The U.S. Navy’s Paradigm-Shifting Navigation Plan

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National Interest – James Holmes writes that Lisa Franchetti is trying to break a paradigm. Admiral Franchetti is the newish chief of naval operations (CNO), or seniormost uniformed U.S. naval officer. What she says matters. Judging from her just-released “Navigation Plan,” or policy directive to the U.S. Navy, the CNO has come to believe that the Navy’s strategy, operational doctrine, and fleet design have fallen behind discomfiting new realities.

CNO Franchetti War Plan Preparing Navy for Pacific Conflict by 2027 With Flat Budgets, Static Fleet Size

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USNI News – The new fleet-wide guidance from the Navy’s top officer focuses on preparing the service for a potential war with China by 2027 as the maritime component of a joint “warfighting ecosystem.” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti will publicly issue her “America’s Warfighting Navy,” guidance to the wider fleet this week, more than a year into leading the Navy. The plan outlines her priorities for the service, which include fixing maintenance backlogs and recruiting, according to the final draft reviewed by USNI News.

The U.S. Navy Shouldn’t Gloat over China’s Submarine Setback

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National Interest – James Holmes writes that the Chinese Communist Party have a political problem on their hands. The unnamed U.S. official who disclosed the Type 041 disaster to the press observed that, “in addition to the obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality, the incident raises deeper questions about the PLA’s internal accountability and oversight of China’s defense industry—which has long been plagued by corruption.”

The development of a lean crewing solution for the Royal Navy’s Type 31 frigate

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Navy Lookout – Like all navies, the RN is seeking to reduce the number of sailors needed to operate its warships as qualified people are expensive and in short supply. While putting fewer people in harm’s way, a small crew can have limitations. In this article, we look at how the designers of the Type 31 frigate have balanced lean crewing with effective operation.

What I found on the secretive tropical island they don’t want you to see

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BBC – Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean, is a paradise of lush vegetation and white-sand beaches, surrounded by crystal blue waters.

But this is no tourist destination. It is strictly out of bounds to most civilians – the site of a highly secretive UK-US military base shrouded for decades in rumour and mystery.

The island, which is administered from London, is at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute between the UK and Mauritius, and negotiations have ramped up in recent weeks.

The BBC gained unprecedented access to the island earlier this month.

Constellation-class: the US Navy’s struggle to forge a new generation of frigates

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Navy Lookout – After the perceived failure of the Littoral Combat ship programme, the US Navy has shifted its focus back to building traditional frigates. In this piece, we examine the turbulent beginnings of the Constellation-class (FFG-62) project and look at the wider lessons for those involved in warship design and acquisition.

Analogous Response Redux: Vladimir Putin’s Aspirations for Altering the Maritime Balance

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Newport Papers – Analogous Response was a term of analytical shorthand that American strategists and intelligence analysts developed in late 1983 and early 1984. The term characterized in two words a Soviet maritime strategy of deploying off the U.S. coast submarines armed with nuclear SLCMs. By making that deployment, the Soviet leadership could establish an endo-atmospheric nuclear threat to the continental United States (CONUS) that Marshal Nikolay V. Ogarkov, chief of the General Staff of the USSR, described as follows: “The Soviet systems to be deployed in the oceans and seas and relevant to the territory of the United States itself will be no less effective than American systems that are being deployed in Europe, in range, yield, accuracy, and, what is especially important, in time of flight to their targets.”

The Maritime Doctrine of Pakistan – Setting the Record Straight

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CIMSEC – The second edition of the Maritime Doctrine of Pakistan currently under process is intended to build on the inaugural edition. It will dilate on the roles of Pakistan navy; what it does at and from the sea in much more eloquent manner and greater depth. It will also provide stakeholders with an extensive insight into military strategic environment in the Indian Ocean and its influence upon Pakistan’s maritime interests. The new edition will expound blue economy and its relationship with maritime security. It will explain Gwadar port under CPEC and prospective regional connectivity that it importantly offers. The benchmark for new edition will be National Security Policy of 2022-2026.