Raw Intel

Kyle Mizokami has a fine piece up at the Diplomat about the prospects for a Japanese amphibious fleet: Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief missions are typically supported by naval vessels. The March Tohoku emergency, as well as the January 2010 Haitian earthquake, saw multinational fleets sortieing to the assistance of island nations. In both instances, natural disasters disrupted local airports and port facilities, slowing the flow of relief into the disaster zone. The design of naval vessels, such as the USS Essex in Tohoku and the Italian aircraft carrier Cavour in Haiti, made them key to opening up affected areas. Self-sufficient in food and power, and desig…

The Chinese navy has long been accused of not showing enough transparency. While that has certainly really improved in the recent year, there are still plenty of areas that's hard for a blogger like myself to follow. Certainly, most of the surface combatants are easy to track, since many photos are released of them. Most of the subsystems and weapon systems on these ships are also quite transparent with some version of them offered for exports. There are some many news reports giving even more information on various naval ships and their subsystems. So which programs are noticeably absent from all these photos and news releases? The most obvious answers would be the…

It is very easy to look at this technology and be dismissive... but that our weakness isn't it? We are a technology society and look at the specifics of technology to form the basis for our judgments. It a technology doesn't conform to our conceptual expectations regarding capability, then 'it doesn't pass the smell test' and is usually dismissed with sarcasm. I expect there is plenty of sarcasm to be easy shared upon examination of this little piece of tech being fielded by Iran. Iran's state TV says the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard has received its first three squadrons of radar-evading flying boats. The report says the domestically made craft can b…

DDG 1000's composite deckhouse was revealed this week down in Gulfport. The uniquely angled 48.8m long, by 21.3m wide, by 19.8m high balsa-wood core carbon fiber super-structure is designed to provide the Navy's newest guided-missile destroyer a low radar and infrared signature. The deckhouse, combined with a low-profile tumblehome hull will likely achieve this goal, but is it truly fair to say that this design is "stealthy?" Today's enemies will not operate long range maritime patrol aircraft and radar satellites like the Soviet Union did to locate U.S. fleets on the open ocean 30 years ago. They will, however, use a network of tattletale fishing dhows equipped wit…

ID contributor Robert Farley has posted his thoughts on the BMD decision over at the Guardian. Rob mentions something in his article that I've been thinking about for awhile regarding the Eastern European missile shield floated by the Bush administration. The reaction in Poland and the Czech Republic clearly illustrates that the purpose of the ballistic missiles in those countries was to influence Russia, yet the Bush administration always sold the concept domestically from the political position that the shield protects the US from Iranian ballistic missiles, an obvious disingenuous position. To me, that indicated Bush was sending a signal to Russia that the ballisti…

Those who aren't convinced that UAS will change warfare permanently need to watch this video, posted yesterday: Pardon the cliche, but this technology is truly transformational. For some interesting commentary on swarms, check out John Robb. The naval applications are there, too. How could AEGIS, RAM, ESSM, CIWS, or any other envisioned air defense system defend against a lethal "suicide" drone swarm aimed at a ship, especially when they come in from all directions and mass before attack? Jamming might work to some degree, but there are countermeasures for countermeasures. What about swarming surface or undersea weapons? The fact that this technology was …

Heard the one about the UFO seen from NewFoundland? Check out the picture in the story. One might think the Canadians were watching the new French M51. Seems odd to me though. While the time would match up, that is a heck of a distance to get such accurate photography. In other news, North Korea looks to be preparing for their next ballistic missile launch. Not surprising, they traded artillery fire last night. Have you noticed Somali piracy has slowed down quite a bit in the new year? It must be coincidence the level of violence inside Somalia has risen considerably during the same time. They are different issues, but there are interesting patterns and relations …

To: Major General T. Wilkerson, USMC(Ret) Chief Executive Officer U.S. Naval Institute Please forward to the members of the Board Gentlemen, In early February of this year I sent an e-mail to friends and colleagues advising them of the Board's decision to change the mission and role of the U.S. Naval Institute--without prior discussion or advice to the membership. I have since received almost 200 e-mails in reply plus a few telephone calls. Every response has indicated opposition to the proposed changes to the USNI mission and role. This view is also reflected on the USNI blog, and the blogs of "Commander Salamander" and others. This view w…

The following letter is being circulated and is for members of the United States Naval Institute. I can guarantee that I intend to discuss this topic quite a bit over the next month. All, I am writing to you--fellow members of the U.S. Naval Institute--to urge that you vote against the proposed change of the USNI mission statement that is being mailed out with the March issue of the Proceedings magazine. The current statement is refined from the original, 1873 mission written at the establishment of the USNI (see below). I believe that USNI members who believe in the principles of our 138-year-old professional organization should strongly object to three wo…

