The Atlantic – Why I Love Al Jazeera
Robert D. Kaplan writes that the Arab TV channel is visually stunning, exudes hustle, and covers the globe like no one else. Just beware of its insidious despotism.
Dutch Navy – Bleak Christmas for Dutch naval crew
Radio Netherlands – Bleak Christmas for Dutch naval crew
The crew of a Dutch Royal Navy frigate off the Somali coast is facing the prospect of a bleak Christmas this year. Instead of going home to enjoy the festive season with their families, they are stuck with 13 Somali prisoners on board with no country willing to take them.
(Thanks to Justin for the link!)
Chinese Navy – Using the Land to Control the Sea? Chinese Analysts Consider the Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile
US Naval War College Review – Using the Land to Control the Sea? Chinese Analysts Consider the Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile
For China, the ability to prevent a U.S. carrier strike group from intervening in the event of a Taiwan Strait crisis is critical. Beijing’s immediate strategic concerns have been defi ned with a high level of clarity. The Chinese are interested in achieving an antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) capability because it offers them the prospect of limiting the ability of other nations, particularly the United States, to exert military infl uence on China’s maritime periphery, which contains several disputed zones of core strategic importance to Beijing. ASBMs are regarded as a means by which technologically limited developing countries can overcome by asymmetric means their qualitative inferiority in conventional combat platforms, because the gap between offense and defense is the greatest
here. Today, China may be closer than ever to attaining this capability.
Chinese Navy – China's Antiship Ballistic Missile: Developments and Missing Links
US Naval War College Review – China’s Antiship Ballistic Missile: Developments and Missing Links
China’s pursuit of an antiship ballistic missile (ASBM) has been called a potential “game changer,” a weapon that could single-handedly shift the strategic balance with the United States. A retired U.S. Navy rear admiral asserted as early as 2005 that an ASBM capability could represent “the strategic equivalent of China’s acquiring nuclear weapons in 1964.” Whether or not this is accurate, an effective ASBM capability would undoubtedly constitute a formidable antiaccess weapon against the U.S. Navy in the western Pacifi c, particularly during a conflict over Taiwan. However, as the Chinese literature demonstrates, it would mean more than that. Fully operational ASBM capability along with essential C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance) support would be a barometer of China’s greater military modernization effort, a potential instrument for regional strategic ambitions, and perhaps an important element in tipping the long-term maritime
strategic balance with respect to the United States.
Piracy – EU Looking The Wrong Direction
Information Dissemination – EU Looking The Wrong Direction
A look at just how much the EU piracy patrol is costing off of Somalia – the cost is staggering…
Information Warfare – Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones
Wall Street Journal – Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones
Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.
Wall Street Journal – Officers Warned of Flaw in U.S. Drones in 2004
Vietnamese Navy – Vietnam orders submarines and warplanes from Russia
BBC – Vietnam orders submarines and warplanes from Russia
Vietnam has signed billion-dollar contracts to buy submarines and fighter jets from Russia, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has announced in Moscow.
Geopolitics / Russia – The Bear Still Has Teeth
The Atlantic – The Bear Still Has Teeth
Robert D. Kaplan writes that as the Obama administration’s recent scrapping of plans for an Eastern European missile defense system makes clear, while Poland and the Czech Republic may be our allies, it is mighty Russia to whom we are wise to defer.
Intelligence – Who's in Big Brother's Database?
New York Review of Books – Who’s in Big Brother’s Database?
James Bamford reviews a history of the National Security Agency. The most interesting part:
“…Instead, what the agency needs most, Aid says, is more power. But the type of power to which he is referring is the kind that comes from electrical substations, not statutes. “As strange as it may sound,” he writes, “one of the most urgent problems facing NSA is a severe shortage of electrical power.” With supercomputers measured by the acre and estimated $70 million annual electricity bills for its headquarters, the agency has begun browning out, which is the reason for locating its new data centers in Utah and Texas. And as it pleads for more money to construct newer and bigger power generators, Aid notes, Congress is balking.
