– USNI News – The Australian government has confirmed its tracking a flotilla of Russian Navy warships operating in international waters near Australia’s northern coast.
US Navy – Senior intel officer removed after controversial comments on China
– Navy Times – A senior Navy intelligence leader whose provocative comments this year about Chinese bellicosity stirred an international controversy has been shelved in the wake of an investigation into his conduct.
Chinese Navy – China Commissions New Sub Hunting Corvette
– USNI News – China has commissioned a corvette variant focused on anti submarine warfare (ASW), expanding the capability of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to find and hunt submarines in the South China Sea.
US Coast Guard – Nation’s last big icebreaker endures despite age
– Associated Press – The last U.S. icebreaker capable of crushing through the thickest ice of the Antarctic and Arctic resumed its mission after the latest repairs to postpone its already past-due retirement.
US Navy – Run Silent, Run Scared: ‘A Crucial Year’ For Navy’s New Nuke Sub
– Breaking Defense – “No one should be sleeping comfortably at night,” Rear Adm. Dave Johnson warned Navy submariners and contractors today. For the fleet’s top priority program, the replacement for the aging Ohio-class nuclear missile submarine, fiscal 2015 “is a crucial year,” the Program Executive Officer for all submarine programs said this morning.
US Navy – ‘Third Offset’ Addresses Operational and Economic Challenges
– Aviation Week – The proposed new Pentagon strategy is called Third Offset because it is considered as important as two previous strategic changes that took advantage of U.S. technological leadership to overcome operational challenges: President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “new look” in the 1950s, which relied on nuclear weapons to offset Soviet force numbers, and the “offset strategy” pursued by Defense Secretary Harold Brown in the late 1970s, which combined precision weapons with new reconnaissance systems to disrupt potential Warsaw Pact aggression in Europe.
US Navy – Can the Navy’s $12 Billion Stealth Destroyer Stay Afloat?
– Daily Beast – The U.S. Navy is slowly preparing the first of its massive, 15,500-ton Zumwalt-class stealth destroyers for sea next year. But questions remain about many of the technologies onboard the new ships. First and foremost: can the thing even stay afloat?
US Marines – Marine Corps Modernization Challenge: How To Get Ashore In The Future
– Forbes – When General Joseph F. Dunford became the 36th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps at a ceremony in Washington last week, he inherited a dilemma that predecessor James Amos struggled with throughout his four-year tenure. Superficially, it’s a question about what kind of amphibious combat vehicles the service should be buying. In reality, it’s a debate about the future of the Marine Corps. Having organized its combat units for rapid response and forcible entry from the sea, the Corps faces a growing challenge in sustaining its core amphibious-warfare mission due to shrinking budgets and the increasingly sophisticated defenses of littoral adversaries.
US Marines – Marine Corps Prepares New CH-53K for First Flight
– Defense Tech – The Marine Corps is conducting ground, humidity and endurance testing on its new CH-53K Super Stallion heavy lift helicopter slated to fly next year.
US Navy – NATO seeks more U.S. ships
– Navy Times – NATO’s sea boss wants to see more of the U.S. Navy in Europe.
US Navy – New Strategy Would Cut F-35s, Boost Bombers and UAVs
– Aviation Week – Today’s U.S. power-projection forces, and those currently planned for the future, will not be able to operate effectively or efficiently against anti-access/area-denial (A2AD) weapons and doctrine being developed by China and other adversaries, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) that details a new approach to defense strategy known as Third Offset.
Instead, the Pentagon should immediately refocus its development efforts on a global surveillance and strike (GSS) system based on long-range, very stealthy aircraft—including the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) and a new family of unmanned combat air systems (UCAS)—and submarines. Tactical fighter, surface combatant and heavy land-force programs should be cut back, the report suggests, to pay the bills and rebalance the force.
US Navy – Relearning Anti-Submarine Warfare
– The Diplomat – The U.S. Navy’s post-Cold War holiday from history is drawing to a close—if it hasn’t expired already.
