Atlantic Council – Implementing the Marines’ A2/AD capabilities requires as many as thirty-five new Navy amphibious ships to transport the new Marine units to land-based deterrence and warfighting positions, especially those located in the archipelagic and maritime nations of the Indo-Pacific theater. Fielding these new Marine A2/AD and Navy amphibious lift capabilities has raised a number of issues. This commentary identifies ten key challenges, but, like Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, it does not offer solutions. Resolving these issues with objective analysis will help support informed decision-making regarding the implementation of Force Design 2030.
Marine Corps looks at ocean glider for rapid resupply to fight China
Defense News – The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab has signed a nearly $5 million contract to test out hydrofoiling seagliders, which may provide an innovative solution for medical evacuation and resupply in littoral regions.
The U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Future Remains Murky as China Threat Looms
USNI News – Within the last two months, the Navy and the Pentagon have created new organizational structures to connect the unmanned vision to the wider U.S. military command and control infrastructure. While operators are getting more tools to solve near-term problems, the longer-term future of the hybrid fleet and air wing is still very much an open question, frustrating both the forward-deployed Navy and the defense industry that will ultimately build the fleet.
Analysis: Royal Navy deploys seven ships on underwater infrastructure patrols
Navy Lookout – The MoD has said the RN will deploy a substantial force of vessels to patrol areas with vulnerable undersea critical infrastructure in cooperation with other nations. Here we look at the context of this action and what this may mean in practice
Destroyer USS Carney Downs 3 Drones in Red Sea; Commercial Ships Attacked
USNI News – Destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) shot down three drones in the Red Sea on Sunday while responding to distress calls from several commercial vessels that were attacked by missiles originating in Yemen
France And The Philippines Eye Closer Defense Cooperation
Naval News – French and Philippine defense officials met last Friday in Manila to discuss how the two countries can enhance their military cooperation.
Arm Taiwan to the Teeth — Now
The Messenger – James Holmes writes that what naval strategists such as yours truly call “sea denial” in the Strait is chiefly — though not exclusively — a job for the Taiwan Army.
Navy creates program office to manage nuclear carrier defuelings
Defense News – The U.S. Navy has established a new program office to plan and manage aircraft carrier inactivations, defuelings and dismantlements, as the service readies for that work to become more common.
Turkiye Is Working On Multipurpose Mini Submarine Project
Naval News – The project to develop a multipurpose mini submarine (or Çok Amaçlı Mini Denizalti – ÇAMD) is being carried out by Sefine Shipyard and Datum Submarine Engineering Inc, a subsidiary of Istanbul Technical University. Within the scope of the project, the design, construction, equipping and testing of a multi-purpose mini submarine that can dive to a depth of 300 meters, has a crew of four and can be easily transported by land thanks to its length of 12 meters will be carried out.
First US submarine repairs in Australia scheduled for summer
Defense News – The U.S. Navy will conduct its first submarine maintenance work in Australia next summer using the sub tender Emory S. Land, with 30 Australian sailors embarked to learn how to repair the Virginia class of submarine. This will be an early step in establishing a nuclear-powered attack submarine maintenance capability at the HMAS Stirling naval base in Western Australia in the next few years as part of the trilateral AUKUS arrangement.
Air Samurai: Is Naval Aviation Overtraining Pilots In the Age of Automation?
War on the Rocks – Today, the U.S. military produces too few pilots, eroding experience in deployed squadrons. It risks a similar path as Japan in the event of hostilities. A chronic shortage of pilots will plague the U.S. military for years. One reason is that outmoded training systems and syllabi needlessly prolong flight training and exacerbate acute shortages.