The issue is critical because at the NSA, electrical power is political power. In its top-secret world, the coin of the realm is the kilowatt. More electrical power ensures bigger data centers. Bigger data centers, in turn, generate a need for more access to phone calls and e-mail and, conversely, less privacy. The more data that comes in, the more reports flow out. And the more reports that flow out, the more political power for the agency.
Rather than give the NSA more money for more power—electrical and political—some have instead suggested just pulling the plug…”
Information Warfare – In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security
New York Times – In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security
The United States has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace.
US Navy – Wipeout
The Atlantic – Wipeout
Guam’s surfers fret about the impact of a $15 billion defense buildup on their island.
Wargaming – The military-consumer complex
Economist – The military-consumer complex
Military technology used to filter down to consumers. Now it’s going the other way.
Wargaming – War games
Economist – War games
Consumer products and video-gaming technology are boosting the performance and reducing the price of military equipment.
Piracy – Navy patrols may extend as Somali pirates widen attacks
BBC – Navy patrols may extend as Somali pirates widen attacks
The British admiral in charge of the EU flotilla carrying out anti-piracy patrols off Somalia is considering extending the area which they patrol.
Russian Navy – Russian missile test launch fails
BBC – Russian missile test launch fails
A Russian test launch of the Bulava intercontinental missile has failed, resulting in a white light seen over parts of Norway.
Indian Navy – India to 'fence' naval harbours
BBC – India to ‘fence’ naval harbours
India is planning to secure its naval harbours with electronic fences.
Afghanistan – Afghanistan: Connecting Assumptions and Strategy
US Naval Institute Proceedings – Afghanistan: Connecting Assumptions and Strategy
Three well-known military thinkers re-evaluate what we’ve assumed to know-that just wasn’t so-about a country where we’ve been fighting for eight years.
Indian Navy – Navy ship thwarts pirate attack on US tanker in Gulf
Press Trust of India – Navy ship thwarts pirate attack on US tanker in Gulf
An Indian Navy warship today successfully repulsed a pirate attack on a US-owned tanker in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia coast.
US Marines – Where's the Special Trust and Confidence?
US Naval Institute Proceedings – Where’s the Special Trust and Confidence?
Marines stand in harm’s way and make tough, split-second decisions in battle. Back home, they face seminars about liberty conduct and fastening seatbelts. Is this smart training for “strategic corporals”?
Geopolitics – What Obama's Nobel Really Means
The Atlantic – What Obama’s Nobel Really Means
Robert D. Kaplan writes that a growing contingent wants Obama to lead a post-nationalist global society. If he does things right, the U.S. could become history’s first truly international nation.
US Marines – The Marines' Factory of War
Der Spiegel – The Marines’ Factory of War
Every year, 21,000 fresh recruits are transformed into warriors at the Marine Corps boot camp Parris Island. With US President Barack Obama now boosting troop levels in Afghanistan, many of them will be on a plane within just a few months.
Dutch Navy – Dutch navy arrests Somali pirates
BBC – Dutch navy arrests Somali pirates
The Dutch navy has arrested 13 Somali pirates who attempted to hijack a cargo ship south of Oman.
Piracy – Admiral: Sea too large to stop all pirate attacks
Associated Press – Admiral: Sea too large to stop all pirate attacks
International naval forces will never be able to completely secure the vast area of ocean where Somali pirates are hijacking ships off East Africa, the commander of the EU Naval Force’s counter-piracy efforts said Tuesday.
Russian Navy – Second Russian Stealth Frigate In Works
Defense Technology International – Second Russian Stealth Frigate In Works
The Severnaya Verf shipyard in St Petersburg officially laid down the second Project 22350 frigate for the Russian Navy on November 26. The ship was named Admiral Flota Kasatonov. The first frigate of the class – Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov – has been under construction at Severnaya Verf since 2006.
Indian Navy – Russian shipyard launches Indian stealth frigates 'Teg'
PTI – Russian shipyard launches Indian stealth frigates ‘Teg’
Russia’s defence shipyard “Yantar” has launched first of the three Indian stealth frigates – INS Teg (Sabre) – at a colourful ceremony in the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.
(Thanks to Harry for the link…)
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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