US Navy – You Say You Want A Revolution
– Aviation Week – Bill Sweetman writes that nowhere other than inside the Pentagon will you find more truth in Machiavelli’s warning about the hazards of change: “There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage … For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new.”
Russian Navy – Russian Missile Cruiser to Conduct Live Fire Drills in Rare Visit to South China Sea
– USNI News – The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet is currently in the South China Sea with plans to conduct air defense and “rocket, artillery and torpedo weapons,” drills in a rare visit to the region.
Chinese Navy – China’s Dangerous Game
– The Atlantic – The country’s intensifying efforts to redraw maritime borders have its neighbors, and the U.S., fearing war. But does the aggression reflect a government growing in power—or one facing a crisis of legitimacy? An excellent review of the situation in the South China Sea.
Portugese Navy – Portugal navy escorts Russian ship away from coast
– Portugese Navy – Portugal navy escorts Russian ship away from coast – A Portuguese navy ship has escorted a Russian oceanic research vessel away from Portugal’s maritime economic zone.
Russian Navy – CNO Greenert: Russian Navy ‘Very Busy in the Undersea Domain’
– USNI News – The Russian Navy’s submarine force has been more active this year against the backdrop of soured relationships with the West over the ongoing internal conflicts in Ukraine and the forced annexation of Crimea by Russia, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert said on Tuesday.
Pakistani Navy – PNS Alamgir to participate in joint naval exercise in Turkey
– Express Tribune – Pakistan Navy Ship Alamgir (FFG-260) will participate in the Mavi Balina-14 joint naval exercise in Turkey from November 6-15.
Indonesian Navy – Turnkey Not Smorgasbord
– Aviation Week – In the competition for the most futuristic looking vessel at the Euronaval show being held this week in Paris I would put the clear front runner as the Fast Attack Craft (FAC) on the Saab stand. Designed for naval patrol, anti-piracy and surveillance missions in peace time the ship would be a missile ship to launch Saab’s RBS15 Mk3 anti-ship missiles in war time. And for added interest the vessel has a fascinating design history.
US Marines – U.S. Marines to Retire Harrier Fleet Earlier Than Planned, Extend Life of Hornets
– USNI News – The U.S. Marine Corps will phase out the Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump jet by 2025 — about five years earlier than planned — and will instead extend the life of its fleet of aging Boeing F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters.
Taiwanese Navy – Taiwan to Build Six New MCM Ships with U.S. and Italian Help, China Displeased
– USNI News – Taiwan will start building a new fleet of six mine counter measure (MCM) ships with help from Lockheed Martin and Italian shipbuilder Intermarine S.p.A., Lockheed announced last week during the EURONAVAL 2014 show in Paris.
US Navy – U.S. Navy Version of F-35 Lands on Carrier for First Time
– USNI News – Video of the first F-35C trap.
Iranian Navy – China and Iran Deepening Naval Ties, Iran Calls for Bilateral Blue Water Exercise
– USNI News – Last week’s meeting between the heads of the Iranian Navy and the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in Beijing are the latest in a bilateral campaign to increase military to military cooperation and a recognition of growing Chinese interests in the Middle East.
US Marines – Exercise Bold Alligator Kicks Off With Marines Taking On The Unknown
– FoxtrotAlpha – The USMC’s biggest exercise of the year is underway off the coast of Virginia. Bold Alligator ’14 brings together a wide array of Marine and Naval capabilities, along with those of other services and international partners. But this year’s exercise is unlike 2012’s; instead of a traditional beach assault, players will be stepping into the unknown.
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan Builds Response to Chinese Area-Denial Strategy
– Defense News – Japan’s response to Chinese anti-access/area-denial threats rest on three planks: increasingly large helicopter carriers, next-generation 3,300-ton Soryu-class submarines and new Aegis destroyers.
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