– BBC – Vietnam is holding live-fire drills in the South China Sea amid high tensions with China over disputed waters.
US Navy – U.S. Navy Shipbuilder Bets On Composites
– Aviation Week – The sign outside the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Composites Facility in Gulfport, Miss., states the company’s optimism about the potential for advanced materials in U.S. Navy shipbuilding: “Composites, the Wave of the Future.”
Air Warfare – U-Turn
– Armed Forces Journal – P.W. Singer writes that unmanned systems could be casualties of budget pressures
Geopolitics / Pakistan – The Double Game
– New Yorker – The unintended consequences of American funding in Pakistan.
Intelligence – The Secret Sharer
– New Yorker – An inside look at the workings of the NSA. Is Thomas Drake an enemy of the state? Drake, a former senior executive at the National Security Agency, faces some of the gravest charges that can be brought against an American citizen.
US Navy – Twilight of the $UPERfluous Carrier
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – With smaller and lighter unmanned aircraft coming into the mix, the United States can also deploy smaller and lighter—and less expensive—ships to carry them.
Geopolitics / China – The West and the Rest: the Changing Global Balance of Power in Historical Perspective
– Chatham House – Niall Ferguson on the future of China.
Geopolitics / China – The China Challenge
– Wall Street Journal – Henry Kissinger on the future of China.
Royal Navy – Changing Needs Influence Warship Design
– Aviation Week – Warship design in much of the world may be entering a new era, with requirements driven less by peer-on-peer sea battles and more by lessons of the past decade, combined with economic constraints.
Royal Navy – Lusty at sea
– Defense Technology International – HMS Illustrious, known in the Royal Navy as Lusty, will be returning to sea on June 3 after 16 months of a €45 million modernization of her electronics, data processing systems and living quarters at the Scottish shipyard Babcock.
Miscellaneous – Small is the new big in naval shipyards
– The Economist – A look at the changing nature of naval shipbuilding.
French Navy – Das Boot? Das Running Shoe, More Like
– Defense Technology International – French shipbuilder DCNS raised eyebrows at last October’s Euronaval show with its extraordinary SMX-25 concept for a submarine like no contemporary design – sharp-prowed, with a big but low sail and a jet-like stern. At the IMDEX show in Singapore last week, DCNS gave a few more details of the design.
Miscellaneous – Sealift Extends Lifeline to a Rebel City in Libya
– New York Times – CJ Chivers on how the NATO navies are keeping the sea lifeline to the city of Misurata open.
Royal Navy – Nato steps up air strikes on Tripoli
– BBC – Britain and France are sending attack helicopters to Libya. Britain is sending AH-64 Apaches that will operate off of HMS Ocean; France is sending Tigres and Gazelles to operate off of Tonnerre.
Pakistani Navy – Troops end attack on Karachi naval air base
– BBC – Pakistani troops have ended a siege by militants who attacked a naval air force base in Karachi, killing at least 16 people – including 10 soldiers and destroying several P-3C Orion aircraft.
Royal Navy – Royal Navy ends Operation Telic mission in Iraq
– BBC – The UK’s military operation in Iraq is to end within hours when the Royal Navy stops training Iraqi sailors.
US Navy – U.S. Navy drones: Coming to a carrier near China?
– Associated Press – The U.S. is developing aircraft carrier-based drones that could provide a crucial edge as it tries to counter China’s military rise.
Miscellaneous – Nato strikes hit eight Gaddafi warships in ports
– BBC – Nato air strikes have hit eight warships belonging to Col Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in co-ordinated raids on Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte.
Piracy – Got game? Navy looking for ideas to fight piracy
– Virginian Pilot – The Navy is turning to modern online gaming technology to help solve one of the most ancient scourges on the high seas: piracy.
US Navy – Decatur commander relishes 'firsts'
– San Diego Union Tribune – Cmdr. Shanti Sethi is the first Indian American woman to command a U.S. Navy warship. So when Sethi’s ship, the destroyer Decatur, docked in India this spring, it was a singular moment in history.
Miscellaneous – Sea-based IEDs Make Debut Off Libyan Coast
– Defense Technology International – Pro-Kaddafi forces have placed their first sea-based improvised explosive devices.
French Navy – First of Class FREMM Successfully Completes First Sea-trials
– Defense Technology International – The first of class FREMM Aquitaine has just completed three weeks of sea-trials and according to DCNS, which built the frigate, the French navy is very pleased, notably with its maneuverability and propulsion.
Geopolitics / Middle East – The Anti-Conspiracist’s Guide to Revolution in the Arab World.
– Esquire – Thomas P.M. Barnett analyses the revolutions in the Arab world.
Piracy – Somali piracy costs $8.3bn a year, report says
– BBC – Piracy off the Somali coast costs the international community up to $8.3bn (£5.1bn) a year, a new report from the Geopolicity consultancy estimates.
Royal Navy – Apache Back At Sea
– Defense Technology International – The U.K. has for the first time fired a Hellfire from a ship-based WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter as it revives the concept of operating the system from ships after several years during which the mission lay dormant as the helicopters were heavily tasked performing land-based operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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