From the monthly archives:

July 2014

To Sell U.S. Combatants Overseas–Follow the French!

by admin on July 31, 2014

U.S. naval ship vendors could learn a thing or two from the French, as they’ve thusfar fought off extensive American efforts to intrude on France’s niche market in small surface combatants. It’s almost embarrassing.  Despite American efforts to sell the Littoral Combat Ship, the French Gowind-Class corvette “family of ships” has quietly taken big bites […]

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Mine Warfare Has Come To The South China Sea

by admin on July 29, 2014

Less than a month after I highlighted the real potential for mine warfare in the South China Sea (here), the Chinese Navy has, for the first time, publicly announced mine warfare drills in the South China Sea. From Xinhuanet: The Chinese navy has conducted a mine clearance drill in formation in the South China Sea […]

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Navy Surface Fires: Overlooking Israeli Experiences, Again…

by admin on July 24, 2014

In America’s arcane and endless doctrinal debates over amphibious warfare (examples here and here), one constant shines above all–the incessant Marine Corps call for large-caliber fire support from the sea. To “big gun” fire support advocates, the little “popguns” on America’s Littoral Combat Ships, Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers don’t seem to matter at all in shore […]

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Fear Nuclear War: It IS Five Minutes To Midnight, After All…

by admin on July 20, 2014

We just don’t fear nuclear weapons enough anymore. While the global fear of nuclear war has receded, the threat of nuclear war is a very real and fast-growing danger. Lacking a healthy global uptick in appreciation of the consequences of nuclear conflict–a fear that both endows nuclear weapons with value while helping to prevent their […]

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Mines Are Coming To The South China Sea

by admin on July 10, 2014

Mine Warfare in the South China Sea is inevitable. Look at the players. On one side, we have China, a country boasting an enormous, sophisticated arsenal of mines with a resurgent Navy holding a set of offensive Mine Warfare doctrines that are simply begging to be tested. On the other, we have Vietnam, the Philippines […]

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How America’s Expanding Pacific National Monuments Irk China

by admin on July 7, 2014

Here’s a challenge for my friends in the media, my resident China-Watchers, and those passers-by of the high intelligence set: How is China responding–if at all–to the White House’s quiet June 16 imposition of American control over millions of kilometers of strategic seabed? I’m willing to bet that this expansion of American authority in the […]

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