USNI News – While the United States is unrivaled in projecting military power from 500-plus overseas bases, China’s investments in ports and communication technology globally show Beijing’s footprint approach as a possible means to a similar end, a panel said last week.
The U.S. Navy Shouldn’t Gloat over China’s Submarine Setback
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
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.
Russia Training To Launch FPV Drones From Helicopters To Counter Sea Drones
The War Zone – Deploying and controlling FPV drones from helicopters would be highly beneficial, allowing for rapid response with very flexible and inexpensive guided weapons.
European navies chase the white whale of torpedo-busting torpedoes
Defense News – The technology promises to be a game changer: a torpedo-seeking torpedo fired by surface vessels for head-on intercepts, missile-defense style. Yet after more than a decade of research, lead nations Germany and the Netherlands are still years away from fitting their navies with a hard-kill torpedo countermeasure.
RFA Cardigan Bay returns to UK but no sailors available to take her to shipyard for refit
Navy Lookout – RFA Cardigan Bay arrived in Portland in early September after more than two years away from the UK. Due to crew shortages, the RFA is currently unable to move her from Portland to Falmouth to begin a planned refit.
U.S. to Assist in Building New Naval Pier at Subic Bay
USNI News – The U.S. will support Manila’s plan to build a new naval pier at a Philippine naval base in Subic Bay.
Ocean-2024 – Russian Navy Flexes Its Muscles, China Assists
Naval News – The “Ocean-2024” exercise, which takes place in Pacific and Arctic waters, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Baltic Sea, began on September 10. According to official Russian media, “more than 400 combat ships, submarines and support vessels” are participating in the exercise.
Warships from the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, U.S. and Japan Sail in Joint South China Sea Patrol
USNI News – The Philippines held a joint patrol in the South China Sea that included forces from Japan, Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand on Saturday.
SECDEF Austin Orders Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to Remain in Middle East
USNI News – West coast carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) will remain in the Middle East as regional conflict intensifies, according to a Sunday Pentagon statement. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin instructed the carrier strike group to stay in U.S. Central Command as part of an increase of American forces in the region.
Civilian Grain Ship Hit By Russian Kh-22 Missile In Black Sea
Naval News – A Turkish operated merchant vessel, the MV Aya, has been hit by a supersonic anti-ship missile in the Black Sea. The Kh-22 missile was launched from a Russian Tu-22M Backfire bomber. The ship was carrying 26,550 tons of grain for Egypt.
What I found on the secretive tropical island they don’t want you to see
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.
China nuclear sub sank in its dock, US officials say
BBC – A Chinese nuclear-powered attack submarine sank in its dock earlier this year while under construction, in a major setback for the Chinese military, according to US defence officials.
Constellation-class: the US Navy’s struggle to forge a new generation of frigates
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
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
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.
A World Without Carriers?
Center for Maritime Strategy – What would happen if the United States no longer deployed nuclear-powered aircraft carriers? The answer is chilling and compelling. Without a robust fleet of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the United States would no longer be able to deploy a credible deterrent capability to contested regions around the world. Without the presence of American carriers, authoritarian rulers, terrorist organizations, and non-state actors would run amuck. This is particularly evident today in the Middle East.
Small Mobile Pieces of National Sovereignty?—Uncrewed Vessels, Naval Diplomacy, and the Challenge of Signaling
US Naval War College Review – Naval employment of uncrewed platforms is expanding, but their status and perception among both operators and adversaries are still evolving, with key differences from crewed platforms that affect diplomacy, political signaling, and conflict escalation.
EDGE Partners with Brazilian Navy for development of MANSUP
Naval Technology – EDGE Group signed a strategic partnership on 4 September 2024 with the Brazilian Navy to complete the development of the Navy’s National Anti-Ship Missile (MANSUP) by the end of 2025, with the intentions of enhancing the defence capabilities of both Brazil and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
(Thanks to Alain)
A floating dock “Captain Anatoly Ermolaev” was laid in Kaliningrad
Korabel – The Baltic Shipbuilding Plant “Yantar” today held a solemn ceremony of laying the laying of the new floating dock “Captain Anatoly Ermolaev”, which will be built within the framework of the dock program of the OSC with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. (In Russian)
(Thanks to Alain)
Clausewitzian Friction and Twenty-First-Century War—The Paradox of Technology
US Naval War College Review – New and emerging technologies—especially affecting sensors, networks, autonomy, and computing—are changing Clausewitz’s concept of friction in warfare. While these technologies appear to reduce some aspects of friction, they amplify others and may introduce new ones altogether.
Dissecting China’s purported carrier strategy against Taiwan
Breaking Defense – Ben Ho in this op-ed maintains that should China deploy flattops in an anti-access Taiwan strategy, it would likely be as “fleets-in-being.”
DMO and the Firepower Revolution: Evolving the Carrier and Surface Force Relationship
CIMSEC – Given the range advantage of surface fleet-based missiles, the range limitations of the carrier air wing, and the vulnerability of the carrier in certain threat environments, the role of the carrier and its air wing should evolve in tandem with the U.S. Navy’s changing firepower. The carrier and its air wing should serve as the force quarterback that scouts wide spaces, cues surface ship fires against targets, and provides crucial in-flight retargeting support to those salvos on their way through a contested battlespace. In this method, the air wing can be empowered to deliver much more than the force of the carrier – it can deliver the force of entire fleets.
Vietnam and the Four Nos—How Chinese Actions in the South China Sea Influence Vietnam’s Hedging Strategy
US Naval War College Review – Vietnam’s policy of nonentanglement called the “Four Nos”—intended to hedge against China’s political, economic, and military strength—is challenged by Beijing’s increasing aggression and maximalist claims in the South China Sea, opening opportunities for U.S. policy in the region.
U.S. Maritime Policy Needs an Overhaul
War on the Rocks – U.S. maritime policy is a grievous failure. Whether evaluated in terms of effectively meeting national security requirements or bolstering the country’s economy, America can point to few successes. Inefficient commercial shipbuilding barely registers as a rounding error in global output while costly U.S.-flagged shipping is typically only employed when other options are exhausted. A shocking lack of competitiveness has led to both considerable economic harm and the withering of these maritime industries into shells of their former selves. Such are the fruits of a maritime approach rooted far more in status quo bias and the guiding hand of entrenched special interests than 21st-century needs and realities.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
You must be logged in to post a comment.