– Aviation Week – One of the more innovative features of the BAE Systems Global Combat Ship, formally known to the Royal Navy (RN) as the Type 26, might be its name. It could be argued that it’s part of an Orwellian trend toward vague and generic language, but it also (from BAE’s perspective) deals with the fact that the meanings of “frigate” and “destroyer” have become confused, mainly because they were historically defined in terms of multi-class fleets that, for most operators, are a thing of the past. There’s no point in setting up a terminological barrier to export sales, whether a customer wants to seem powerful (destroyer), frugal (frigate) or peace-loving (patrol ship).
US Navy – Run Silent, Go Deep: Drone-Launching Subs To Be Navy's 'Wide Receivers'
– AOL Defense – This Saturday the Navy will christen its newest nuclear-powered submarine, the $2.6 billion USS Minnesota at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia. Countless movies have cemented the popular image of subs as stealthy underwater killers, stalking hapless surface vessels with periscope and torpedo. But today’s Navy is experimenting with launching robotic mini-subs and even unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Virginia-class attack subs like the Minnesota.
US Navy – U.S. Navy Seeks Undersea Aegis-like System
– Aviation Week – The U.S. Navy would like to develop an underwater system similar to the Aegis shield that protects its surface ships with a bubble of situational awareness, says Navy Oceanographer Rear Adm. Jonathan White, director of oceanography, space and maritime domain awareness.
US Navy – The Coming Of The America Class: A Driver of Innovation
– AOL Defense – A christening of a ship of the line is rare. When it happens, thoughts of how that ship might be used, where it might operate and how it might make new naval history are part of the excitement.
US Navy – Navy’s Newest Assault Ship Moonlights as Pint-Sized Aircraft Carrier
– Wired – She’s 844 feet long, 106 feet wide and displaces 45,000 tons of water. The future USS America, christened in Mississippi on Saturday, is technically an amphibious assault ship, a type of vessel optimized for carrying Marines into battle. But subtle changes under America‘s steel skin mean she can double as a small aircraft carrier, capable of sustaining a short air war all on her own.
US Marines – U.S. amphibious unit off Middle East
– UPI – The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit sailed into the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, which includes the Persian Gulf, the overall Middle East and eastern Africa. The 15th MEU has about 2,400 troops aboard three transport ships, including the amphibious assault ship USS Peleilu.
Iranian Navy – Iran naval task force 'docks in Sudan'
– BBC – An Iranian naval task force has docked in Sudan, carrying with it a “message of peace and security to neighbouring countries.”
Afghanistan – Afghan security force’s rapid expansion comes at a cost as readiness lags
– Washington Post – Top Pentagon leaders, White House advisers and members of Congress from both parties have long regarded the rapid expansion of Afghanistan’s army and police as a crucial element of the U.S. exit strategy. For years, they reasoned that generating a force of 352,000 soldiers and policemen would enable the Afghan government to keep fighting Taliban insurgents after U.S. and NATO troops end their combat mission. The U.S. military has nearly met its growth target for the Afghan forces, but they are nowhere near ready to assume control of the country. No Afghan army battalion is capable of operating without U.S. advisers. Many policemen spend more time shaking down people for bribes than patrolling. Front-line units often do not receive the fuel, food and spare parts they need to function. Intelligence, aviation and medical services remain embryonic. And perhaps most alarming, an increasing number of Afghan soldiers and policemen are turning their weapons on their U.S. and NATO partners. As a consequence, several U.S. officers and civilian specialists who have worked with those forces have started to question the wisdom of the 352,000 goal. To them, the obsession with size has been at the root of much that has gone wrong with the Afghan security services.
US Navy – Sailors learn the art of multi-tasking on LCS
– San Diego Union Tribune – Hey, sailor, what’s your job on the ship? If the vessel is the Fort Worth, the U.S. Navy’s third and newest littoral combat ship, the answer may be: Which job?
Dutch Navy – Rotterdam vs. Dhow, 1:0
– Aviation Week – Yesterday’s engagement between a suspect dhow and the Royal Netherlands Navy landing ship dock Hr.Ms. Rotterdam was an uneven fight, despite sustained fire by suspected pirates.
