– USNI News – The Navy’s quest to cut weight from the planned Littoral Combat Ship anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission package is neither the result of weight gain in the planned systems nor a new requirement of the program. The need to reduce at least 15 percent of the weight of the systems is born instead of the service’s decision to use proven systems and always has long held plans to mount a weight reduction.
Japan Looks South: China’s Rise Drives New Strategy
– Breaking Defense – You’d expect the top admiral in the Japan Self-Defense Force to talk about defending Japan. But Adm. Tomohisa Takei surprised me on his latest visit to Washington — his third in 10 months — with a speech that clearly demonstrates how Japan is broadening its strategic perspective. The new view from Tokyo takes in the Indian Ocean and, especially, the disputed South China Sea. Driving this change, of course, is an alarmingly assertive China.
Successful SM-6 Ballistic Missile Defense Test Set To Expand Capability of U.S. Guided Missile Fleet
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency has proved a modified Raytheon Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) missile can not only tackle cruise missiles and aircraft threats but also inbound ballistic missiles.
USS John Warner Shows Off Jumbo Missile Tube During Comissioning
– Foxtrot Alpha – The Virginia Class fast attack submarine, the USS John Warner, was just commissioned into service. She is the second Block III Virginia Class boat to be produced, and has a pair of new huge Virginia Payload Tubes on her bow. These replace twelve individual vertical launch tubes used to fire Tomahawk missiles in previous Virginia Class boats.
Chinese Navy Warship Rammed Two Vietnamese Fishing Vessels
– USNI News – A People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) amphibious warship allegedly rammed two Vietnamese fishing vessels operating near the disputed Spratly Islands in July, according to local press cited in an Office of Naval Intelligence threat to shipping report.
U.S. Scrambles Amphib USS Ashland, 31st MEU Marines to Saipan for FEMA Typhoon Relief Mission
– USNI News – Amphibious warship USS Ashland (LSD-48) and elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are bound for Saipan — at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — to assist in disaster relief following the devastating landfall of Typhoon Soudelor last week.
China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress
– Congressional Research Service – The latest version of Ronald O’Rourke’s analysis of the Chinese Navy.
Iranian warship points weapon at U.S. helicopter
– CNN – An Iranian warship briefly pointed weapons on its deck at a U.S. military helicopter and coalition warship two weeks ago in the Gulf of Aden.
U.S. won’t have aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf for at least 2 months
– CNN – The U.S. Navy will not be able to keep an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf for much of the fall season.
The Type 054/054A Frigate Series: China’s Most Produced and Deployed Large Modern Surface Combatant
– China Sign Post – This report discusses the evolution of the Type 054/054A frigates (FFGs) by examining their roles and missions, research, development, and acquisition, and design process to include foreign assistance that Chinese shipbuilders received on various systems, components, and weapons. We also discuss procurement practices and provide a cost model for the ship, as well as examine implications for future development.
Distributed Lethality Requires Distributed Capability Across the Surface Fleet
– USNI Blog – Rowden’s model of distributed lethality for the surface navy, today’s changing maritime security environment will require a shift in the core focus of the composition of our fleet. Distributed lethality demands that “if it floats, it fights,” according to N96 Director Rear Admiral Peter Fanta. To adequately meet modern challenges, the Navy must invest in a more robust fleet composed of a larger number of small surface combatants (SSCs), in addition to the traditional capital ships.
Is This Semi-Autonomous Mini Submarine The SEALs’ Next Super Weapon?
– Foxtrot Alpha – Meet Proteus, the brainchild of Huntington Ingalls Underwater Solutions Group, Bluefin Robotics and Battelle. This streamlined mini-sub goes far beyond being just another swimmer delivery vehicle, it is a “dual-mode” vehicle that can operate manned or unmanned for a wide array of missions.
What Militarism Means
– American Conservative – William Lind writes that its perfect symbol isn’t Prussia, it’s the F-35.
Southeast Asia’s naval rivalry — India and China
– UPI – Much has been written recently about both the U.S. military/naval “pivot to Asia” and China’s extensive South China Sea maritime assertions, stirring up territorial claims and counter-claims. But if the possibility of a potential U.S.-China maritime confrontation dominates media coverage, another scenario equally unsettling is rising to the surface — increasingly assertive naval power projections by both China and India.
Marines Declare F-35B Operational, But Is It Really Ready For Combat?
– Foxtrot Alpha – The Marine Corp has declared initial operational capability for their first squadron of F-35Bs. The announcement is seen by some as more of PR achievement as the aircraft still has years of testing ahead of it. Others will argue that it represents a major accomplishment for the beleaguered F-35 program. But regardless of who you agree with, the USMC have succeeded at ramming the aircraft through a marker post that has always been a huge point of contention.
US Marines Say F-35 is Ready for War
– Defense One – Seven years late and billions of dollars over its original budget, the Joint Strike Fighter is deemed ready to fight.
Loitering With Intent
– Harper’s – William Arkin writes: “When I look at the digital legions splayed out on a battlefield that is truly global, I see drones and the Data Machine they serve as the greatest threats to our national security, our safety, and our very way of life. If drones instantly ceased to exist, the black boxes at the heart of the Data Machine would still direct manned aircraft and satellites. And yet drones are the proper place to start thinking about our deluded pursuit of perfect war, which is produced by our hubristic endeavor to root out evil everywhere and our increased unwillingness to suffer human sacrifice in the course of making war.”
U.S. Navy Lessons from Libya Informed Australian EA-18G Growler Modifications
– USNI News – The lessons learned from the U.S. Navy’s strikes in Libya informed features on Australia’s planned fleet of a dozen Boeing E/A-18G Growler electronic attack jets.
Russia Mistral: France ‘agrees warship compensation’
– BBC – France has agreed to pay compensation to Russia for cancelling the sale of two warships.
The U.S. Navy Doesn’t Seem to Care That the F-35 Can’t Dogfight
– War is Boring – To the sailing branch, the stealth fighter is a sensor.
Lt. Col. Kate Germano on the Marines and Women
– New York Times – For decades the Marine Corps has tolerated, even encouraged, lower performance from the young women who enlist in its ranks, an insidious gender bias that begins with the way women are treated immediately after they sign up and continues through their training at boot camp. The results are predictable – female Marines risk being less confident and less fully accepted than their male counterparts, because the Corps has failed them from the outset. That is the position of Lt. Col. Kate Germano, an active-duty Marine officer who commanded both a Marine recruiting station in San Diego and a segregated all-female training battalion at Parris Island, the Corps’ boot camp in South Carolina.
V-22 Aerial Refueling System Should Be Ready For Early F-35 Operations Despite 1-Year Delay
– USNI News – The Marine Corps expects to have its V-22 Aerial Refueling System (VARS) ready for early F-35B operations despite a one-year delay in securing funding.
Navy Creates New Ballistic Missile and Air Defense Task Force for Europe
– USNI News – The Navy has created a new task force to address ballistic missile defense and integrated air and missile defense in the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility.
To Defeat China in a Conflict, America Should Study World War II
War is Boring – The U.S. Pacific strategy was to intercept and deny energy resources
China, Russia Planning 20-Ship Naval Exercise in the Sea of Japan in August
– USNI News – China and Russia will conduct their largest joint Pacific exercise in August near Japan, Russian Navy planners announced on Friday.
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