– US Naval War College Review – Characterized by cost overruns, delivery delays, and, initially, reduced capabilities, the Type 45 program has become a symbol in the United Kingdom for mismanagement of procurement.
US Navy – Print Me a Cruiser!
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The 3D printing revolution will radically change naval construction and logistics.
Chinese Navy – Race to the North: China's Arctic Strategy and its Implications
– US Naval War College Review – Non-arctic states, including China, India, and Italy, as well as the European Union collectively, are making preparations to exploit a seasonally ice-free Arctic, thus complicating the Arctic’s already fragile security environment. As the Finnish Foreign Minister stated in 2009, “the Arctic is evolving from a regional frozen backwater into a global hot issue.” Most notable among these external actors is the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which has maintained a vast, well-funded Arctic research apparatus since the mid-1990s and has invested heavily in Arctic-resource projects in recent years. For China’s energy import–dependent economy, Arctic resources and sea-lanes present a welcome strategic remedy. In light of the nation’s growing Arctic interests, Chinese leaders have begun to promulgate the notion that China is a “near-Arctic state” and a “stakeholder” in Arctic affairs. Notwithstanding China’s assertiveness with respect to its Arctic interests, important questions remain as to how it will pursue these ambitions, as it possesses neither Arctic territory nor the ability to vote on official policy at the Arctic Council. Cognizant of these inherent disadvantages, the PRC is leveraging its economic, political, and diplomatic might in order to secure for itself a say in Arctic affairs.
Chinese Navy – Show of Force—or Just for Show?
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The newly launched Chinese aircraft carrier appears to be merely symbolic and nothing more—at least for now.
Miscellaneous – Naval Operations in Peacetime – Not Just Warfare Lite
– US Naval War College Review – The role of naval power in peacetime today is much different from what it was in the days of Mahan, but unfortunately naval theory has not kept up…This article argues that naval theorists and practitioners should rethink their approach to naval activities other than war and that they should recognize the importance of fully understanding the source, nature, and implications of the authorities invoked for action during peacetime. A framework is offered as a step toward a reconceptualization of the continuum of naval operations from peace to war.
Geopolitics / Africa – Africa's Leaking Wound
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – An oil-based piracy of unrivaled proportion—born in the corruption and crime of Nigeria—is hemorrhaging across the Gulf of Guinea.
Ground Warfare – In The Crosshairs
– New Yorker – Chris Kyle, a decorated sniper, tried to help a troubled veteran. The result was tragic. Another look at the long shadow of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Geopolitics – Maritime Commerce Warfare: The Coercive Response of the Weak?
– US Naval War College Review – This article examines the evolution—and the conceptual links to the present— of the theory and practice of commerce warfare from the seventeenth century to the eve of World War I.
US Navy – Strategic Cooperation: Everybody Wins
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Deep yet pragmatic cooperation with our allies and partners could bring surprising strategic benefits—even under fiscal austerity.
Geopolitics – In Defense of Henry Kissinger
– The Atlantic – Robert D. Kaplan says he was the 20th century’s greatest 19th-century statesman.
Chinese Navy – Deepwater Oil Rigs as Strategic Weapons
– US Naval War College Review – Wang Yilin, chairman of the China National offshore oil Corporation (CNooC), reportedly told an audience at CNooC’s headquarters in Beijing in May that large-scale deepwater rigs are “our mobile national territory and a strategic weapon.” An interesting look at how this may be true…
US Marine Corps – Beware of Achilles
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – A combat commander reflects on mission success in Afghanistan.
US Navy – AirSea Battle’s Battle
– Air Force – The air and maritime concept is maturing, but must fight off interservice rivalries and Pentagon politics.
Geopolitics / Economic Warfare – Like Strangers Trapped in a Dark Room
– US Naval War College Review – A review of economic warfare in World War I, with lessons that can be applied to today.
US Navy – Abandon the Littorals . . . To Robots!
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Littorals are increasingly dangerous to naval forces. The proliferation of sophisticated shore- and ship-launched antiship missiles, asymmetric tactics such as the fast-boat swarm, and sophisticated anti-access/area denial technologies, makes these areas more difficult to penetrate and dominate. Though few groups or nations can challenge or threaten the U.S. Navy on or below blue water, the risks presented today to our manned warships by the green and brown waters of the world are neither negligible nor cheap to mitigate.
DoD Sheds First Clear Light On AirSea Battle: Warfare Unfettered
– Breaking Defense – Like the Holy Trinity or the designated hitter rule, the concept known as AirSea Battle has been much discussed but little understood. The Defense Department released an official and unclassified summary of the concept for the first time this evening on a Navy website . AirSea Battle would break down longstanding barriers: barriers to cooperation among the four armed services, barriers separating domains of conflict like submarine warfare and cyberspace, and, most problematically, barriers that have kept past crises from escalating to greater destruction and even, ultimately, to nuclear war.
US Navy – Aye, Navy Robot
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Here are steps the U.S. Navy must take to realize the vision of autonomous systems.
US Navy – Pentagon Works To Expand Aegis BMD’s Reach
– DefenseTech – The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy are developing next-generation Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) hardware and software along with a longer-range interceptor missile engineered to massively increase the protective envelope against intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats, service officials said.
Russian Navy – Russia to send nuclear submarines to southern seas
– Reuters – Russia plans to resume nuclear submarine patrols in the southern seas after a hiatus of more than 20 years following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Saturday, in another example of efforts to revive Moscow’s military.
US Navy – Navy ships form first line of missile defense
– Virginian Pilot – The USS Stethem is one of two warships in the western Pacific that are responsible for detecting, tracking and, if necessary, shooting down a ballistic missile launched by Pyongyang. And they represent the first line of defense for U.S. allies and territories in a region that has become increasingly nervous as North Korea has ratcheted up its rhetoric and threats in recent months.
US Navy – Pacific Prologue
– Aviation Week – It’s often said that the past is prologue and U.S Navy Secretary Ray Mabus recently highlighted that sentiment when he visited Singapore to help trumpet the arrival there of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom and the importance of the U.S. Pacific pivot.
Fourth Generation Warfare – 4GW is Alive and Well
– Slightly East of New – Bill Lind argues Fourth Generation Warfare is alive and well…
US Navy – Command And Control
– Aviation Week – The Freedom never had to endure a hurricane on the way to Singapore, but the ship certainly has gone through a tempestuous set of trials and tribulations. During transit, the ship suffered a series of power outages, and once in Singapore the Freedom was sidelined by a coolant leak that also apparently cut short the ship’s initial extended underway.
US Coast Guard – Coast Guard To Navy: Arctic’s Covered; White House OKs Arctic Icebreaker
– Breaking Defense – While the Navy pivots to the Pacific, the Coast Guard has got their northern flank: the once icebound but now rapidly opening waters of the Arctic Ocean, with its new opportunities for oil, gas, and trade through the fabled Northwest Passage. For the chronically underfunded and “oversubscribed” service, however, the challenge is rebuilding Arctic skills and capabilities that have atrophied for decades – including construction of a new heavy-duty icebreaker that might cost up to a $1 billion, said Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Robert Papp.
Spanish Navy – Spain just spent $680 million on a submarine that can’t swim
– Quartz – One of Spain’s largest defense splurges may also be one of its most embarrassing. After spending nearly one-third of a $3 billion budget to build four of the world’s most advanced submarines, the project’s engineers have run into a problem: the submarines are so heavy that they would sink to the bottom of the ocean.
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