- Washington Post – The Pentagon is rushing to send a large floating base for commando teams to the Middle East as tensions rise with Iran, al-Qaeda in Yemen and Somali pirates, among other threats. In response to requests from U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, the Navy is converting the USS Ponce, an aging warship it had planned to decommission into a makeshift staging base for the commandos. Unofficially dubbed a “mothership,” the floating base could accommodate smaller high-speed boats and helicopters commonly used by Navy SEALs, procurement documents show.

- New York Times – P.W. Singer asks if use of unmanned aerial vehicles by the US undermines our democracy.

- AP – Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told sailors aboard the country’s oldest aircraft carrier that the U.S. is committed to maintaining a fleet of 11 of the formidable warships despite budget pressures, in part to project sea power against Iran.

- Los Angeles Times – The rescue of a U.S. aid worker and a Danish colleague held hostage since October was carried out by Navy SEALs from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden.

- San Diego Union Tribune – Camp Pendleton troops will be storming the beaches with Japanese defense forces over the next month, building on long-standing military ties with an important strategic ally in the Asia Pacific amid rising tensions in the region.

- Daily Telegraph – The Royal Navy’s multi-billion pound fighter plane programme is under threat amid claims that its new all-purpose jets cannot land on aircraft carriers.

- Daily Telegraph – The Royal Navy may be forced to release suspected pirates captured in the Indian Ocean because no country is willing to prosecute them.

- Daily Telegraph – Britain could send military reinforcements to the Gulf if the dispute with Iran escalates, according to Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary.

- Daily Telegraph – Holly Watt reports from the RFA Fort Victoria in the Indian Ocean as a raid by the Royal Navy on a fishing boat leads to the arrest of 14 suspected pirates.

- AP – It’s getting a bit more crowded under the sea in Asia, where Andrew Peterson commands one of the world’s mightiest weapons: a $2 billion nuclear submarine with unrivaled stealth and missiles that can devastate targets hundreds of miles (kilometers) away.

- Washington Post – According to David Ignatius, the Iran nuclear crisis is far from over, but Tehran appears to have made a subtle blink — backing away from its threat a few weeks ago to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to escalating U.S. sanctions.

- AP – Sea piracy worldwide dropped slightly in 2011 for the first time in five years but Somali pirates have intensified attacks and remained the greatest threat, a global maritime watchdog said Thursday.

- Associated Press – A Coast Guard cutter is preparing for the departure of a Russian fuel tanker from an iced-in Alaska town.

- Jane’s – A senior official at the US Department of the Navy has painted an optimistic picture of the service’s 2022 force posture that will be focused on strategic choke points, humanitarian disaster response and the highest levels of maritime domain awareness.

- The Economist – The Syrian port of Tartus is Russia’s only military base outside the old Soviet Union. Moreover, Russia is the Syrian regime’s only big-power friend. So the arrival there of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft-carrier and a few other warships earlier this month brought a warm welcome from Bashar Assad’s defence minister, General Dawood Rajiha, who praised Russia’s “honourable” support for his government.

- New York Times – C.J. Chivers on the air war in Afghanistan.

- Defense Technology – The testing of Russia’s new submarine-launched R-30 Bulava ICBM (SS-NX-30) intercontinental ballistic missile has come to an end.

- Eurasian Review – Pakistan’s view of India’s navy.

- Associated Press – The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group has entered the Arabian Sea and another is on its way, a Pentagon official said in a news briefing Wednesday — a shuffling of the U.S. fleet amid rising tensions with Iran.

- Economist – Despite its sabre-rattling in the Gulf, Iran’s options are limited