NOSI is taking a break until February 1. To tide you over, I leave you with an interesting military history course and two long and interesting essays???

Background – Military History – Find out about wars, their causes and their effects, through articles, 3-d virtual tours, games and animations. Includes essays by a number of noted military historians.

• BBC: BBC – History – Wars and Conflict

Background – History – A fascinating essay by Owen Cote documenting the “Third Battle of the Atlantic” during the Cold War.

• MIT Security Studies Program: The Third Battle: Innovation in the U.S. Navy’s Silent Cold War Struggle with Soviet Submarines

Background – History – Revisiting the Peloponnesian War – Why the battles over ancient Athens still rage, and their relevance to events today.

Theatres of War

Royal Navy – The First Sea Lord sets the Royal Navy’s ship building priorities.

• The Guardian: Navy will have fewer ships

Iraq – How could we have been so far off in our estimates of Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs? A leading intelligence analyst, Ken Pollack, gives a detailed account of how and why we erred???

• The Atlantic: Spies, Lies and Weapons: What Went Wrong
• The Atlantic: Weapons of Misperception

Canadian Navy – Life aboard HMCS Toronto.

• Halifax Herald: Life in the fishbowl aboard HMCS Toronto

Royal Navy – More on the MV Gaul.

• The Guardian: Gaul was never used for spying, says trawler’s first mate

US Navy – The helicopter carrier USS Bataan and the aircraft carrier USS George Washington are about to set sail for the Gulf.

• Virginian Pilot: Smaller battle groups are bound for Persian Gulf to aid combat

US Navy – The helicopter carrier USS Boxer returns to the Gulf.

• Associated Press: USS Boxer Heads to Iraq for Second Trip

Background – 4th Generation Warfare – William Lind explains the 4 generations of warfare.

• AntiWar.com: Understanding Fourth Generation War

Royal Navy – More on the MV Gaul sinking inquiry.

• The Guardian: Sunken trawler was not spying, inquiry told

Royal Navy – The UK’s oldest nuclear-powered submarines are to be pressed into service for several years longer than planned because of delays building the replacement boats.

• The Times: Nuclear submarines to have extended life

Background – War on Terror – Thomas Ricks points to a study published by the US Army War College that criticises the war on terror.

• Washington Post: Study Published by Army Criticizes War on Terror’s Scope
• US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute: Bounding the Global War on Terrorism

Background – Command and Control – How and why the Joint Chiefs of Staff are being given the capability to manage individual firefights.

• StrategyPage: Micromanagement for Global War

Background – Counterinsurgency – Can the lessons of history help defeat the insurgency in Iraq? Peter Maass teaches the fine points of counterinsurgency by profiling a US Army officer who wrote his PhD thesis on counterinsurgency, and is now in the process of putting theory to practice in Iraq.

• New York Times Magazine: Professor Nagl’s War

Royal Navy – The submarine HMS Spartan has been fitted with an underwater hanger to aid operations by the SBS.

• Sunday Times: Son of a sub gives SBS frogmen new weapon

US Navy – Naval news from around the US defense industry.

• Sea Power: The Industrial Base

Background – Iraq – Another look at the shadow war that convinced Iraq’s military not to resist the US invasion.

• Sunday Times: Treachery: How Iraq went to war against Saddam

Background – War on Terror – Thomas Friedman on how to successfully fight the war on terror, we must partner with the forces of moderation within Muslim societies to help them fight the war of ideas.

• New York Times: War of Ideas, Part 1
• New York Times: War of Ideas, Part 2

Royal Navy – What became of the MV Gaul? Bereaved families of the crew of Arctic fishing vessel ‘Gaul’ fear a whitewash at a long-awaited inquiry into its sinking

• The Independent: MI6 to explain loss of ‘spy’ supertrawler

US Navy – Notwithstanding predictions since 1991 that Russia and China would form an anti-U.S. bloc, the normalization of their relations has proceeded for reasons mostly unrelated to any joint effort to counterbalance the United States. Russian arms sales do not constitute a military alliance. The two countries’ policies on important issues have been uncoordinated and often conflicting. Finally, despite security agreements signifying the end of their Cold War hostility, nondefense economic ties and societal contacts between Russia and China have remained minimal.

