The Scotsman – Military chiefs are drawing up plans to move the UK’s nuclear missiles south of the Border as concern mounts that Scotland is heading towards independence. The Ministry of Defence is so worried about the march of the Nationalists it has closely examined four sites for Trident’s replacement outside of Scotland.
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Royal Navy – A verse from 'Pinafore' explains it all
Daily Telegraph – Niall Ferguson comments on the current state of the Royal Navy, in light of its recent crisis with Iran.
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Air Power – The Pilotless Plane That Only Looks Like Child's Play
New York Times – If youíre the type of shopper who spends billions of dollars on lethal military gadgets, and youíre ever invited to visit General Atomics Aeronautical Systems – the small, privately held San Diego company that has quickly become one of the military industryís most celebrated businesses – take a bit of advice: accept a ride on the corporate jet.
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US Marines – U.S. Calls Slain Afghans Civilians
Washington Post – A preliminary U.S. military investigation indicates that more than 40 Afghans killed or wounded by Marines after a suicide bombing in a village near Jalalabad last month were civilians, the U.S. commander who ordered the probe said yesterday.
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US Navy – New Navy ship San Antonio found to be rife with flaws
Virginian Pilot – The new amphibious ship San Antonio failed to complete a series of sea trials in late March, and faces $36 million in repairs during the next three months. The Norfolk-based ship, the first of a new generation of helicopter and troop transports, could not be sea-tested during a five-day inspection period because one of its two steering systems completely failed.
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US Navy – Day of the dolphins
San Diego Union Tribune – A look at the US Navy’s sea mammals program.
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Geopolitics / Diplomacy – The New New World Order
Foreign Affairs – Controversies over the war in Iraq and U.S. unilateralism have overshadowed a more pragmatic and multilateral component of the Bush administration’s grand strategy: its attempt to reconfigure U.S. foreign policy and international institutions in order to account for shifts in the global distribution of power and the emergence of states such as China and India. This unheralded move is well intentioned and well advised, and Washington should redouble its efforts.
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US Marines – A Combat Mission Two Decades in the Making
Washington Post – After more than 20 years in development at a cost of billions of dollars, the long-troubled V-22 Osprey will head to Iraq in September for its first combat missions.
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Royal Navy – Horatio Hornblower's Worst Nightmare
Defense and the National Interest – William Lind compares todays Royal Navy to Hornblower’s.
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US Navy – Navy cancels second LCS ship from Lockheed, blaming cost overruns
Associated Press – The U.S. Navy on Thursday said it was canceling a widely criticized Lockheed Martin Corp. contract to build a next-generation combat ship after negotiations to control cost overruns failed.
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Iraq – 3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar'
Washington Post – The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job.
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US Navy – Navy Chief to Shipbuilders: You Suck
Wired – The Secretary of the Navy is pissed. And that is really good news.
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US Navy – Calming the Waters in the Gulf
Washington Post – David Ignatius says a May 1972 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union to prevent dangerous incidents at sea is a model for how to begin reducing dangerous tensions with Iran.
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Royal Navy – 'Faye whispered, there's going to be a rape'
Daily Telegraph – The first graphic accounts of the tears, humiliation and mental torture of the 15 freed Royal Navy hostages emerged yesterday.
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Miscellaneous – Conversations
Defense and the National Interest – Excellent article by William Lind on how “management by walking around” can be practiced by the military.
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Iraq – U.S. Military 'In Peril': McCaffrey
Defense News – Sean Naylor analyzes retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey’s recent report on Iraq.
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Iraq – Politics Collide With Iraq Realities
Washington Post – Thomas Ricks writes that there are two Iraq wars being waged, according to military officers on the ground and defense experts: the one fought in the streets of Baghdad, and the war as it is perceived in Washington.
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Geopolitics / Iran – Time for DÈtente With Iran
Foreign Affairs – To tame the growing power of Iran, Washington must eschew military options, the prospect of conditional talks, and attempts to contain the regime. Instead, it should adopt a new policy of dÈtente. By offering the pragmatists in Tehran a chance to resume diplomatic and economic relations with the United States, it could help them sideline the radicals and tip Iran’s internal balance of power in their favor.
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History – The rise and fall of navies
New York Times – Paul Kennedy takes a historian’s view of some current naval trends.
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Royal Navy – Britons Speak Publicly on Captivity in Iran
Washington Post – British sailors and marines who were held captive by Iran for nearly two weeks said Friday they were seized in Iraqi waters, held in solitary confinement and subjected to intense psychological pressure, including fear at one point that they were about to be executed.
Royal Marines – Marines swoop into Taliban 'heart of darkness'
Daily Telegraph – With the Royal Marines in action in Afghanistan.
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US Navy – TACAIR Integration Hits the Wall
Air Force – Big plans to combine Navy and Marine Corps air in a single operational force have come apart.
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Royal Navy – British sailors set to come home
BBC – The 15 Royal Navy crew held captive by Iran are preparing to fly home after being freed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a “gift” to the UK.
Daily Telegraph – Questions the Navy chiefs must now answer.
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Royal Navy – Navy accused of failures and complacency
Daily Telegraph – Royal Navy intelligence gathering has been criticised as being “poor” for allowing 15 personnel to fall into the hands of the Iranians.
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Fourth Generation Warfare – US helps fight against Abu Sayyaf
BBC – A look at how the US is successfully fighting non-state actors in the Philippines – Except for Humvees on the beach and armed guards, the US Navy Seals base in Jolo island in the southern Philippines looks more like a hang-out for surf bums than a military base for an elite anti-terrorist task force.
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