Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov in transit to the Mediterranean Sea on Oct. 18, 2016. UK MoD Photo
The Russian navy has deployed the core of its Murmansk-based Northern Fleet to the Eastern Mediterranean to participate in the war in Syria. Read More
Russian Icebreaker Yamal in 2009. Russian Navy Photo
Russia’s building of seven military bases and stationing a regiment there raises growing security concerns about the Arctic’s future. Read More
The following is the Sept. 28, 2016 Congressional Research Service report, Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response. Read More
160929-N-OT964-120 NORFOLK (Sept. 29, 2016) Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson speaking at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. on Sept. 29, 2016. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Pentagon terms-of-the-moment go, Anti-Access-Area Denial has been on the forefront of strategic conversation across the services and military academia for more than 15 years. Now, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said his service will stop using the term for the sake of clarity. Read More
Wreckage of the Flight MH-17. Dutch Openbaar Ministerie Photo
The carefully prepared and detailed analysis released this week by Dutch authorities showing that a 9M38 anti-aircraft launched from a Buk-Telar 17 shot down the MH17 flight on July 17, 2014 is probably not a surprise to anyone. What is noteworthy is the extraordinary level of detail – even by Dutch standards – of the investigation, and the strategic choices it foists upon Vladimir Putin and his boyars in the Kremlin. Read More
Estonian soldiers wade ashore during a combined U.S. and Estonia amphibious assault training exercise during Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2010. US Navy Photo
NATO’s challenge in deterring Russian aggression goes well beyond standing up four multinational battalions in the Baltic nations and Poland; it needs to have the capability to move reinforcements across a contested North Atlantic and Europe, three experts said in assessing the alliance’s recent Warsaw summit. Read More
Several emerging technologies are poised to change the way navies operate in the future. Unmanned underwater vehicles hold the promise to help find adversarial submarines, additive manufacturing could replace hard to find parts for ships and aircraft stationed in remote locations and lasers and electromagnetic railguns could increase the volume of fires from U.S. ships while reducing the cost of missiles. Read More
THE PENTAGON – This week the heads of more than one hundred navies will descend on a small town in Rhode Island to talk the ins and outs of maritime security. Read More
An undated picture of a Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrol craft.
Some critics attribute the increased number of aggressive air-to-air intercepts and incidents at sea to what they argue is the current administration’s weak foreign policy. That claim raises some interesting points when analyzed. There is a strong counter-argument to such claims. Read More
Russian troops participating in the Kavkaz-2016 exercise
Russia is simultaneously conducting operations along the eastern Ukraine border, participating in large bilateral naval exercises with China in the South China Sea and conducting large-scale amphibious exercises in the Black Sea around the Crimean peninsula. The Russian Navy has subs operating in the Baltic Sea off Latvia, continues to professionalize its force, and is attempting to sustain a large upgrade in force capabilities matched with no-notice military inspections in most military districts. At the same time, it continues operations in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean, demonstrating resolve and constancy there. Read More