• US Naval War College Review: Why Russia and China Have Not Formed an Anti-American Alliance

Dutch Navy – The Rotterdam has rescued refugees stranded onboard a ferry.

• United Press International: U.N. team rescues 265 Liberian refugees

Canadian Navy – HMCS Toronto is about to deploy to the Gulf, again.

• Canadian Press: HMCS Toronto to go to gulf in anti-terrorism mission, but won’t have Sea King

US Navy – The USS Bataan prepares to return to the Gulf.

• Virginian Pilot: Bataan prepares for 2nd deployment

Brazilian Navy – Another look at the sale of the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais on eBay.

• Daily Telegraph: For internet sale: aircraft carrier, only three owners

Background – History – A history of the Korean Marine Corps in the Korean War.

• Leatherneck: The Invincible Marines

US Navy – Sea Basing promises to make the oceans a permanent base for conducting military operations. The implications will reach farther than just the naval services. Not only will there be changes in the way the Army projects power, the United States will need to make sure its diplomatic efforts do not suffer because it has less presence on the ground.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Sea Basing Isn’t Just about the Sea

Indian Navy – Why India should purchase the Gorshkov.

• Indian Express: Yes, shore-based fighters canít match the reaction speed of aircraft carrier

US Navy – The amount of defense dollars needed to ensure the safety and security of this nation and its citizens has been under debate throughout our history. Even more critical than how much the United States should spend, however, is how it should spend it. This is especially true today because of the strategic challenges posed by the ongoing global war on terrorism and, more acutely, because of our need to recapitalize aging, Cold War-era infrastructure and capability. Burgeoning technological and operational changes are dramatically altering the way we fight, requiring new platforms and capabilities. Revolutionizing the way our defense dollars are spent presents opportunities borne of these challenges; like the American business revolution from which the term sprang, Sea Enterprise is about creating fiscal opportunity across the Navy enterprise.

• US Naval Institute Proceedings: Sea Enterprise: Resourcing Tomorrow’s Fleet

Royal Navy – Four Type 42 destroyers are to be mothballed.

• Daily Telegraph: Warships are first casualty as spending cuts hit Navy

US Navy – The Chief of Naval Operations ambitious plans for 2004.

• Virginian Pilot: Top admiral all business in new year

US Marines – Thomas Ricks on the First Marine Division’s strategies for dealing with the Sunni Triangle when then return there in the near future.

• Washington Post: Marines to Offer New Tactics in Iraq

Background – Conflict 2004 – James F. Dunnigan gives an overview of where the world is likely to see conflict in 2004.

• StrategyPage: Where Will There Be War in 2004?

2003

World Naval Operational News Highlights

Overall, it is fascinating to reflect on just how correct open source intelligence stories were in 2003 in regards to what has subsequently transpired in Iraq. The stories NOSI covered described precisely the buildup of forces and logistics in theater, the evolution of the war plan, and accurately predicted the challenges the U.S. would face in a post-Saddam Iraq.

