Signs Point To North Korea Building A Nuclear-Powered Submarine: South Korean Intel

The War Zone – North Korea appears to have started building a new submarine, which may feature nuclear propulsion, according to a South Korean official. The development would be in line with previous reports and follows the launch, last September, of a reworked Cold War-era Romeo class diesel-electric submarine designed to carry ballistic missiles.

CMSI Translations #8: U.S.-Philippine Military Cooperation in the South China Sea: Challenges and Responses

China Maritime Studies Institute – With the new generation of Philippine government taking office, U.S.-Philippines relations have rapidly warmed, and the depth and breadth of their military cooperation have increased. This has brought new challenges and threats to China’s national security. How to deal with these challenges will be a difficult problem before us.

China’s Monster Amphibious Assault Ship Has Twin Island Superstructures Optimized For Aviation Ops

The War Zone – The first of China’s new class of big-deck amphibious assault ships is rapidly taking shape and we can now get a much better look at the vessel’s twin-island configuration. The design choice is typically made to simplify air operations and is very likely another indicator of this class of vessels being tailored, at least in part, for going to sea with enhanced air wings that include larger types of drones.

“Red Light, Green Light” Faraway from the Beach

Wavell Room – What can you do with amphibious forces given current area denial, especially sea denial, measures; particularly in Europe?  Those tools of sea denial mean that fouling the waters is easy but clearing them is hard.  Because of this, sea denial is easier today and sea control is growing more challenging.  Threats to large landing ships make traditional amphibious assaults—called forcible entry operations in the American vernacular—riskier.  Simply using amphibious forces to do ground operations in a new patch of land is too hazardous.  On the other hand, a divergent model has promise to contribute to sea control.  

CMSI Translations #7: Guarantee of Strategic Security: Expert Discusses China’s Strategic Nuclear Submarines Achieving Continuous Duty

China Maritime Studies Institute – In April of this year, the U.S. Department of Defense released a China military power report, which stated that the Chinese Navy currently has at least six Type 094 ballistic missile nuclear submarines, and has the capability for at least one of them to be on continuous readiness duty. It also said that this is the first time it has been possible for the Chinese Navy to permanently maintain at least one strategic missile nuclear submarine at sea to perform strategic duty tasks. So, what is “continuous readiness duty” (quatianhou zhanbei zhiban), how can it be achieved, and why did the Chinese Navy only just now acquire this capability? With these questions in mind, we interviewed Professor Chi Guocang (迟国仓) of the PLAN Submarine Academy and asked him to give us a detailed explanation.

Chinese Submarine That Sunk Had Exotic Hybrid Nuclear Powerplant

The War Zone – The mysterious Chinese submarine that apparently sunk in a shipyard earlier this year was the first of a new class featuring a hybrid nuclear/conventional propulsion system, according to a new report. The latest development in the saga of the Type 041 Zhou class submarine would seem to clear up some of the previous uncertainty about the boat as well as signal that China is working on novel solutions for its fast-growing underwater fleet.

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

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.