China Maritime Report No. 33: China’s Sea-Based Nuclear Deterrent: Organizational, Operational, and Strategic Implications
China Maritime Studies Institute – China’s development of a credible sea-based deterrent has important implications for the PLAN, for China’s nuclear strategy, and for U.S.-China strategic stability. For the PLAN, the need to protect the SSBN force may divert resources away from other missions; it may also provide justification for further expansion of the PLAN fleet size. For China’s nuclear strategy and operations, the SSBN force may increase operational and bureaucratic pressures for adopting a more forward-leaning nuclear strategy. For U.S.-China strategic stability, the SSBN force will have complex effects, decreasing risks that Chinese decisionmakers confront use-or-lose escalation pressures, making China less susceptible to U.S. nuclear threats and intimidation and therefore perceiving lower costs to conventional aggression, and potentially introducing escalation risks from conventional-nuclear entanglement to the maritime domain.
Philippines accuses China of swarming reef in South China Sea
BBC – The Philippines has accused China of “swarming” a reef off its coast after more than 135 military boats were spotted in the South China Sea.
‘Critical state’: Top Royal Canadian Navy officer sounds alarm on fleet’s readiness
Breaking Defense – The head of the Royal Canadian Navy issued a remarkably blunt and public assessment of his own fleet, citing numerous shipbuilding and recruiting issues that threaten the service’s ability to meets it obligations in the near- and long-term.
Meritocracy and a Royal Marine Route to First Sea Lord, 1SL.
Wavell Room – The First Sea Lord or 1SL is the Head of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy. A role which has never been filled by a Royal Marine. Why?
Inside Ukrainian Frogmen Raids On Crimea
War Zone – Ukrainian commandos who executed long-range amphibious raids on Crimea offer exclusive insights on those missions.
The United Kingdom’s Indo-Pacific Engagement
War on the Rocks – Should Labour assume power in 2024 (or 2025, when an election has to take place), it is therefore improbable that the new government will move to significantly deviate from the Indo-Pacific engagement course that the United Kingdom has presently embarked on. While ensuring the sanctity of the Euro-Atlantic area will be the defense priority (as it is now with the ruling Conservative administration), economic and political realities mean that the latter theater will necessarily continue to be of significant importance for securing the country’s future interests.
Philippines builds new coast guard station on island in South China Sea
Reuters – The Philippines has built a new coast guard station on the contested island of Thitu in the South China Sea, boosting its ability to monitor movements of Chinese vessels and aircraft in the busy disputed waterway.
Russia’s Powerful Invisible Defenses Around Sevastopol Rendered Visible
Naval News – Electromagnetic Warfare is a powerful weapon in the war in Ukraine. Yet it is elusive; we know it is happening but it is invisible, even mysterious. A new analysis of open source data gives a rare window into this world, unmasking Russia’s hidden hand.
Ukraine Situation Report: Huge Storm’s Impact On Russian Defenses
War Zone – Russia could see long and short-terms impacts to its defenses and logistics from a major storm that hit the Black Sea.
Here comes Arkhangelsk, a submarine that will boost the Northern Fleet’s hypersonic missiles capabilities
Barents Observer – A solemn ceremony was held for the K-564 Yasen-M class multi-purpose submarine at the Sevmash shipyard in the north Russian city of Severodvinsk on November 29.
(Thanks to Alain)
HMS Diamond sent to the Gulf in response to rising tension in the Middle East
Navy Lookout – HMS Diamond will join US warships deployed in the Persian Gulf region as the risk of conflict and the threat to merchant shipping increases.
Russian Navy’s fifth Project 636.3 submarine Mozhaisk delivered
Naval Today – Russian shipbuilder Admiralty Shipyards, a subsidiary of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, has delivered the fifth Project 363.3 submarine, Mozhaisk, to the Russian Navy.
(Thanks to Alain)
Growing threats to Canada’s security drove $10B surveillance plane purchase, minister says
CBC – Defence Minister Bill Blair says a sense of urgency driven by security threats around the globe is behind the federal government’s decision to sole-source a deal worth more than $10 billion to buy a new fleet of P-8 military surveillance planes.
South Korea Seeks Naval Shipbuilding Opportunities In North America
Naval News – South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration along with delegates from the nation’s leading shipbuilding companies visited U.S. shipyards and met with the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command from November 13th to November 17th to tour facilities and discuss opportunities for mutual cooperation.
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