• Several recurring themes were identified throughout this year’s naval news stories, many of which persist from last year:
• Yet another navy running out of operating funds. The Canadian Navy will effectively take 2004 off, to rest and recuperate from the high level of operations it has been conducting in the Persian Gulf.
• Continuing piracy on the high seas, particularly in the South China Sea.
• The tension in the Taiwanese Straits between Taiwan and China, with China continuing to probe Taiwanese territorial waters with spy ships.
• The growing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
• Territorial disputes over islands in the South China Sea, such as the Spratly Islands.
• Territorial disputes in the Caspian Sea, based upon oil drilling rights to the vast oil riches in the region.
• The threats terrorists pose to ships.
• The dangerous nature of submarine operations, evidenced this year by the mysterious loss of the Ming-class Chinese submarine’s crew, but not the submarine off of China and the loss of the decommissoned Russian November-class submarine while being towed for scrapping.
• Concern over the damaging effect that low frequency active sonar has on marine mammals.
• Concern that the decaying former Soviet Navy nuclear submarine force tied up at dock is having a damaging effect on the marine environment.
• Significant naval operations this year included:
• Coalition naval operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• The most professional amphibious operations of the year were the U.S. First Marine Division’s drive on Baghdad and the Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade’s (40 and 42 Commando) drive on Basra during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Interestingly, every available Amphibious Ready Group in both navies sortied for Iraq early in the year to contribute forces for the campaign.
• The continued joint operations against terrorism at sea lead by the Spanish Navy in the Horn of Africa (Task Force – 150) and the Canadian Navy in the Persian Gulf (Task Force – 151).
• The resumption of ballistic missile submarine deterrent patrols by the Russian Navy after a hiatus of one year.
• The continued right-sizing of the Russian Navy, with its at-sea naval exercising slowly increasing in number and size, especially illustrated by its exercises in the Indian Ocean this year.
• The use of amphibious ships by the French to quickly move peacekeeping troops into the Ivory Coast.
• The U.S. Navy’s introduction of the Expeditionary Strike Group, an evolutionary expansion of the Amphibious Ready Group, thus creating a far more capable power projection platform.
• The only ship-to-ship combat of the year was the continuing conflict between Sri Lankan and Tamil Tiger gunboats and a few brief skirmishes at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• The most significant operational naval news story of the year was the U.S. Navy’s abandonment of its traditional 6 month at sea deployment patterns of aircraft carrier battlegroups and expeditionary strike groups. The reason for this is the desire to be able to surge large number of ships into combat zones at times of crisis, rather than be constrained by what the fixed 6 month deployment patterns make available at the time of a crisis.
• The naval training story of the year was the replacement of the U.S. Navy training area on Vieques island, in Puerto Rico with a number of alternative training bases along the U.S. Eastern and Gulf coasts. So far, the U.S. Navy does not appear to be suffering ill effects from the change.
• The most strategically significant naval news story of the year is the near-confirmation by the U.S. that the Israeli Navy does possess a nuclear deterrent capability in the form of nuclear-tipped land attack Harpoon cruise missiles in their Dolphin-class submarines.
• The most significant personnel naval news story this year was the U.S. Navy’s success in obtaining more underway days in theater from its ships by forward basing and dual-crewing more of them.
• The most tragic naval news story of the year was the loss of life in the submarine accidents in the Chinese and Russian navies.
• The most intriguing naval news story of the year was the proposed naval blockade of North Korea, by a coalition of nations lead by the U.S., for the purpose of blocking ballistic missile proliferation. Will this blockade be implemented in 2004?
• The most humorous naval news story of the year was the formal committment by the Royal Navy to construct two new aircraft carriers operating F-35 aircraft; and then the near-immediate back pedaling as to their expected size and capabilities. Is the U.K. committed to building an effective aircraft carrier, or not?
• The most bizarre naval news story of the year was that Russia is considering the use of Typhoon-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines as tankers.
• The procurement story of the year is Taiwan’s on-again, off-again purchase of attack submarines and Kidd-class destroyers from the U.S..
• The most ignored story of the year remains port security in the U.S., or the lack thereof.
• The most surprising story of the year was the formation of a standing European Union naval force, which will always have an English, French, Spanish, or Italian aircraft carrier assigned to it.
• The most technically significant naval news story of the year was the emergence of working prototypes of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) that promise to revolutionize naval warfare in the same way their counterparts in the air, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are revolutionizing warfare on the land and in the air.
• The most interesting naval experiment of the year along with the newly deployed naval weapon of the year was the U.S. Navy’s deployment of HSV-X1 Joint Venture during Operation Iraqi Freedom in support of mine clearing and special operations.
• The quietest naval story of the year was the continued tracking, by coalition navies, of cargo ships belonging to Al Qaeda. What is on these ships, where are they going, and what has become of them?
• The non-story of the year was the electromagnetic pulse weapon. After a big buildup of how they were going to be used in the “shock and awe” phase of the campaign in Iraq, they were never heard from again. Something to file away for the Next War?
• The most insulting naval news story was the Bush Administration’s attempted character assassination of retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, former CENTCOM CINC, who has been highly critical of the decision to attack Iraq and the handling of Iraq’s post war affairs???the administration should not confuse dissent with disloyalty???
• And finally, the naval news story of the year with the most potential long term significance was the continued rise of 4th Generation Warfare techniques in Iraq and Afghanistan. How will the US effectively address 4th Generation Warfare?

