Chinese Navy – China is looking to buy Slava-class cruisers and Akula-class nuclear attack submarines from Russia.

• Agence France Press: China ‘to buy more advanced Russian warships’

US Navy – The USS Constellation battlegroup deploys to the Gulf.

• San Diego Union Tribune: Carrier Constellation, battle group leave San Diego with possibility of war on horizon

US Navy – The US will create a new military command in the Horn of Africa to pursue terrorists, it will probably be located aboard the command ship USS Mount Whitney.

• Associated Press: Pentagon to start new command in Africa
  

US Navy – More Ro-Ro cargo ships leave the US for destinations unknown???

• Reuters: Massive Military Cargo Ships Leave U.S. Ports – MSC
  

US Marine Corps – Tom Ricks interviews the Commandant of the US Marines.

• Washington Post: Top Marine Takes New Route: Moves On, Not Out of Service

Background – Iraq – David Isby on techniques Iraq might use to pursue asymetric warfare against the US.

• Washington Times: Asymmetric warfare and Iraq

Background – Nonlethal Weapons – The US Navy and Marine Corps are urged to develop more nonlethal weapons.

• Associated Press: Navy, Marines urged to give nonlethal weapon development top priority
  

Taiwanese Navy – Taiwan again chases a Chinese spy ship away from its coast.

• Agence France Press: Taiwan ‘drove away Chinese spy ship’

Royal Navy – The UK is taking steps to enhance security around the Straits of Gibraltar against terrorist attack.

• Daily Telegraph: Navy switches IRA patrol boats to guard Gibraltar

US Navy – Sailors move in to the USS Ronald Reagan.

• Virginian Pilot: All aboard the new carrier Ronald Reagan

Military Sealift Command – The US is again looking to charter ships to carry ammunition to the Gulf.

• Reuters: US seeks more ships to carry ammunition to Gulf

Royal Air Force – The Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft upgrade continues to suffer setbacks.

• Daily Telegraph: RAF spends billions upgrading the Nimrod – but now the wings don’t fit

Background – Iraq – John Simpson on how the war with Iraq may play out???

• Daily Telegraph: America will prevail in battle with Iraq but the big question is how

Background – Pakistan – Robert Kaplan reviews 2 new books on Pakistan and concludes that if Musharraf fails in liberalizing Pakistan, the result will be disaster.

• New York Times Book Review: ‘Pakistan’: A Nuclear Yugoslavia

Background – Wargames – The role of the US Naval War College in helping to shape US Navy strategy – past and present.

• Sea Power: Thrusters, Cautionaries, and War Games

US Navy – Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf.

• New York Times: U.S. Pilots in Gulf Use Southern Iraq for Practice Runs

US Navy – More on the next generation carrier.

• Virginian Pilot: Navy may leapfrog to newer carrier design

US Navy – More on the court-ordered restrictions on the use of low frequency active sonar.

• Washington Post:
  Federal Judge Blocks New Navy Sonar

Background – Diego Garcia – The residents of Diego Garcia continue their quest to return home (this is a repost from Friday with the correct link)???and why Diego Garcia is so important to the US.

• BBC: Diego Garcia islanders battle to return
• BBC: America’s super bomber squadron

Background – Transformation – A panel discussion on the definition of transformation, and the barriers to implementing it in the US military.

• Naval War College Review: What Do We Mean by Transformation?

Royal Australian Navy – Australia continues to assist in blockading Iraq.

• ABC: Australian navy continues to enforce gulf blockade in Iraq

Royal Navy – The Royal Navy is dangerously short of ships to deploy to the Gulf, if so required.

• Daily Telegraph: Half of Britain’s warships in dock
• UPI: Analysis: Britain’s Navy shrinks too far

US Navy – More on the report that acuses the Navy of not having a clear plan for the future of its carrier fleet???

• Aviation Week: Report Endorses Carrier Design, But Sends Navy To Drawing Board
• Washington Times: Pentagon agrees to Navy’s new generation of carriers

US Navy – The Second Fleet commander stresses that training determines outcomes of wars.

• Sea Power: Training for Tomorrow’s Battles

Singaporean Navy – Singapore is escorting merchant vessels through the Singapore Straits.

• UNI: Navy to escort ships and vessels through Singapore Straits
  

US Navy – A US judge has issued a preliminary injunction banning the US from operating its low frequency active sonar system.

• Environmental News Service: U.S. Navy Sonar System Blocked by Federal Court

Merchant Shipping – A new report released by a US non partisan commission shows just how vulnerable US ports are to terrorist attack.

• The Times: One year on, and America has still not learnt the vital lessons to defend its shores
  

Background – Diego Garcia – The residents of Diego Garcia continue their quest to return home.

• BBC: Diego Garcia islanders battle to return
  

Background – Urban Combat – US troops are training intensely for urban combat, which can be a very tricky business.

• Washington Post: Bracing for ‘Primordial Combat’
• Army Magazine: Challenges of Urban Warfare
• MIT: Urban Warfare: Options, Problems, and the Future