Royal Navy – Aboard HMS Cardiff, patroling off of Iraq.

• The Guardian: British warship puts the squeeze on Iraq

Royal Navy – Britain, France, and Holland are chartering RoRo ferries to transport vehicles and supplies to the Gulf.

• Daily Telegraph: MoD looks for more ships to ferry tanks

US Marines – James F. Dunnigan on the Marines new anti-tank guided missile, the Javelin.

• StrategyPage: US Troops Get Javelin Anti-Tank Missile

US Navy – A brief summary of the US Navy’s work on laser weapons.

• Jane’s: US Navy sees the ‘light’
  

US Navy – Plans for CVNX move ahead.

• Virginian Pilot: Next-generation aircraft carrier on course for construction in 2007

US Navy – More on the Ohio-class conversions to cruise missile submarines.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy to refurbish old ballistic missile sub

Background – War on Terror – A fascinating essay detailing the new approach to fighting Al Qaeda – selective assasination; and what are the the unintended consequences of beginning a policy of selective assassination???and an interview with the story’s author, Seymour Hersch.

• The New Yorker: Manhunt
• The New Yorker: A Reporter’s Life

US Navy – A look at life aboard the cruisers and destroyers of the carrier battlegroup.

• Virginian Pilot: ”Small boys” perform varied missions

US Navy – US forces are set to flow into the Gulf after Christmas. An update on what is already there???

• Washington Post: Rapid Buildup in Gulf on Horizon

US Marines – The Marines are forming a Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment.

• Orange County Register: Marines create experimental special forces unit

US Navy – The USS John F. Kennedy will be overhauled at its base rather than in a drydock.

• First Coast News: USS Kennedy to be overhauled at Mayport

Background – War on Terror – An interview with General Tommy Franks.

• Sea Power: Taking the Fight to the Enemy

Royal Navy – The Royal Navy may not bring its Sea Harriers to the Gulf.

• The Times: Heat may spell the end for Sea

Royal Navy – HMS Ocean will sail with a Marine Commando in mid-January.

• Daily Telegraph: Marines to leave next month ahead of assault on Iraq

Taiwanese Navy – Work on getting diesel-powered submarines for Taiwan moves forward.

• Reuters: U.S. kicks off Taiwan submarine competition

US Navy – The hospital ship USS Comfort is set to sail for the Gulf.

• ABC News: Stepping Up the Pace

US Navy – Aboard the USS Mount Whitney, off the Horn of Africa.

• Virginian Pilot: Task force on Mount Whitney hunting al-Qaida off Africa
• Virginian Pilot: Photos: Mount Whitney leads anti-terrorism force

US Marines – Thomas Ricks on how the Commandant of the Marine Corps and Chief of Staff of the Army don’t believe that Iraq will be such a walkover.

• Washington Post: Projection on Fall Of Hussein Disputed

US Marines – Part IV of the Harrier series with a look at the future of vertical flight in the Marines.

• Los Angeles Times: Storming Capitol Hill: The Few, the Proud, the Politically Wired

US Navy – The US announces it will deploy a limited antiballistic missile system in 2004; a boost-phase intercept component of it will be sea based on Aegis-equipped destroyers using Standard missiles.

• Washington Post: Missile Defense To Start in 2004
• New York Times: Bush Ordering Missile Shield

US Marines – Part 3 in the series of what is wrong with the Harrier jump-jet.

• Los Angeles Times: ‘At Least We Got to Kiss Him Goodbye’

US Marines – Another in the series of articles on the experiences of individuals who have joined the Marines since 9/11.

• Washington Post: Enlistee Finds Parallels to Past

Iranian Navy – Iran has received more gunboats from North Korea.

• Washington Times: N. Korea delivers semi-submersible gunships to Iran

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – More on the Kurishima’s capabilities.

• Daily Yomiuri: MSDF’s range in Indian Ocean may decrease

US Navy – Training sailors to protect themselves against terrorism.

• Virginian Pilot: Sailor’s tough duty: the terror watch

US Marines – Part 2 of the series on what is wrong with the AV-8B Harrier.

• Los Angeles Times: A Staggering Abundance of Crash-Causing Glitches

German and Spanish Navies – A look at the day-to-day operations of Task Force 150, off the Horn of Africa.

