Worries Surface On New Navy Mine Warfare Plan

Worries Surface On New Navy Mine Warfare Plan
Worries Surface On New Navy Mine Warfare Plan

ANNAPOLIS: The Navy’s new plan to put mine-hunting gear on a wider range of warships could finally break mine warfare out of its ghetto — or it could keep mine-hunting the same redheaded stepchild but spread it across more decks. The Navy has experimented with integrating Mine Counter-Measures (MCM) onto ships that weren’t minesweepers before,…

Where Are The Icebreakers?!

Where Are The Icebreakers?!
Where Are The Icebreakers?!

We’ve got something here for Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Angus King and Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft to read before they speak Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on “National Security Challenges and Icebreaking Operations in the Arctic.” Scott Truver, known to most serious students of Navy shipbuilding, argues the case for icebreakers.…

Navy’s Distributed Lethality Will Reshape Fleet

Navy’s Distributed Lethality Will Reshape Fleet
Navy’s Distributed Lethality Will Reshape Fleet

The Navy’s Surface Warfare leaders announced a new warfighting concept, Distributed Lethality (DL) nine months ago at the January 2015 Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Va., and outlined it in the U.S. Naval Institute magazine Proceedings. DL is an innovative concept for how surface, amphibious and combat logistics ships can enhance the Surface Navy’s offensive “punch” in support…

From Sailors To Robots: A Revolution In Clearing Mines

From Sailors To Robots: A Revolution In Clearing Mines
From Sailors To Robots: A Revolution In Clearing Mines

This is the third in our exclusive series on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this global and very real threat. Here we’re looking at the most promising technologies, ships and aircraft that can give the United States the edge in this crucial and complex battle.…

Sowing The Sea With Fire: The Threat Of Sea Mines

Sowing The Sea With Fire: The Threat Of Sea Mines
Sowing The Sea With Fire: The Threat Of Sea Mines

This is the second in our exclusive series on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this very real global threat. Only 4.7 percent of the US Navy’s 275 warships are dedicated to mine warfare. Those small numbers face Iran’s several thousand naval mines, North Korea’s 50,000, China 100,000 or…

Minefields At Sea: From The Tsars To Putin

Minefields At Sea: From The Tsars To Putin
Minefields At Sea: From The Tsars To Putin

This is the first of three stories on the crucial but neglected question of sea mines and how well — or not — the United States manages this very real global threat. Since World War II, mines have sunk or crippled 15 US Navy ships, more than all other weapons put together. Like roadside bombs on land,…

Capt. Kirk Takes Command Of Hot New Ship – Really! USS Zumwalt Sails

Capt. Kirk Takes Command Of Hot New Ship – Really! USS Zumwalt Sails
Capt. Kirk Takes Command Of Hot New Ship – Really! USS Zumwalt Sails

WASHINGTON: To boldly go in a revolutionary ship where no one has commanded before. Why the clumsy Star Trek reference? Because the Navy’s newest, stealthy, most radical ship, the USS Zumwalt, will be commanded by the fabulously named Capt. James A. Kirk. The Navy couldn’t make something like this up, could they? The Zumwalt, launched…