US Navy – Pressure on for Navy’s futuristic warship
– San Diego Union Tribune – Third in littoral combat line represents lessons learned from 2 prototypes.
US Navy – 8,000 Miles, 96 Hours, 3 Dead Pirates: Inside a Navy SEAL Rescue
– Wired – The precision killing of the three pirates by six members of SEAL Team Six, the same unit that would later kill Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan hideout, has rarely been described in detail. Retired Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, who commanded U.S. naval forces off Somalia during the Maersk Alabama standoff, devotes 45 pages of his new book Pirate Alley to the people, methods, equipment and even politics behind Phillips’ daring rescue.
US Coast Guard – In a warming Arctic, U.S. faces new security and safety concerns
– Los Angeles Times – Formerly ice-clogged Arctic waters are now navigable, opening a rush for oil and mineral resources — and raising heretofore unknown security concerns in the U.S. Far North.
Terrorism – Five myths about the bin Laden raid
– Washington Post – Mark Bowden debunks 5 myths about the raid on Osama bin Laden.
US Navy – Back to the Future: The U.S. Navy Returns to The Philippines
– The Diplomat – A return to a familiar port of call serves as another reminder of the United States continued “rebalance” towards Asia.
US Navy – Navy Fears Pentagon Neglects New Missile Sub; SSBN(X) Must Survive Almost 80 Years
– AOL Defense – Right now, the Navy is designing the ballistic missile submarine that will provide 70 percent of the nation’s nuclear deterrent until 2080. Yet even as the service prepares to award research and development contracts this December, the submarine community is deeply worried that the rest of the military is neglecting the program — which has already had to make some painful trade-offs on schedule, numbers, and capability. And the service has not even started work on whatever nuclear missile the new sub will end up carrying for the latter half of its life.
US Navy – George Washington cruises disputed Asian seas
– Associated Press – A U.S. aircraft carrier group cruised through the disputed South China Sea on Saturday in a show of American power in waters that are fast becoming a focal point of Washington’s strategic rivalry with Beijing.
Miscellaneous – Autonomous Sea Platforms Emerge At Euronaval
– Aviation Week – Unmanned systems at sea offer advantages and face challenges that are often different from those associated with airborne and ground-based systems. For example, in a patrol mission that calls for long endurance at low speed, the size of a manned ship is largely driven by the need to provide tolerable accommodation and stability for the crew—a limit that does not apply to an unmanned surface vessel (USV).
Chinese Navy – East China Sea tension: China conducts naval exercises
– BBC – China is conducting naval exercises in the East China Sea, state media report, amid heightened tensions with Japan over islands both claim.
Chinese Navy – Delicate Touch: Flight Operations Begin on China’s First Aircraft Carrier
– Wall Street Journal – Less than a month after China officially commissioned the Liaoning, its first aircraft carrier, photos appearing to show aircraft operating over the carrier have raised a host of questions, including how long it might take for China to make the carrier fully operational.
US Navy – U.S. Navy, Allies Find Less Than Half the Sea Mines Planted in Key Exercise
– PBS NewsHour – A major international naval exercise last month in and around the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, led by the U.S. Navy with more than 30 other nations participating, located fewer than half of the practice mines laid at sea.
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan monitoring Chinese warships near southern island
– Associated Press – Japanese military officials said they were keeping a close eye on seven Chinese warships spotted in waters off a southern island Tuesday. It was unclear whether the ship movements were related to a territorial dispute that has prompted both countries to show off their maritime muscles.
Terrorism – The Hunt For “Geronimo”
– Vanity Fair – President Obama saw it as a “50–50” proposition. Admiral Bill McRaven, mission commander, knew something would go wrong. So how did the raid that killed bin Laden get green-lighted? In an adaptation from his new book, Mark Bowden weaves together accounts from Obama and top decision-makers for the full story behind the daring operation.
US Navy – Return Fire on the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship
– Time – A US Navy Admiral tries to set the record straight on the Littoral Combat Ship.
Russian Navy – New Stealth Frigate Ready For Arctic
– Barents Observer – Russia’s first stealth technology frigate «Admiral Gorshkov» is ready for sea trials in the Barents Sea before entering service in the Northern Fleet.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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