The War Zone – As President-elect Donald Trump nears his return to the White House, the U.S. Navy’s nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) program started during his first term is potentially returning to the spotlight as well.

Center for Maritime Strategy – Congress has been reluctant to authorize the Navy’s planned investment of billions of dollars in USVs until the Service can come up with a concept of operations (CONOPS) for using them. The Navy has announced plans to procure large numbers of uncrewed systems—especially large and medium uncrewed surface vessels—but a CONOPS has not yet emerged. Additionally, while the composition of the future Navy’s crewed vessels is relatively well understood—based on ships being built and being planned—what those uncrewed maritime vessels will look like, let alone what they will do, has yet to be fully determined.

Korea Times – A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine has arrived at a major southeastern naval base Monday to replenish supplies and provide rest for crew members, South Korea’s Navy said.

(Thanks to Alain)

USNI News – While the U.S. military can employ small drones in confined spaces, conflict with China in the Pacific will still require U.S. forces to maintain air and maritime superiority, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday.

CIMSEC – It remains unclear how the Navy might shift its corporate attention toward devising a maritime deterrent and how such a strategy might be promulgated across the service. Today, ideas that depart from routine are sometimes acknowledged and pushed aside, not out of malice but out of an inability to direct them to “the right office.” Without a senior advocate to sponsor change, it is difficult to discern a pathway forward to gain broad acceptance for a new emphasis on deterrence, or the acceptance of a bi-modal maritime deterrent strategy. Nevertheless, we need to put capabilities and operations in place so that Beijing decides that the game is not worth the candle. Maybe the greatest advantage offered by a bi-modal maritime deterrent is that we can begin to put it into practice quickly, before Beijing’s 2027 countdown to a showdown.

War on the Rocks – Is the United States headed for a “Suez moment” in a future confrontation with China? Despite the growing prospect of protracted war, U.S. defense strategy appears wedded to getting ready for decisive battle. But the high costs of an elusive short war could handicap Washington in a long fight.

Center for Maritime Security – As defense startups work to field new, low-cost systems at scale, the means of transporting these weapons systems to end users remains less clear. Logistics in the new distributed reality must recognize the U.S. Navy’s numerical disadvantage in the Pacific, appreciate the unsustainable infrastructure requirements for strategic airlift, and leverage an existing technology that is ready to support warfighters today. In short, the joint force must rely on one of the few quantitative advantages at its disposal: the United States’ large fleet of tiltrotor aircraft.