• New York Times: German and Spanish Navies Take on Major Role Near Horn of Africa

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – The Aegis-equipped Kirishima sets sail for the Gulf.

• CNN: Japan beefs up war on terror fleet
• Reuters: High-tech Japanese warship sails for Indian Ocean

US Marines – Flying the AV-8B Harrier can be a deadly task.

• Los Angeles Times: Far From Battlefield, Marines Lose One-Third of Harrier Fleet

Background – Iraq – A glimpse of Saddam’s possible tactics???

• Washington Post: ussein Reveals a Glimpse of Tactics

Background – Airpower – How a string of discoveries by unheralded engineers and airmen helped bring America to the pinnacle of modern military power.

• Washington Post Magazine: Bursts of Brilliance

Royal Navy – The British are about to send HMS Ark Royal to the Gulf.

• BBC: UK task force heading to Gulf
• Daily Telegraph: Navy sends 2,600-man task force to the Gulf

Background – The American Empire? – A humorous – and not so humorous – look at how the “American Empire” differs from those that came before it.

• Victor Davis Hanson: A Funny Sort of Empire

History – An interesting essay looking at the evolution of US naval thinking between WWI and WWII

• International Journal of Naval History: Building a Doctrine: U. S. Naval Tactics and Battle Plans in the Interwar Period

US Navy – The USS George Washington battlegroup is on its way home from the Gulf.

• Virginian Pilot: GW will be home for Christmas

US Navy – The USS Kitty Hawk has returned to port in Japan.

• Reuters: U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan home port

Spanish Navy – Spain is upset at the US’s release of the merchant ship carrying SCUDs. Is the US serious about non-proliferation — or not?

• Los Angeles Times: Spain’s Military Upset With U.S. Over Ship
• Washington Post: Waylaid at Sea: Launch of Policy

Background – Taiwan – Are the US and Taiwan growing closer???or not?

• Jane’s: US-Taiwanese military relations: strategic ambiguity

US Navy – The USS Belleau Wood amphibious ready group is about to return home.

• San Diego Union Tribune: 3 Navy ships to return to S.D. this weekend

Canadian Navy – Aboard HMCS Winnipeg in the Gulf.

• Toronto Globe and Mail: Boarding ships nerve-racking
  

Royal Navy – A look at some of the rules of engagement for boarding ships at sea.

• The Times: High seas are crucial front in war on terrorism

Background – Cruise Ship Industry – The cruise-ship industry adjusts to the war on terrorism.

• Sea Power: Tourism & Terrorism

Venezuelan Navy – Venezuelan troops continue to seize tankers whose crews are part of a national strike.

• BBC: Venezuela head upbeat despite strike

US Navy – The US has released from custody the ship carrying Scuds to Yemen.

• BBC: US frees missile-carrying ship
• BBC: Legal maze over Scud seizure
• BBC: Scud affair clouds US-Yemen ties

US Navy – The USS Kitty Hawk battlegroup exercised off of Taiwan 2 weeks ago.

• Taiwan News: USS Kitty Hawk exercises held off Taiwan’s east coast

Canadian Navy – Life aboard HMCS Winnipeg in the Gulf.

• National Post: HMCS Winnipeg prepares to fight a new kind of enemy

US Marine Corps – Transforming the Marine Corps in a time of chaos.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Transforming for the Chaordic Age

Spanish Navy – Spain has boarded a freighter carrying Scud missiles on its way from North Korea to Yemen.

• BBC: Ship intercepted carrying missiles
• CNN: Shots fired to stop Scud ship

US Navy – The USS Theodore Roosevelt battlegroup will start their training operations early.

• Virginian Pilot: Roosevelt group to start training early, Navy confirms

US Marines – Marine Forces Atlantic reaches around the world to put Marines in “every clime and place.”

• Sea Power: Special Report: U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic

US Navy – The next Nimitz-class aircraft carrier will be named the???USS George H.W. Bush???

• Associated Press: Aircraft carrier named for former President Bush
  

Background – Transformation – A look at the patron saint of transformation, Colonel John Boyd.

• Virginian Pilot: Air Force Col. John R. Boyd: The man who shaped the military

Background – Iraq – William Arkin on how the US does not have hard evidence on current Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

• Washington Post Dot Mil: Soft Evidence, Hard Conclusions
  

US Navy – Miscellaneous Navy news from around the fleet.

