Free Republic

Senior U.S. Navy leaders in the Atlantic and European regions discussed, in some detail, the nature of the Russian build-up and naval activity in the Arctic region during a recent seminar in Washington. Speaking Feb. 9 at a seminar sponsored by the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute and the Center for Maritime Strategy (CMS), a think tank of the Navy League of the United States — Deterring Russia at Sea in the High North — were Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Vice Adm. Dan Dwyer, commander, U.S. Second Fleet. The seminar was moderated by retired Adm. James...

The rapid expansion of China’s Coast Guard gives Beijing the means to shift its sea expansion aims from aspirational to operational, a panel of security experts concurred during a Monday event detailing China’s maritime ambitions. In vast stretches of sea, an area stretching from the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea to the Scarborough Shoals off the Philippines in the South China Sea, China’s maritime forces are aggressively asserting claims to every landmass — natural or manmade — in this blue territory, the experts from several think tanks agreed while speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies....

(Very long article, so I excerpted only the conclusions graphic)

'The Royal Navy (RN) is returning the large deck carrier business after many years absence. This means that the RN while shaping the concepts of operations for it new carrier and the RAF for the new carrier air wing, the two services are not constrained by the immediate past. They are reinventing their approach to carrier airpower; not reshaping its carriers to deal simply with the addition of new aircraft to the carrier air deck, as is the US Navy. Secretary Wynne once noted that a good way to rethink the role of the large deck carrier would be to...

Military Advantage: Our defense secretary proposes doing what no other foreign adversary has done: sink the U.S. Navy. We don't need those billion-dollar destroyers, he says. Meanwhile, the Chinese navy rushes to fill the vacuum. Once Britannia ruled the waves, later to be replaced by America and its Navy. From the Battle of Midway to President Reagan's 600-ship fleet that helped win the Cold War, naval supremacy has been critical to the protection and survival of our nation. Which is why we find the recent remarks of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the Navy League at the Sea-Air-Space expo so...

BANDAR ABBAS, Iran, June 1 (UPI) -- Iran commissioned three new Ghadir-class submarines for its naval fleet at a Monday ceremony, bringing the total number of the sonar-evading vessels to seven. Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar turned the three submarines over to naval officials at the Bandar Abbas port city near the Straits of Hormuz. Reports of the submarine in the Iranian Student News Agency say the launch is an effort to "arm the military with new strong capabilities." The Ghadir class is a smaller vessel with a displacement of around 120 tons. The semiofficial Fars News Agency in...

In a move likely to stoke concerns in Tokyo, Washington and throughout Asia, China plans to greatly expand the reach and firepower of its navy by building at least two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Analysts believe China is expanding its naval power as part of a push toward strategic dominance over the western Pacific, including the waters that surround Japan. Military sources said the first nuclear-powered flattops would be constructed in 2020 or later. China will begin construction of two conventional aircraft carriers this year. According to sources, a meeting was held in Beijing on Dec. 30 among military officials. A...

SCOTLAND has taken a major step towards leading the way in marine renewable energy with the announcement that the world's first tidal farms could be built within three years. Two tidal projects, each with up to 20 turbines, could be installed on the seabed in the Pentland Firth and the Sound of Islay. A third is planned off the North Antrim coast in Northern Ireland. The aim is that all the underwater turbines would be constructed in Scotland, kickstarting the renewables industry in this country. ScottishPower Renewables will apply for planning permission for the three tidal projects next summer. If...

HMS Astute named and levered out the build hall!

CVN-77 to be Christened on October 7th, 2006 From the Northrop Grumman site. On Saturday, October 7, 2006, Northrop Grumman Newport News will christen the nation’s 10th and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). The ship’s namesake and 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, is scheduled to attend the ceremony along with his wife Barbara and their daughter, Doro Bush Koch, Mrs. Koch also serves as the ship’s sponsor and will do the traditional honor of breaking a bottle of American sparkling wine across the ship’s bow during the ceremony. Employees of...

Over lunch at the Four Seasons during a hectic week in New York, a former secretary of the Navy, John Lehman, shared his alarm about America's security. "We're building only five ships a year; we're on the way to a 150-ship Navy" he says. In his view, that is courting disaster. "That is not enough to cover our security requirements," he says. "Seventy-percent of the world is covered by water. We no longer have basing rights around the world. If you have combat operations going on you need air cover and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week,...

Once the pride of the Soviet navy, Russia's Black Sea Fleet can still put on an impressive display. But it could soon be fighting for its own survival, the BBC's Helen Fawkes reports from Sevastopol, in Crimea. Thousands of Ukrainians lined the harbour at Sevastopol to watch the powerful show of strength in a demonstration battle for the public by the fleet, which is based in Crimea. A fighter jet swooped low over the southern tip of Ukraine to attack a giant warship from the Russian navy. The vessel returned gunfire and green torpedoes cut through the water towards advancing...