Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

United States Naval personal ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author-  James Holmes So Admiral John Richardson, the chief of naval operations (CNO), a.k.a. the United States’ top uniformed naval officer, plans to unfurl a “campaign design” next month to guide the U.S. Navy’s future endeavors. We know very little about the draft document. Nevertheless, it’s worthwhile proffering a few thoughts in this largely fact-free setting—even while the draft remains under strict embargo. Some ideas animating the directive have begun to seep out of the Navy Staff. For one, the world is changing around the sea services—the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard—at a fast and quickening rate. While the U.S. Navy remains tops in knowledge and capability—the human and material sinews of sea power—for now, prospective antagonists are improving even more swiftly. They’re coming from behind. To visualize this way of thinking, im

Harpoon missile being fired ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ben Rimland With the venerable RGM-84 Harpoon growing rather long in the tooth, the U.S. Navy has begun searching in earnest for a new and cutting-edge anti-ship missile (ASM) in both air and ship-launched varieties. Unsurprisingly, the Navy has looked to further evolutions of two legacy weapons systems, the Tomahawk and Harpoon, to replace its fleet of 1980s-vintage weapons. Of course, weapons procurement – especially for the world’s greatest maritime superpower – does not occur in a vacuum. While the Navy has distressingly neglected to construct new warships with organic Harpoon capability since 1999, China, Russia, and other adversaries have begun fielding advanced supersonic, long-ranged ASM like the SSN-27A Sizzler, the YJ-18, and other such weapons. America’s longtime technological and quantitative edge in wielding a “big stick” in the Asia-Pacific,

United States Navy  FA-18 Super Hornet ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author-  Benjamin David Baker As the Diplomat has noted recently, the Asia-Pacific has become an important market for modern military aircraft. Companies from countries such as France, Sweden, Russia, and China have been attempting to sell their platforms to a range of states in the region (see here and here for Beijing’s Asian aircraft bids). Several states, including Indonesia, Malaysia and India, are either planning to or are in the process of acquiring modern fighter jets. U.S. companies have a long and established position in this market. This has partially been for political purposes. During the Cold War, many states bought American kit out of necessity as much as quality, as there were few other acceptable sellers available (the French company Dassault being an important exception). U.S. companies are still among the top suppliers of Asian ai

USS Zumwalt ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The U.S. Navy’s first DDG-1000 destroyer Zumwalt (Note; It’s not USS until the ship is commissioned) is set to undergo an initial set of sea trials in December. The ship is one of three DDG-1000-class vessels the service is buying—which effectively means that the ships are glorified technology demonstrators for the various high-tech innovations found onboard. “We’ve got a builder’s sea trial with a notional start of the 7th of December,” said Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition in an interview with Defense News. “That is the critical milestone in terms of being able to deliver in the spring. We need a successful trial. We’ll learn things from the trial, we always do. First-of-class, we expect to learn a lot.” The roughly 15,700-ton vessel has been years in the works and features a host of

USS Carl Vinson ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar The U.S. Navy is struggling to meet its worldwide commitments with only ten aircraft carriers in the fleet. The service has been down to ten flattops ever since USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was retired in December 2012. The Navy will only return to eleven ships once USS Gerald R. Ford is commissioned in 2016, but that vessel won’t be ready for deployment until 2021. But the law requires the Navy to operate a minimum of eleven carriers. The service is operating under a temporary exemption that allows it operate only ten vessels. But because the Navy is struggling to meet requirements with the current number of operational carriers, Congressman Mike Conaway (R-Texas) has introduced legislation to that would require the service to maintain a fleet of no less than twelve carriers. The law used to require the Navy to operate twelve flattops until the last

