes with Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers about two weeks later, after a one-month gap in naval air power operations.
F-35B Integration, Larger Fleet Size Create Opportunities To Rethink How Fleet Operates
– USNI News – The Navy and Marine Corps amphibious fleet is on the cusp of two major changes – the introduction of the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter and the growth of the fleet from 30 to 33 ships – that will change the way the fleet trains and fights.
Chinese Submarine Practiced Missile Attack on USS Reagan
– Washington Free Beacon – A Chinese attack submarine conducted a simulated cruise missile attack on the aircraft carrier USS Reagan during a close encounter several weeks ago
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