Statistics
In 2003, there were news stories linked to on 344 / 365 days – that is on 94% of the days.

In 2003, NOSI linked to 1,326 articles covering 1,221 news stories.

In 2003, 551 of these stories (45%) were related to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, or U.S. Military Sealift Command.

In 2003, 359 of these stories (29%) were background stories and 27 stories (2%) were historical stories.

The remaining 284 news stories (23%) covered the operational activities of 35 nation’s navies, coast guards, and marine corps:

Algeria, Al-Qaeda, Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Greece (Navy and Coast Guard), Guyana, Netherlands (Marines), India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom (Navy and Marines)

In 2003, 209,699 pages of information were read on NOSI by 90,017 users.

French Navy – France is sending ships to assist in the debris recovery of the Egyptian jetliner that crashed on takeoff into the Red Sea.

• Agence France Presse: France sends robot, warship to search for Egyptian plane, 148 bodies

Background – Nonlethal Weapons – William Arkin reviews the latest developments in nonlethal weapons.

• Los Angeles Times: Pulling Punches

Background – Special Forces – Controversy within the US military over how Special Forces units are being used in the war on terror.

• Washington Post: Military Split On How to Use Special Forces In Terror War

US Navy – What life is like for an F-14 pilot who is English, and female, and has fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.

• Daily Telegraph: ‘Mumbles’, the Surrey girl who became a US Navy bomber pilot in Iraq, returns to base

US Navy – The problems facing strategists and military professionals in the early twenty-first century have changed dramatically and decisively. Military power and capability have expanded into a network of transnational interconnections. As a result, preparing for armed conflict is no longer only a matter of simply assembling battlefield strength to destroy defined adversaries.

• US Naval War College Review: From Kadesh to Kandahar

Taiwanese Navy – Taiwan would like to replace its Knox-class frigates.

• Taipei Times: Navy looking for a replacement for its Knox-class frigates

US Navy – The US seizes another boat suspected of running drugs for Al-Qaeda

• BBC: US seizes ‘al-Qaeda drug boat’

Background – History – Yet another battle over the Falkland Islands, this time in 1953???

• The Independent: Churchill sent frigate to foil ‘invasion’ of Falkland Islands by two Argentinians

Background – History – The family of Husband Kimmel continues its fight to clear the names of the U.S. Navy and Army commanders at Pearl Harbor.

• Naval History: Kimmel Case Dubbed ‘Totally Political’

Spanish Navy – Spain continues to patrol around its possessions in North Africa.

• Xinhuanet: Spain reinforces patrol in disputed Gibraltar waters

US Coast Guard – More fears about sea-based terror strikes on the US.

• Associated Press: Officials Worry About Sea-Based Terror

US Navy – Boeing’s work on the first segment of the Pentagon’s multibillion dollar Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) is now well under way as rivals seek to share development and production of the interoperable software-programmable tactical radios.

• Sea Power: Navy Moves Nearer to Deployment of Tactical Radio System

Israeli Navy – Israel would like to buy more submarines – but will the Germans sell them more?

• Reuters: Israel seeks more submarines for strategic depth

Singaporean Navy – Patroling in the Persian Gulf with the Singapore’s navy aboard RSS Endurance.

• The Straits Times: S’pore naval force in Gulf issues 7 challenges daily

US Marines – While combining Combat Engineer Battalions during Operation Iraqi Freedom provided a capable combat engineer resource, questions remain concerning the best way to employ combat engineers in the future.

• Marine Corps Gazette: Combining 1st and 2d Combat Engineer Battalions: Should We Do It Again?