Dive into the archives.
- Sign us up for cheap, compact subs too!
Kotare (aka “the strategist”) discusses a potential conventional submarine fleet for New Zealand using the new “entry-level” compact sub models coming out of Europe. This might be good news for Canada, which is losing millions on its sad submarine fleet. Only one of the four used diesel powered submarines we purchased from the UK is [...]
- Being realistic about maritime terrorism
EagleSpeak offers a quick and dirty Q&A on maritime piracy that is both enlightening and practical. I found his statement on the link between piracy and terrorism particularly concise:
Piracy as practiced today can be political (Nigeria in some instances) but mostly seems to be a revenue raiser. AQ’s statement may be mostly propaganda and relates [...]
- Comparison of submarine fleets in Northeast Asia
Mingi Hyun’s return to blogging about maritime Asia and South Korea’s new submarine program inspired me to put together a comparison of the sub fleets in northeast Asia.
I consulted The Military Balance 2008 for the numbers. Here are the definitions of the classes indicated above:
SSBN=ballistic-missile submarine nuclear-fuelled
SSN= attack submarine nuclear powered
SSGN=SSN with dedicated non-ballistic missile [...]
- How do you say “peekaboo” in Chinese?
With regards to naval activity in northeast Asia check out this little piece of self-satisfaction that happened on exercise between Japan and Taiwan:
Chinese sub pops up in middle of U.S. Navy exercise, leaving military chiefs red-faced
... American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a [...]
- The strategy pendulum
Lex brought to our attention a couple of criticisms of Kaplan’s latest article in the Atlantic from both the left and the right. I don’t think these criticisms are fair. First of all, I didn’t read the article as a throwback to another era or as the prioritization of the navy over other services. [...]
- Kaplan on land, sea (and air)
Lots of new Kap in the Atlantic this past week, and some of it controversial. More on that in an upcoming post but in the meantime check out the following three articles:
The Navy’s New Flat-Earth Strategy
The U.S. unveils a collaborative plan for policing the seasAmerica’s Elegant Decline
Hulls in the water could soon displace boots on [...]
- Chinese nuclear sub-spotting
Via the strategist comes a post by Hans M. Kristensen from FAS who used Google Earth to spot and identify two Chinese nuclear Jin-class submarines. Mr Kristensen was the man who spotted the original Jin earlier this year, though that time he didn’t use Google Earth. Someone went to the yard and took an oblique [...]
- The ocean is becoming wild
I am already grateful for the wall being torn down. The NY Times had a special Op-Ed Contributor yesterday: Robert D. Kaplan. In Lost at Sea Kap writes about the changing balance of naval power in the Pacific. With ballooning miltary expenditures and expanding forces in Asia, America might not be able to cope while [...]
- SLOC defense ideas
In the era of globalization more products and resources are being transported by ships than ever — much depends on open sea lanes. Securing SLOCs has been a centuries old problem, but new technology can help tame the outlaw sea.
Admiral Harry Ulrich, commander of US/NATO Naval Forces Europe, wants to bring the pervasiveness of air [...]
- Malacca Strait pwn3d
An editorial in the Jakarta Post lambasts the Indonesian government over its obstinate policies for protecting the Malacca Strait.
While we fully support the sovereignty of the three countries [Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore], we also want to remind them that all stakeholders in the strait have the right to play a role in ensuring the safety [...]