• Sea Power: General Dynamics Selected to Modernize Coast Guard Distress Response System

US Navy – The US is maintainting that carrier deployments in the Gulf are at routine levels.

• Reuters: US Says Homebound Carrier is a Routine Rotation

Merchant Marine – A plan is prepared to better protect merchant ships against terrorist attack.

• The Observer: UK shipping to get escorts in terror war

Background – Weapons of Mass Destruction – William Arkin on new weapons that could be used against Iraq to neutralized its weapons of mass destruction.

• Los Angeles Times: ‘Sci-Fi’ Weapons Going to War

Background – Information Warfare – James F. Dunnigan on the use of personal digital assistants by the military.

• StrategyPage: Combat Computers for the Infantry

Indian Navy – India is having problems completing its purchase of Scorpene-class attack submarines from France.

• The Hindu: Submarine purchase from France runs into rough weather

US Navy – The dock landing ship USS Portland returns from a UNITAS cruise around South America.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy’s Portland back in Norfolk from voyage

US Navy – A current summary of US forces in the Gulf.

• New York Times: Buildup Leaves U.S. Military Nearly Set to Start Attack
  

• New York Times: American Military Presence Near Ira

Background- Media – A detailed look at the history of the relationship between the US military and the US media – and proposals for the future of that relationship.

• Naval War College Review: No More Bad Stories

South African Navy – South Africa’s Meko-class corvettes will come on-line soon.

• The Guardian: Warship named after Zulu victory
  

US Navy – Aboard the USS Harry S. Truman.

• Washington Post: Carrier Sails From Norfolk Into Unknown
  

Background – Wargaming – Can the study of massively multiplayer online games help defeat Al Queda?

• Washington Post:

  Outgaming Osama

Background – Effects Based Warfare – James F. Dunnigan explains that this is old wine in new bottles???

• StrategyPage: Effects Based Repackaging
  

US Navy – The USS Truman battlegroup departs for the Gulf.

• Virginian Pilot: History repeats itself with deployment

Venezuelan Navy – Venezuela is using its navy to keep its oil industry afloat during a nation-wide general strike.

• Associated Press: Chavez Sends Navy Ship to Reclaim Tanker
  

Royal Navy – HMS Nottingham will be repaired, after running aground off of Australia.

• The Times: Collision warship to be repaired for £26m
  

US Marines – More details of Exercise Edged Mallet in Kenya.

• Associated Press: Marines in Kenya Are Kept From Projects
  

• BBC: Kenya joins US in terror war games
  

Russian Navy – The Russian port of Murmansk is evolving from a military to a commercial port.

• Reuters: Russia Arctic naval base seeks US oil mission

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan will send an Aegis-equipped destroyer to the Gulf, for the first time.

• The Asahi Shimbun: Koizumi OKs Aegis dispatch

Background – Man Portable Surface to Air Missiles – James F. Dunnigan on why downing an airliner with a SA-7 is harder than it looks.

• StrategyPage: Three Decades of Missiles versus Airliners

Spanish Navy – More on the Spanish tracking of tankers that are suspected to be unsafe off the Spanish coast.

• BBC: Spain tracks expelled tanker

US Marines – The US is considering using an enlarged version of the Wasp-class helicopter carrier as its sea basing platform.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy tilting toward enlargement of Wasp-class ships for sea bases
  

Iraqi Navy – What threats does Iraq pose to the US Navy in the Gulf?

• Virginian Pilot: Iraq poses a range of threats to the U.S. Navy

US Navy – The commander of a US attack submarine that collided with a civilian tanker in the Mediterranean last month has been relieved of his command.

• Virginian Pilot: Spain tracks expelled tanker
  

History – I don’t normally point out obituaries, but Captain Beach *was* the US Navy to many people. We are in his debt for explaining the naval life to so many people.

• The Times: Captain Ned Beach
  

US Marines – Another in a series of articles on life in the Marine Corps today.

• Washington Post: The Sept. 11 Marines –
  Facing ‘a New Age of War’

Background – Journalism – A report from inside the US military’s boot camp for journalists.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Pentagon taught journalists some gut-wrenching lessons

US Navy – Life aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

• BBC: Warship: Ready for action
  

US Navy – The US in increasing its mine countermeasures force in the Gulf.

