The Times – Cutbacks for both the Royal Navy and the RAF
The Royal Navy and the RAF have been ordered to cut right back on all unnecessary spending in order to ensure that defence spending is focused entirely on Afghanistan.
Russian Navy – Nato commander warns of conflict with Russia in Arctic Circle
The Times – Nato commander warns of conflict with Russia in Arctic Circle
Competition for resources in the Arctic Circle could provoke conflict between Russia and Nato, a newly appointed commander at the alliance warned yesterday.
Russian Navy – Probing the Arctic Sea conspiracies
BBC – Probing the Arctic Sea conspiracies
What really happened when the Arctic Sea cargo ship went missing amid allegations of hijacking and weapons smuggling?
Indonesian Navy – Navy to equip patrol ships with guided missiles
Antara News – Navy to equip patrol ships with guided missiles
Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno said on Monday the Navy plans to equip its patrol ships with guided missiles to increase their deterrent capability.
Afghanistan – 'Almost a Lost Cause'
Washington Post – ‘Almost a Lost Cause’
Greg Jaffe writes that one of the deadliest attacks of the Afghan war – the Battle of Wanat – is a symbol of the U.S. military’s missteps.
Afghanistan – The Afghanistan Impasse
New York Review of Books – The Afghanistan Impasse
Ahmed Rashid updates the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
US Navy – The space security implications of missile defense
The Space Review – The space security implications of missile defense
The Obama Administration recently decided to replace planned ground-based interceptors in Europe with SM-3 missiles. Brian Weeden describes how this decision has implications for space security, since it was a modified SM-3 that intercepted a decaying US satellite last year.
US Navy – New missile defences in Europe: Shooting down a plan
Economist – New missile defences in Europe: Shooting down a plan
America’s change of tack on missile defense is placating some and worrying others. Nice diagrams of how a sea-based missile defense system will work in Europe.
Indian Navy – Sea Trials For MiG-29K
Defense Technology International – Sea Trials For MiG-29K
The new MiG-29K carrier-based fighter started its sea trials on Russia’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, on September 28-29. According to MiG, two aircraft – a MiG-29K single-seater and a two-seat MiG-29KUB – made several take-offs and landings from the carrier in the Barents Sea.
Royal Navy – Royal Navy Sea Kings 'bag' intelligence over Helmand
UK Ministry of Defence – Royal Navy Sea Kings ‘bag’ intelligence over Helmand
The Royal Navy’s unique airborne surveillance and control helicopters, known as ‘Baggers’, have recently deployed to Helmand in Afganistan for the first time, where they are detecting, following and intercepting insurgent activity.
(Thanks to Justin for the pointer…)
US Navy – A Call to Allow Women to Serve on Submarines
Reuters – A Call to Allow Women to Serve on Submarines
Top Pentagon officials are calling for an end to the military’s historical ban on allowing women to serve in submarines.
Royal Navy – Navy seizes cocaine 'worth £240m'
BBC – Navy seizes cocaine ‘worth £240m’
The Royal Navy says it has seized its largest haul of cocaine, with an estimated street value of £240m.
Royal Navy – A Black and Disgraceful Site
New York Review of Books – A Black and Disgraceful Site
A review of the book “Island of Shame: The Secret History of the US Military Base on Diego Garcia.” An interesting take on the history of Diego Garcia as a US base in the Indian Ocean.
Chinese Navy – Why China Military Watchers Got It Wrong
The Diplomat – Why China Military Watchers Got It Wrong
The publication last month of a monograph by the RAND Corporation, which dramatically overturns longstanding assumptions about the defense of Taiwan, should make sobering reading for US policymakers.
Greek Navy – German and Greek Tiff Over Submarines
Defense Technology International – German and Greek Tiff Over Submarines
Germany and Greece are having words over the decision early this week by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW) GmbH, the ThyssenKrupp (TKMS) unit that makes Germany’s non-nuclear submarines, to cancel two submarine contracts with the Greek Defense Ministry because it has not been paid €524 million euros ($765 million dollars) … even though the submarines are ready for delivery.
Afghanistan – McChrystal: More Forces or 'Mission Failure'
Washington Post – McChrystal: More Forces or ‘Mission Failure’
The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warns in an urgent, confidential assessment of the war that he needs more forces within the next year and bluntly states that without them, the eight-year conflict “will likely result in failure.” Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says emphatically: “Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.”
Royal Navy – Britain's nuclear overture – we will cut Trident fleet
The Times – Britain’s nuclear overture – we will cut Trident fleet
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is preparing to surrender one of Britain’s four Trident submarines to help to cut nuclear arsenals around the world.
US Coast Guard – To Fight and Save
US Naval Institute Proceedings – To Fight and Save
The modernization of the U.S. Coast Guard must include instilling the guardian ethos espoused by Commandant Admiral Thad Allen.
Air Warfare – Fighting Under Missile Attack
Air Force – Fighting Under Missile Attack
The Air Force hasn’t thought about air base defense for a while. Now, things are changing. A look at how China could strike first at US air bases in the Pacific.
Ground Warfare – Getting Inside their Heads
US Naval Institute Proceedings – Getting Inside their Heads
Mounting psychological and behavioral problems are a growing concern for the military as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq enter their ninth year.
Chinese Navy – Cross Strait Relations Changing
DefenseTech – Cross Strait Relations Changing
Norman Polmar downplays the threat of war between China and Taiwan.
US Navy – Sea-Based Missiles to Target a Redefined Threat
Wall Street Journal – Sea-Based Missiles to Target a Redefined Threat
The U.S. plans to deploy sea-based SM-3 interceptor missiles in 2011 as part of its plan to rely on a mix of small, relatively inexpensive defensive systems to counter an evolving Iranian threat.
The White House confirmed Thursday that it would abandon efforts to build a large-scale missile-defense system in Eastern Europe, canceling a program that had become a source of Russian anger. The plan, still in the blueprint stage, would have built a large radar array in the Czech Republic and deployed 10 interceptor missiles to Poland.
Instead, the U.S. plans the SM-3 deployment, followed by a more advanced version of the system in 2015 that would include defensive missiles that could be launched from both sea and land.
Russian Navy – Arctic Sea 'arms ship' has been cruising off West African coast
The Times – Arctic Sea ‘arms ship’ has been cruising off West African coast
The mystery of the hijacked cargo ship allegedly carrying missiles to Iran deepened yesterday when it emerged that, far from limping back to a Russian port as the Kremlin had claimed, the vessel had been cruising around the Canary Islands.
US Coast Guard – Heavy Weather Ahead for the Coast Guard
US Naval Institute Proceedings – Heavy Weather Ahead for the Coast Guard
Aging cutters, budgets stretched too thin, and ever-expanding requirements are pushing the service to a moment of truth.
Russian Navy – Russia to Detain Georgian Ships Off Abkhazia
Associated Press – Russia to Detain Georgian Ships Off Abkhazia
Russia heightened tensions with Georgia Tuesday by warning that it will detain Georgian ships entering the territorial waters of Abkhazia, a breakaway province allied with Moscow.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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