– The Economist – Piracy off the coast of Somalia is getting worse. Time to act.
Indian Navy – Indian navy seizes pirates' Indian Ocean mothership
– Indian Navy – Indian navy seizes pirates’ Indian Ocean mothership – More than 20 pirates have been captured and some two dozen hostages rescued from a hijacked Thai fishing trawler in the Indian Ocean, the Indian defence ministry has said.
Afghanistan – Letter From Kabul: The Great Afghan Bank Heist
– New Yorker – Excellent analysis by Dexter Filkins of the corruption that permeates the Afghan government. The telling quote:
“The allegations against many appear to confirm wider suspicions that the vast army of private gunmen here, many hired to escort supply convoys headed for NATO military bases, often accomplish their work by bribing the Taliban to hold their fire. These bribes are believed by officials here and in Washington to be one of the main sources of the Taliban’s income. One Western diplomat told me that bribes paid to Taliban commanders by the private security contractors, along with the other ways the Taliban extort Western money, are themselves enough to finance a robust insurgency. “It costs NATO a hundred and forty thousand dollars to keep a soldier in the field for a year, and a Taliban fighter a fraction of that,” he said. “If just ten per cent of that money gets to the Taliban—through bribes or extortion or whatever—that’s enough to keep five Taliban fighters in the field.””
Piracy – No stopping them
– The Economist – For all the efforts to combat it, Somali piracy is posing an ever greater threat to the world’s shipping.
Piracy – Cloudy, Slight Chance of Pirates
– Defense Technology International – If the U.S. Navy has it way, it will soon be able to predict pirate attacks against civilian ships by combining wind, wave, and water current data with human and surveillance intel, and feeding the mix into algorithms that take into account pirate tactics, the time of day they normally attack, and the range of their vessels.
US Navy – Aircraft Carriers Face Growing Threats
– Aviation Week and Space Technology – On the American ballistic submarine USS Maine in waters off the Florida coast not too long ago, two submariners eyed a U.S. aircraft carrier through their periscope in the roiling sea. “I think it’s the Washington,” one submariner said. “It doesn’t matter — it doesn’t know we’re here,” the other replied, eyeing the carrier through the scope. “Bang,” he said. “You’re dead.”
US Navy – USS Abraham Lincoln provides air support to Afghanistan
– BBC – When British troops in Helmand need air support, it doesn’t only come from airfields within Afghanistan itself – it may come from a floating runway 500 miles away.
US Navy – Pacific Push
– Air Force – A force buildup on Guam anchors a broad US military strategy to keep China in check.
Pakistani Navy – The forgotten sea frontier
– The News – A look at the Pakistani Navy’s current world view.
US Navy – The Wrong Ship at the Wrong Time
– US Naval Institute Proceedings – It is clear that the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program cannot live up to expectations. Yet the surface Navy still badly needs low-end ships for littoral and maritime-security missions.
Geopolitics / China – When China Ruled the World
– Esquire – Thomas P. M. Barnett on why the “China Century” will be the shortest on record
US Navy – The Strategic Implications of Obscurants
– US Naval War College Review – A very interesting article looking at how to use low-cost and cheap obscurants to defeat Chinese antiship cruise missiles and antiship ballistic missiles.
US Navy – Small-boat simulator tests Little Creek crew's mettle
– US Navy – Small-boat simulator tests Little Creek crew’s mettle – More and more, the Navy is turning to simulators to train its sailors. Its Expeditionary Combat Command, which oversees the maritime security teams, owns more than 100. They can replicate everything from interacting with locals in Afghanistan to operating a crane during a humanitarian mission, responding to small-arms fire in a war zone or leading a supply convoy in Iraq.
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan: Britain of the Far East?
– The Diplomat – In the third of a series on Asia-Pacific navies, Alessio Patalano argues that Japan has had no choice but to develop a powerful navy.
US Navy – Why The F-35B Is In Trouble
– Defense Technology International – Bill Sweetman’s update on the state of the F-35B STOVL variant.
Geopolitics / Tunisia – One Small Revolution
– New York Times – Robert D. Kaplan writes that the West stands captivated by Tunisia, where a month of peaceful protests by secular working- and middle-class Arabs has toppled a dictator, raising hopes that this North African country of 10 million will set off democracy movements throughout a region of calcified dictatorships. But before we envision a new Middle East remade in the manner of Europe 1989, it is worth cataloguing the pivotal ways in which Tunisia is unique.
Malaysian Navy – Malaysia navy foils ship hijack attempt, seizes pirates
– BBC – Malaysia says its navy commandos have foiled an attempted hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Aden, rescuing 23 crew and capturing seven Somali pirates.
South Korean Navy – South Korea rescues Samho Jewelry crew from pirates
– BBC – South Korean navy commandos have stormed a cargo ship which had been seized by pirates in the Arabian Sea.
US Navy – Breakthrough reported in Navy laser weapon technology
– Virginian Pilot – A technological breakthrough at Los Alamos National Laboratory could pave the way for megawatt-class lasers, which would be used to provide highly precise shipboard defense without fear of running out of ammunition.
Afghanistan – The Way Out of Afghanistan
– New York Review of Books – Ahmed Rashid on the current situation in Afghanistan.
Chinese Navy – China largely restores aircraft carrier
– Washington Post – China has taken a major step toward commissioning its first aircraft carrier by largely completing the restoration of a derelict ship purchased from Ukraine.
US Marines – The Challenges of Small-Unit Patrolling in Afghanistan
– New York Times – CJ Chivers shares video of a Marine ambush in Afghanistan.
US Marines – Amid struggle with budget cuts, lawmakers oppose plan to drop Marine vehicle
– Washington Post – The backroom congressional battle over Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’s plan to eliminate the Marine Corps’ multibillion-dollar amphibious Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle will be fought out at the same time as the Corps wrestles with how to shrink its forces.
Information Warfare – Israel Tests on Worm Called Crucial in Iran Nuclear Delay
– New York Times – The Dimona complex in the Negev desert is famous as the heavily guarded heart of Israel’s never-acknowledged nuclear arms program, where neat rows of factories make atomic fuel for the arsenal. Over the past two years, according to intelligence and military experts familiar with its operations, Dimona has taken on a new, equally secret role — as a critical testing ground in a joint American and Israeli effort to undermine Iran’s efforts to make a bomb of its own. Behind Dimona’s barbed wire, the experts say, Israel has spun nuclear centrifuges virtually identical to Iran’s at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich uranium. They say Dimona tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, a destructive program that appears to have wiped out roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and helped delay, though not destroy, Tehran’s ability to make its first nuclear arms.
Chinese Navy – J-20 – The Dragon Gets Airborne
– Defense Technology International – Nice article by Bill Sweetman on how the real purpose of the new Chinese J-20 stealth fighter may be to serve as an anti-access area-denial weapon against the US Navy.
You must be logged in to post a comment.