– The Diplomat – Last week a senior PLA officer detailed China’s plans for establishing air and sea control over the South China Sea.
Chinese Navy – China establishes ‘air-defence zone’ over East China Sea
– BBC – China has demarcated an “air-defence identification zone” over an area of the East China Sea, covering islands that are also claimed by Japan.
Canadian Navy – The Future of Canada’s Navy
– Real Clear Defense – Maritime power is hardly the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Canada. Yet, Canada’s coastline is the longest in the world, amounting to 243,000 kilometres. With access to three oceans – Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific – the world’s waterways are certainly integral to Canadian security. That the Royal Canadian Navy has been neglected in the budgets of successive Canadian governments has played some part in building the perception of the country as a non-actor in maritime affairs. But the tide may be turning.
Geopolitics / Energy – Pipelines Of Empire
– Forbes – Robert D. Kaplan writes that “To understand the current pressures upon Europe from the east it is necessary to draw a map of energy pipelines.”
US Navy – Navy Shifts Plans to Acquire a Tougher UCLASS
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy appears to have shifted its position on the requirements for its next generation carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Instead of developing the planned Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) to only conduct operations in uncontested airspace, the service will instead pursue a design that can be adapted over time to operating against higher threat levels.
Operations Other Than War – In the Disaster Zone, Marine V-22s Finally Deliver on Tiltrotor Promise
– War is Boring – Controversial tiltrotors revamping their reputation in The Philippines.
Miscellaneous – Asia’s Submarine Race
– USNI News – Last week’s delivery of the improved Kilo-class submarine Ha Noi to the government of Vietnam was just the latest undersea-vessel acquisition of Asian navies. Asia is in the midst of a submarine buying spree, with most of the major powers planning substantial fleet increases over the next two decades.
Indian Navy – Indian Navy Commissions New Carrier
– USNI News – The Indian Navy has commissioned its Russian-built aircraft carrier in a Saturday ceremony.
Chinese Navy – 1st Sub-launched Nuke Missile Among China’s Recent Strides
– Defense News – For the first time in the country’s history, China’s sea-based nuclear deterrent nears initial operational capability (IOC), according to a forthcoming report by a US congressional commission on China. China’s JL-2 submarine-launched ballistic missile could reach IOC later this year, according to an early draft of the report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Russian Navy – Russia’s Future Subs Could Be Smaller, Quieter, Cheaper—And Totally Unsuitable
– War is Boring – In coming decades, the Russian navy could replace its nuclear-powered submarines with battery-powered models that are smaller, harder to detect and cheaper to build. But the non-nuclear approach to future subs is risky, particularly for under-ice Arctic operations. It’s not for no reason that the world’s leading undersea power, the United States, is committed to an all-nuke sub fleet.
Operations Other Than War – HMS Daring arrives in Philippines to aid Typhoon Haiyan victims
– BBC – British warship HMS Daring has docked in the Philippines to help the UK’s emergency response to Typhoon Haiyan.
Iranian Navy – Gulf Navies Seek Solutions to Iran Midget Sub Threat
– Defense News – Iranian midget submarines are an imminent threat to maritime security in the Arabian Gulf, and regional naval leaders are looking for immediate options “within reach” to counter the threat.
Chinese Navy – J-15 carrier fighter ready for service
– Want China Times – After the Shenyang J-15, China’s first carrier-based fighter aircraft was repainted in military grey, Chinese military analyst Du Wenlong has told the state-run China News Service that the aircraft is almost ready for service in the PLA Navy Air Force.
Vietnamese Navy – Vietnam Takes Delivery of First Kilo Attack Boat
– USNI News – Vietnam has taken delivery of the first of a planned six Project-636 Kilo-class submarines from Russia.
Operations Other Than War – The Navy’s Strategy for Saving the World
– War is Boring – On Nov. 13, 2013, the U.S. Pacific Fleet activated the San Diego-based USNS Mercy, one of America’s two giant hospital ships, to help out in The Philippines after the archipelago nation was devastated by one of history’s biggest recorded storms. Mercy’s deployment is part of wider humanitarian strategy.
