New York Times – General Faces Unease Among His Own Troops, Too
CJ Chivers writes about the negative effect on morale that restrictive rules of engagement is having on Marines and Soldiers in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan – The Runaway General
Rolling Stone – The Runaway General
Stanley McChrystal, Obama’s top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House.
US Marines – U.S. rethinks a Marine Corps specialty: storming beaches
Los Angeles Times – U.S. rethinks a Marine Corps specialty: storming beaches
During an amphibious assault exercise at Camp Pendleton, Marines appear rusty. They haven’t made such a landing since the Korean War – and some leaders wonder whether they will ever do it again.
Geopolitics – Ice breaker
Armed Forces Journal – Ice breaker
While the science community debates whether global warming is fact or fraud, this much is certain: The Navy will soon sail uncharted waters — and it won’t be a pleasure cruise.
South Korean Navy – U.S. debates joining S. Korean military exercises
Washington Post – U.S. debates joining S. Korean military exercises
The Obama administration is wrestling over whether to send an aircraft carrier to take part in military exercises with South Korea in what would amount to a significant show of force after the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
Miscellaneous – Peril on the sea
The Economist – Peril on the sea
As anti-ship missile and torpedo technologies improve, a new seaborne arms race could be on the horizon.
Chinese Navy – Q&A With Robert Kaplan on China
Foreign Affairs – Q&A With Robert Kaplan on China
Robert D. Kaplan answers questions about China’s expanding naval power. His book Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power will be published in the fall.
Russian Navy – First Yasen class sub is completed
Defense Technology International – First Yasen class sub is completed
On June 15 Severodvinsk-based Sevmash facility officially completed the first multirole attack nuclear powered submarine of Yasen class (project 885). The construction of this sub named after its home city – Severodvinsk – took 17 years.
US Navy – Deep dive
Armed Forces Journal – Deep dive
Self-inflicted attack sub cuts cripple America’s sea superiority
Geopolitics / Arctic – Uneasy passage: The Northwest Passage is central to Canadian identity, yet its future remains uncertain
Edmonton Journal – Uneasy passage: The Northwest Passage is central to Canadian identity, yet its future remains uncertain
Though few Canadians have ever sailed it, the Northwest Passage strikes a resonant chord in this country. These feelings stem from a romantic passion for the North, as well as from practical reasons involving sovereignty and control over Arctic waters and resources.
Afghanistan – As Afghan Fighting Expands, U.S. Medics Plunge In
New York Times – As Afghan Fighting Expands, U.S. Medics Plunge In
C.J. Chivers writes that nearly nine years into the Afghan war, the pace for air crews that retrieve the wounded has become pitched.
Afghanistan – What Marja Tells Us of Battles Yet to Come
New York Times – What Marja Tells Us of Battles Yet to Come
C.J. Chivers says that as NATO and Afghan forces flow into neighboring Kandahar Province, where for the next many months the latest high-profile effort to undo the Taliban’s hold will unroll, the continuing fighting in Marja can be read as a sign of problems in the American-led surge. It can also be read as something less worrisome: a difficult period in a campaign always expected to be hard.
Chinese Navy – 'Get Off the Fainting Couch'
US Naval Institute Proceedings – ‘Get Off the Fainting Couch’
Have fretful descriptions of China’s medium-range antiship ballistic missile endangered America’s strategic standing in the Pacific Basin? Its time to stop worrying and start managing the Chinese ASBM threat.
German Navy – Harry S. Truman and Hessen
Defense Technology International – Harry S. Truman and Hessen
The frigate Hessen is the first German warship to participate in a US carrier battle group.
US Coast Guard – Breaking Down the Coast Guard
Defense Technology International – Breaking Down the Coast Guard
After a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the city of Port au Prince, Haiti this past January, the U.S. Coast Guard responded quickly, and in force. But according to Building a U.S. Coast Guard for the 21st Century, a new report released yesterday by the Center for American Progress (CAP), twelve of the nineteen cutters that were sent to Haiti required emergency maintenance while en route, and two had to be recalled from operations for emergency dry-dock repairs.
French Navy – French navy rebuilding Iraq ties with port call
AFP – French navy rebuilding Iraq ties with port call
At Iraq’s southernmost tip, windswept sands and oppressive heat greeted a once-familiar visitor — a French naval vessel, making port in the country for the first time in 32 years.
Piracy – Warships intensifying hunt for pirates at sea, but pirate bosses on land remain elusive
Canadian Press – Warships intensifying hunt for pirates at sea, but pirate bosses on land remain elusive
While the European Union Naval Force is more actively hunting pirates than ever before on the high seas, their financiers and organizers remain out of reach on land. Officials complain that not enough is being done to gather intelligence on them and their assets even as law enforcement agencies cite problems with co-ordinating the collection of information and legal barriers in sharing it.
Chinese Navy – Scanning the Horizon for 'New Historical Missions'
US Naval Institute Proceedings – Scanning the Horizon for ‘New Historical Missions’
The Chinese Navy is the special beneficiary of its government’s embrace of ‘externalization.’
Geopolitics – Polar frontiers
Armed Forces Journal – Polar frontiers
A new Arctic age is emerging. New forces are transforming the very fabric of the entire region. Some of these changes will positively benefit those people who call the region home, while some will have negative impacts. Decision-makers in the Arctic nations will need to be increasingly mindful of these changes and need to develop policies that are innovative, proactive and intelligent.
Israeli Navy – Israeli troops take over Gaza aid ship Rachel Corrie
BBC – Israeli troops take over Gaza aid ship Rachel Corrie
Israeli troops say they have taken control of an aid ship trying to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
US Marines – Marines return to roots with California beach-storming
Associated Press – Marines return to roots with Calif. beach-storming
With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq taking troops to landlocked regions, many of the Marines had never been on a ship – let alone stormed a beach – until the “Dawn Blitz” exercise, the largest of its kind on the West Coast since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The two-week training drill ended with 5,000 Marines and sailors staging the mock invasion.
Indian Navy – Go For Gorshkov
StrategyPage – Go For Gorshkov
An Indian inspection team has concluded that Russian efforts to refurbish the carrier Admiral Gorshkov, for Indian service, is on schedule. Nearly all the structural work is completed, and all the major mechanical items are installed. About half the cable (electrical and other conduits) work is complete. The Indian inspectors concluded that the ship should be ready for harbor trails by early next year. After that, the completed ship would be handed over to India in late 2012.
Israeli Navy – Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran
The Times – Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran
Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.
Information Warfare – The Enemy Within
The Atlantic – The Enemy Within
Mark Bowden writes that when the Conficker computer “worm” was unleashed on the world in November 2008, cyber-security experts didn’t know what to make of it. It infiltrated millions of computers around the globe. It constantly checks in with its unknown creators. It uses an encryption code so sophisticated that only a very few people could have deployed it. For the first time ever, the cyber-security elites of the world have joined forces in a high-tech game of cops and robbers, trying to find Conficker’s creators and defeat them. The cops are failing. And now the worm lies there, waiting …
Israeli Navy – How the flotilla bound for Gaza Strip sailed into death at sea
The Times – How the flotilla bound for Gaza Strip sailed into death at sea
The shockwaves from the Israeli commando raid on the Mavi Marmara passenger ferry were still reverberating around the world last night, as Israel scrambled to defend its battered reputation. Already damaged after the Gaza war and a fumbled Mossad assassination of a Hamas militant in Dubai, it faced even tougher scrutiny as it began to examine what happened, and why.
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