USS Woodrow Wilson- Part of the 41 for Freedom SSBNs in service with the USN (Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The National Interest Author-  Joseph Trevithick A key component of the U.S. doctrine of mutually assured destruction — commonly and appropriately known as MAD — was that American troops would still be able to retaliate if the Soviet Union launched a nuclear attack. But for a time, the Pentagon was seriously worried that its own nuclear missile submarines wouldn’t get those orders in time. In 1968, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Scientific Advisory Committee found dangerous gaps in the communications network supporting the nation’s so-called Fleet Ballistic Missile boats, or FBMs. The FBM fleet included more than 40 submarines of five different classes all capable of carrying up to 16 Polaris nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, collectively known as the “41 for Freedom.” The agency included the report in a response to a private individual’s Fr

USS Halsey (DDG-97) underway ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Navy) Source- National Interest Author- Dave Majumdar While the U.S. Navy will start to build new Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers equipped with Raytheon’s new AN/SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar next year, the service will eventually have to develop a new surface combatant to replace the vintage DDG-51 and Ticonderoga-class hull-forms. Navy officials expect that such a new Future Surface Combatant (FSC) would enter service in the 2030s—but the Navy has to start planning for those vessels now since construction needs to start around 2028. No one—not even the Navy—knows exactly what those new ships might look like. But we can make certain assumptions even at this early stage. The new ship will need to generate a huge amount of electrical power to run future naval weapons which many predict will include lasers and railguns. It’s also very likely that the FSC will n

Bowing B-52 Stratofortress ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Air force) Source- National Interest Author- James Hasik In The Australian last November, David Kilcullen argued that “the West’s failed counter-terrorism strategy requires a complete rethink.” Set aside for the moment James Fallows’ screed in The Atlantic last December. Thirteen years of not-quite-winning two wars in the Middle East and South Asia, despite overwhelming material advantage, is not a good track record for national strategy. At this point, the air campaign against ISIS may be holding the line, but it is not rolling anyone back, and cannot do so alone. Frankly, as I argued here more narrowly a few days after Kilcullen (see “Software is Eating the War,” 3 November 2014), the West's whole defense-industrial strategy could use a thorough rethinking too. Ominously, though, shifting economic and technological trends are rendering questionable its hitherto highly successful mas

USNS Mercy hospital ship ( Image credits- US Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Prashanth Parameswaran From August 17-28, U.S. Navy ships will be in Vietnam for the annual U.S.-led Pacific Partnership mission, the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific region. Pacific Partnership, led by the U.S. Navy in partnership with other like-minded countries and non-governmental organizations, sees the combined force visiting several host nations every year and engaging in a variety of local outreach efforts to improve boost capabilities, build relationships and bolster collective ability to respond to natural disasters. It began in 2006 following the December 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Southeast Asia. Vietnam is one of the seven host nations on the list for this year’s Pacific Partnership in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations betwee

The X-47 B UCAV on trials ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- United States Navy by MC2 Timothy Walter) Source- The National interest Author- James Hasik Earlier this year, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said that he believed that the F/A-XX, the Navy’s planned eventual follow-on to the F-35C, would be "optionally manned". On April 15 at the Sea-Air-Space conference, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus leaned further forward, noting how he believed that "the F-35 should be, and almost certainly will be, the last manned strike fighter aircraft the Department of the Navy will ever buy or fly.” At the same time, Mabus announced that he would be establishing a new post of deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for unmanned systems—a secretary of drones, so to speak. That evening, Senate Armed Service Committee Chairman John McCain said that “I hope the sentiments expressed by Secretary Mabus… will be reflected in the Navy's future program

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Navy by Christopher B. Long, USN Source- The National Interest Authors- Brad Glosserman & David Santoro Reassuring allies is a never-ending assignment. That task is especially challenging in Northeast Asia, where the usual problems created by geography and different geopolitical interests are compounded by an evolving security environment characterized by North Korea’s continued progress in developing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, China’s steady military modernization and more assertive regional role, growing diffusion of the nature and source of threats (notably due to the rising prominence of the cyber and space domains), and political dysfunction in Washington that makes it more difficult for allies to anticipate America’s reaction to a crisis. Fortunately, the United States understands the critical importance of honoring its alliance commitments and defending its allies. Failure to do so would