A Guest Post: The 2014 Current Strategy Forum – ‘Where’s The Beef?’

We have a problem, it seems, developing a naval Strategy for the new century.  Long after the Cold War had supposedly ended (well, we thought it was over – events in Russia’s ‘Near Beyond’ may argue a different outcome) we were still using a variation of Forward…From the Sea and thinking from the E-ring Navy…

| |

Competition in the South China Sea

At its root it is all about resources — protein to supplement meager domestic harvests and oil to drive economies that governments push to unnatural and unsustainable annual growth.   It is about an emergent regional power, poised on the brink of asserting itself as something more, flexing new-found muscle in new domains and deepening…

CNO’s Remarks at NWC Current Strategy Forum

The following remarks were presented by CNO at the Current Strategy Forum, hosted by the Naval War College, on 16 June 2009.  We are presenting them here, unedited or commented upon,  except for certain boldened passages that we feel require emphasis.  The comments section is open for your thoughts…  – SJS It is really a…

Missile Defense – It’s Not Just for ICBMs

It began in 2001.  Crude, homemade and unguided.  Indiscriminate as to objective or target – not meant to do anything but inspire terror.  It has a name – صاروخ القسام‎ ṢārÅ«kh al-Qassām; Comprised of a  simple steel rocket filled with explosives, powered by a homebrew mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate (fertilizer) with warheads made…

New Naval Operations Concept – Still Waiting…

As we’ve previously noted, the new Naval Operating Concept, derived from the Maritime Strategy released over a year ago, was slated to be released sometime this month (October).  Now it seems that release is delayed – no surprise given the coordination still being carried on within the Navy, much less that required between the Navy,…

Navy Awards Northrop Grumman Unmanned Aircraft System Contract

"Enhance Awareness. To be effective, there must be a significantly increased commitment to advance maritime domain awareness (MDA) and expand intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability and capacity."     – A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower Navy Awards Northrop Grumman Unmanned Aircraft System Contract The Department of the Navy announced today that the Northrop…

The Maritime Strategy, Deterrence & Escalation Dominance

“We believe that preventing wars is as important as winning wars…(w)e will pursue an approach to deterrence that includes a credible and scalable ability to retaliate against aggressors conventionally, unconventionally, and with nuclear forces” – A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower, October 2007 “…(O)ne of the things that we were stressing is an area…