The United States Navy has moved up the deployment of the Bataan ARG. There's word Thursday that the USS Bataan, homeported in Norfolk, will head out on deployment later this month. Navy officials tell WVEC.com that the Bataan is surging to replace the Kearsarge, as part of a contingency operation. The surge is designed to give the president flexibility regarding the recent uprising in Northern Africa and in the Middle East. There's no word on the exact time of the deployment or for how long it will last. There are several things here. The Kearsarge had unloaded Marines into Afghanistan, and while the ship has been reinforced with additional M…

The most frustrating thing about watching events unfold in the Ukraine is the realization that the United States apparently learned nothing from the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008. If you recall the invasion of Georgia in 2008 by Russia, you will also recall it took place right in the middle of an American election. It would appear that timing favored Russia, because lessons were apparently not learned, indeed there is scant evidence the issue was truly studied. Today, in nearly every avenue of action, tactical options are being discussed on how to 'react' to Russia's occupation of Crimea. For the last 5+ years, time has been lost that could have been used develo…

This is the official press release by the US Navy. PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) -- An aerial target drone malfunctioned and struck guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) off the coast of Southern California at approximately 1:25 pm local time today, Nov. 16, while the ship was conducting a radar tracking exercise during routine training at sea. No Sailors were seriously injured, but two Sailors were treated for minor burns. The ship remains capable of operations, however it did sustain some damage and will return to its homeport of San Diego to have the damage assessed. The Navy is investigating the cause of the malfunction.That is very vague, so what if we add a bit…

The Navy just released an interesting video of Raytheon's Griffin missile testing from USS Monsoon (PC-4) off VACAPES last month. Although relatively short-range (about 5km), Griffin brings some much-needed offensive firepower to the PCs. The $45k a pop Griffin has proliferated in the U.S. military in the past few years, with roll-on installations on Marine Corps C-130s and other aircraft. Monsoon's testing also represented a successful demonstration of laser designation and targeting at sea (albeit on a clear day). The dual quad-pack Griffin set up onboard Monsoon is very compact and lends itself to installation onboard even smaller vessels such as the MK VI. The …

A Japanese whaler rammed a Sea Shepard vessel this week. See video below. Two more videos for context and here. Serious question. Should we care and why? The Sea Shepard folks on their own show Whale Wars have done things that are clearly illegal, and this particular incident shows the Japanese Whaler clearly turning into the vessel to ram it. What does the ongoing saga represent? Is this non-state law enforcement in the protection of the environment? Is this international piracy by environmental groups? I have had the opinion expressed more than once to me that this is legitimatized Western maritime terrorism and can be classified as piracy under interna…

This popped up today on Facebook. Good morning PSNS & IMF family, I would like to share with you a recent update from U.S. 7th Fleet. USS George Washington (CVN 73) got underway from Yokosuka last night to assure she can sustain a state of readiness in the long term for the defense of Japan. The forward deployed carrier remains in the local waters off Japan. Moving George Washington is a precaution given the capabilities of the vessel and the complex nature of this disaster. PSNS & IMF has more than 460 project personnel onboard George Washington, nine of whom are our Yokosuka Detachment workers. This team continues to perform work on her Selected…

Today's guest is Stephen Carmel, Sr. Vice President Maritime Services at Maersk Line, Limited. With so few U.S.-Flagged ships and carriers, is America still a maritime power? A.T. Mahan is perhaps the most widely quoted and authoritative strategic thinker on the relationship between commercial shipping and maritime power. That is probably because today any discussions of maritime power outside of those promoted by parochial industry interests rarely touch on any dimension of maritime power other than naval. Thinkers today just don’t ponder that relationship in any serious way. Consequently there is no discussion of the actual condition of the foreign going US flag me…

Activists, in all their forms, are an interesting sub-species of non-state maritime actors. We’ve discussed the Sea Shepherds here extensively, who have the closest thing to a fleet of any of the non-state maritime actors. Greenpeace, the Sea Shepherds' older, but slightly more docile sister organization, has also engaged in aggressive tactics throughout its history. Greenpeace's most recent campaign is designed to stop Arctic drilling. The involvement of Lucy Lawless, actress-turned-boarding officer, demonstrates how these direct action organizations have embraced celebrity endorsers to promote their cause, which is no different than many other political or environment…

Raymond, We Will Miss YouView the full article