Brought to You by the Members of the U.S. Naval Institute
Russian submarine Severodvinsk
While Russian submarine activity in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas and the North Atlantic are at their highest levels since the end of the Cold War, its navy has only started to be resourced and its undersea fleet, while “a pocket of competence,” remains small. Read More
Jean-Marc Ayrault in 2012. Photo by Rémi Jouan via Wikipedia
The French foreign minister warned Turkey not to use its state of emergency decree following a failed military coup as a way to “set up a regime that could become autocratic” during a discussion at a Washington, D.C., think tank. Read More
UK Royal Navy’s HMS Vanguard “vents off” as she leaves HMNB Clyde in Scotland in 2012. UK MoD Photo
The U.K. House of Commons approved a measure to renew the Royal Navy’s Trident nuclear weapons program and continue funding for four planned Successor-class ballistic nuclear submarines (SSBN). Read More
U.K. Defense Minister Michael Fallon
LONDON — Britain’s defense secretary has attempted to calm frayed nerves amid claims that the country’s decision to exit the European Union will provoke financial meltdown and leave the world a more dangerous place. Read More
Allied forces practice amphibious assault near Ustka, northern Poland, on 17 June 2015 as part of BALTOPS 2015. NATO Photo
Summer is exercise season in the Baltic Sea region, and one of the largest ones is BALTOPS 16, which runs between June 3 and June 18, and ranges across a considerable portion of the Baltic Sea. Read More
In Europe, “you find a kind of the perfect storm”—a resurgent Russia in the east, thousands of refugees and migrants arriving daily in the south, terrorist attacks in Paris, the rise of nationalist parties and economies flailing skewing political debates—that NATO is trying to weather. Read More
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon conduct a joint news conference at the Pentagon Dec. 11, 2015. DoD Photo
Britain’s Minister of Defense detailed steps his government is taking to show it is “bringing the full force of the Royal Air Force to bear” on the Islamic State and that it is a nation planning to invest more than $265 billion on new military hardware over the next decade to remain a world power. Read More
The following is the 2015 U.K. National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review — the country’s guiding defense planning document into 2025 — published on Nov. 23, 2015 by the U.K. Ministry of Defence. Read More
An artist’s conception of the U.K.’s Successor-class future planned ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) released Tuesday. UK Ministry of Defense Photo
LONDON — The British government has decided to replace the Royal Navy’s four Vanguard-class ballistic nuclear missile submarines (SSBN) with new boats on a one-for-one basis. Read More
An artist’s rendering of the future HMS Queen Elizabeth carrier. Royal Navy Image
LONDON — The U.S. Marine Corps will deploy its Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II strike fighters on combat sorties from Britain’s new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, a senior U.K. Royal Navy officer has confirmed. Read More