• Los Angeles Times: Navy Faces a Terrorist Minefield in Persian Gulf
  

???back to a normal update schedule???

US Marines – US Marines from the 4th MEU are exercising with Kenyan troops.

• Associated Press: Kenya, U.S. Conduct Military Exercises

Indian Navy – Should India purchase the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov?

• Daily Times: Beyond Admiral Gorshkov
  

French Navy – France is escorting old tankers out of its coastal waters, in an attempt to prevent environmental damage???as are Spain and Portugal

• BBC: France intercepts oil tanker
• Reuters: Spain, Portugal order oil tanker out to sea

Background – War on Terror – The military historian Sir Michael Howard on the road the US should take in the war on terror.

• Naval War College Review: 9/11 and After

Background – Information Warfare – A detailed look at the newest revision of the RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft, which is responsible for helping to compress the sensor-shooter loop significantly.

• Aviation Week: Storied Rivet Joint Adds New Missions

Background – Iraq – James F. Dunnigan reviews the last invasion of Iraq, in 1941, by the British.

• StrategyPage: The Last Time (1941) Iraq Was Invaded

NOSI will be updated irregularly from Sunday – Wednesday. To tide you over, here is an excellent and very lengthy essay from naval analyst Normal Friedman.

Background – Medium Sized Navies – An excellent (and lengthy!) essay by Norman Friedman on the evolution of naval technology since World War II.

• Royal Australian Navy Maritime Studies Program: New Technology and Medium Navies

Background – Infantry Weapons – James F. Dunnigan on the new Selectable Assault Battle Rifle, otherwise known as OICW or the XM29.

• StrategyPage: Will it Work?

French Navy – France is sending a submarine to inspect the sunken tanker off of Spain.

• BBC: Submarine sets off on Prestige mission

US Navy – The defensive aspect of the Sea Power 21 strategy.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Sea Shield: Projecting Global Defensive Assurance

NATO – NATO’s Supreme Allied Command Atlantic, known as SACLANT, is getting a new name and a new mission.

• Virginian Pilot: NATO shifts gears in Norfolk

Background – Reserves – James F. Dunnigan on how we are using and abusing our reserve forces.

• StrategyPage: Ruining the Reserves

Background – USAF – William Arkin on how the F-22 fighter program is facing the fight of its life.

• Washington Post Dot Mil: Dogfight Over the F/A-22

Royal New Zealand Navy – The frigate Te Kaha sails for the Gulf.

• Associated Press: New Zealand warship heads to gulf to join terrorist search

Indonesia Navy – Indonesia sinks two boats smuggling arms to rebels.

• Agence France Press: Jakarta sinks ships smuggling arms to Aceh

US Navy – The first reserve squadron to fill a carrier slot since the Korean War has been activated.

• Sea Power: Reserve Strike Fighter Squadron Activated for Carrier Deployment

Background – Saudi Arabia – The evidence continues to mount that the real enemy in the war on terror is Saudi Arabia.

• Washington Times: With friends like the Saudis ???

Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Japan sends 2 more ships to fight the war on terror.

• Associated Press: Japan sends two ships to assist in war on terror
  

US Navy – Life aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

• Daily Telegraph: Carrier pilots ready for fight as Gulf action is stepped up

Royal Navy – The First Sea Lord expects more terrorist attacks on British ships.

• The Guardian: Sea lord warns of terror threat to ships

Background – Wargaming – Taiwan is using Jane’s Fleet Commander computer wargame to conduct political military wargames for members of the Taiwanese government, to hone their decision making skills in case of conflict with China.

• Taiwan News: War game gives insights to decision-making process

Background – Information Warfare – William Arkin on how while fighting in the new sphere of information warfare, the Pentagon is blurring the lines between news and propaganda. This will have a deleterious effect on the US electorate.

• Los Angeles Times: The Military’s New War of Words

US Navy – James F. Dunnigan on how crew size is shrinking over time on US ships.

• StrategyPage: The Incredible Shrinking Warship Crew

US Marines – The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab explores the future of war.

• Sea Power: Traditions & Transformations