Operations Other Than War – Here’s How the U.S. Military Will Help With Typhoon Relief
– War is Boring – How will the U.S. help, though? Here’s a primer, based on announced deployments and previous disaster relief efforts.
Operations Other Than War – Navy Activates Hospital Ship Mercy for Philippines Disaster Relief
– USNI News – The Navy is activating the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) to the Philippines as part of the ongoing U.S. disaster effort following Super Typhoon Haiyan. If ordered to deploy, Mercy would get underway in the next several days and could arrive in the Philippines sometime in December.
Russian Navy – Russia Preps for Arctic ‘Dominance’ With Nuclear Icebreakers and Polar Warships
– War is Boring – On Nov. 4, Russia’s Regional Development Ministry concluded in a report that Moscow was unprepared for a war in the Arctic. Over the next two days, the Kremlin and it partners in the press moved quickly to assure the world that they were stepping up their efforts to establish their military presence in the land of the North Pole — with a nuclear-powered icebreaker and a squadron of warships.
Operations Other Than War – British carrier HMS Illustrious to aid typhoon victims
– BBC – The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious will be sent to help people affected by the typhoon in the Philippines. HMS Illustrious is currently in the Gulf and is expected to arrive in the Philippines on 24 November. The carrier will relieve destroyer HMS Daring, which is already on its way and should arrive on Saturday.
Operations Other Than War – US carrier boosts Philippines relief effort
– BBC – A US aircraft carrier and its escort of two cruisers have arrived off the Philippines coast to help communities devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.
US Navy – An American Submarine Just Slipped Under the Arctic Ice
– War is Boring – Sometime apparently in August, the U.S. Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Seawolf eased out of the port of Bremerton, in Washington State, on what was probably her fifth or sixth deployment since commissioning in 1997. A month later the U.S. Sixth Fleet, in charge of ships in European waters, posted a series of photos to the Website Flickr depicting the U.S. ambassador to Norway, Barry White, touring the 350-foot-long Seawolf pierside at Haakonsvern naval base … in southern Norway. Thousands of miles from Washington State. How Seawolf got to Norway—and what she might have done en route—offer a rare and tantalizing glimpse into some of the most secretive quarters of the most poorly understood aspects of American naval power.
Operations Other Than War – Navy to Send Two Amphibious Ships to the Philippines
– USNI News – The U.S. Navy is preparing two amphibious warships to join the disaster relief effort in the Philippines. USS Germantown (LSD-42) and USS Ashland (LSD-48) will shortly depart from Naval Station Sasebo, Japan and will arrive sometime next week.
US Navy – Take Her Deep: Reforming the U.S. Silent Service
– Stratus Military Reform Project – In 1959, The U.S. Navy commissioned its final diesel-electric submarine combatant, the USS Blueback, which served until 1990. She was the last of her kind in the American Navy because of its insistence, or some would say, dogma, that all combatant submarines must be nuclear powered. After all, diesel-electric submarines are merely surface ships that can submerge only for short periods of time. They are too slow as well, and for these reasons primarily, they are thought to be inferior to nuclear submarines. At least that’s the way the U.S. Navy thinks, but I would like to suggest that this thinking is wrong. Not just wrong, actually, but expensive and unreasonable as well. Conventional submarines, especially those with the incredibly quiet and long lasting Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), are arguably an essential weapon for any modern navy, including the U.S. Navy, for reasons that follow….
Operations Other Than War – U.S., Britain send warships to help Philippine relief efforts
– Reuters – The USS George Washington and HMS Daring are on their way to the Philippines to assist.
US Navy – Navy Selects Virginia Payload Module Design Concept
– USNI News – The Navy has selected a design concept to replace its nuclear guided missile submarines (SSGNs). Late last month NAVSEA and the Navy settled on a design concept for the Virginia Payload Module, a $743 million design change in the Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines (SSN-774) that will eventually replace the current Ohio-class SSGNs as part of the Block V iteration of the attack boat. The design will extend the hull by approximately 70 feet to include four so-called Virginia Payload Tubes (VPT) each containing seven Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs).
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