– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The current budget squeeze has revived the debate about whether to reduce the number of the Navy’s aircraft carriers, but the prospective addition of unmanned aerial vehicles to the flattop’s arsenal will make the ships even more valuable in coming years.
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan’s Amphibious Buildup
– USNI News – Japan recently has been in the news as a result of several high-profile territorial incidents with its neighbor China. The incidents involve what Japanese call the Senkaku islands—the Diaoyu islands to the Chinese. Japan has legal ownership of the islands, which China disputes. The incidents have involved non-government activists and the coast guards of both nations, with many fearing an escalation could lead to some form of armed conflict. Spurred on by those developments, Japan has accelerated what have been until now quiet plans to develop a specialized unit of marine infantry.
US Navy – Target of SEAL raid planned attacks in Kenya
– AP – The man U.S. Navy SEALs tried to take down in Somalia over the weekend was a Kenyan who had plotted to attack his country’s parliament building and the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi, according to a Kenyan government intelligence report.
Miscellaneous – How to Sink an Aircraft Carrier
– War is Boring – Sneak up in a submarine, is how.
Iranian Navy – Eyeing Gulf Shipping, Iran’s Mass Producing Submarines
– The Diplomat – Iran is steadily increasing its ability to indigenously produce different kinds of submarines, some of which would likely play an important role in any Iranian effort to close down the Strait of Hormuz. In an interview with the semi-official Fars News Agency this week, Admiral Khordad Hakimi, commander of the Iranian Army’s 4th Naval Zone in the Caspian Sea, said that Iran is mass producing light submarines and has begun constructing medium submarines.
US Navy – U.S. Confirms Involvement in Friday’s Somalia Raid
– USNI News – Pentagon officials confirmed Friday’s raid on a Somalia compound alleged to shelter members of Al Shabab to capture an enigmatic leader known as Ikrimah. The Friday raid by — according to several press reports — Navy SEALs was aborted after the Americans were unable to seize Ikrimah following a firefight with al Shabab loyalists near the port of Baraawe.
Indian Navy – India and the Rise of the Indo-Pacific
– The Diplomat – India will need to demonstrate diplomatic skill in this emerging region. Working with Australia would be a good start.
Miscellaneous – From Syria to South China Sea, navies cruise back into vogue
– Reuters – After a quarter century of Middle Eastern land wars and a sharp fall in big powers’ naval spending after the Cold War, sea power is back in vogue in response to the rise of China and Western reluctance to deploy ground troops in conflicts like Syria.
Misc – Asian superpowers jostle to join the aircraft carrier club
– CNN – Want to be an Asian superpower? Then an aircraft carrier, it seems, is the minimum requirement for joining this elite club.
US Navy – Why America Needs Aircraft Carriers
– Breaking Defense – The Navy’s aircraft carrier programs are once again at the vortex of intense scrutiny and debate, fueled by strategic ambiguity, questions about spending billions of dollars for a single ship during a period of painfully tight budgets, and uncertainty whether advanced technologies and systems will deliver the “goods.” As well, carrier critics point to supposed warfighting vulnerabilities to potential adversaries’ anti-access/area-denial strategies, tactics and weapons as reasons to change the Navy’s course. The critics are short-sighted. Indeed, as long we need to protect vital U.S. interests, citizens and friends in critical world regions from the sea, the nation’s naval forces will project national power in support of national strategy and policy. Because of this, regional commanders continue to ask the question every admiral loves to quote: “where are the carriers?” Certainly, no ship is invulnerable, but the modern carrier is “least vulnerable among equals” and much less at risk than bases ashore. And, while the Navy’s next-generation carriers are pushing technological envelopes and experiencing what some have called “birthing pains,” the service and its industry partners are committed to resolving all issues and getting on with it.
Chinese Navy – China’s Fear Of US May Tempt Them To Preempt
– Breaking Defense – Because China believes it is much weaker than the United States, they are more likely to launch a massive preemptive strike in a crisis. Here’s the other bad news: The current US concept for high-tech warfare, known as Air-Sea Battle, might escalate the conflict even further towards a “limited” nuclear war, says one of the top American experts on the Chinese military.
US Navy – Court clears Navy to build undersea training range
– AP – A federal appeals court on Tuesday cleared the way for the Navy to build a $100 million undersea training range off Georgia and Florida.
US Navy – Naval Aviation's Transition Starts With Why
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – An oncoming wave of multi-mission platforms means greater interoperability—and a necessary sea-change in traditional modes of thinking.
US Navy – Roadmap to the Rebalance
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The Navy needs to take the long view in delineating the ends, ways, and means of its shift to the Pacific.
US Navy – Keeping LCS Running a Matter of Ship and Shore Support
– Defense News – When a generator problem caused a power loss onboard the littoral combat ship Freedom in July, sailors scrambled to get their ship running again. Engines were restarted within a few minutes, but the crew needed to quickly analyze the situation and make a decision — to continue with the underway exercises or return to port where shore-based maintenance teams could fix the problem.
Geopolitics / Islam – Islam’s Civil War
– American Conservative – William Lind writes that America can win it—by staying out.
Geopolitics / Middle East – Kerry's Middle East Obsession
– Geopolitics / Middle East – Kerry’s Middle East Obsession – Robert D. Kaplan writes that John Kerry has made his choice. Chaos in the Middle East is more important to him than historic power shifts in Asia and Europe. Passion, rather than geopolitical vision, drives this secretary of state. And it is a very derivative passion that drives him: one that has its origin in media obsessions.
Geopolitics / Syria – The Shadow Commander
– Geopolitics / Syria – The Shadow Commander – Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he’s directing Assad’s war in Syria.
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – An Amphibious Capability in Japan's Self-Defense Force
– US Naval War College Review – A review of Japan’s current and upcoming amphibious capabilities.
US Navy – Industry concerned about US Navy UCLASS requirements
– Flight International – Concerns are being raised within industry about the new direction mandated by the Pentagon for the US Navy’s unmanned carrier-launched surveillance and strike (UCLASS) aircraft programme.
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan Quietly Builds Limited Counter-A2/AD Capabilities
– Defense News – Although the Japanese military does not have a stated strategy for countering Chinese anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) threats, analysts say its decades-long buildup of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities means it is increasingly able to play such a role.
US Coast Guard – Reinvent the Fifth Armed Service, Quickly
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The U.S. Coast Guard is in critical condition, and it needs several key changes to stop the hemorrhaging.
Miscellaneous – John Boyd’s Art of War
– Miscellaneous – John Boyd’s Art of War – William Lind on why our greatest military theorist only made colonel.
Air Warfare – The Killing Machines
– The Atlantic – Mark Bowden on how to think about drones.
US Navy – Evolving UAVs Allows U.S. to Stay Ahead of the Enemy
– USNI News – Norman Friedman weighs in on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
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