The archive for all of 2012 is now available at 2012 Archive
Editorial Note – 2012 World Naval Operational News Highlights
2012
World Naval Operational News Highlights
The ten most significant naval news stories / themes this year included:
- The drawdown of troops from Afghanistan. What exactly was accomplished by the surge?
- The continued tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and the US Navy presence in the Persian Gulf. What will Israel do?
- The increasing Chinese sabre rattling and belligerency over the Spratley Islands with the Philippines and the Senkaku Islands with Japan. Will this lead to open conflict? Will it lead to stronger alliances with the US?
- The first flight operations on the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning. When will we see it go on an operational cruise?
- The possibility of Scotland declaring independence. If this happens – thus depriving the Royal Navy’s ballistic missile submarines of their home port – will this effectively lead to the nuclear disarmament of the United Kingdom?
- The decrease in the size of the US fleet coupled with no change in operational commitments leading to decreasing morale and increasing deferred maintainence. How long until the force becomes hollow?
- The quiet continued development of Unmanned Maritime Vehicles (UMVs) / Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) / Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs). When will we see them reach operational use?
- The US Navy’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program continues to move forward at a glacial pace. When will we see this program get off the ground?
- The continuing soap operatic saga of the Littoral Combat Ship. How can a program so old still be adrift in so many ways?
- The decreasing rate of piracy world-wide. How can we still not know what to do with captured pirates?
Statistics
In 2012, there were news stories linked to on 364 / 365 days – that is on 99% of the days.
In 2012, NOSI linked to 400 news stories.
In 2012, 170 of these stories (43%) were related to the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, or U.S. Military Sealift Command.
In 2012, 83 of these stories (21%) were background stories.
The remaining 145 news stories (36%) covered the operational activities of 19 nation’s navies, coast guards, and marine corps:
Australia, China, Denmark, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Phillipines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Vietnam
In 2012, 146,514 pages read (page hits) from 103,142 users (visitors). There were 280 followers of the RSS feed. There were 29,536 unique users (reach) and 389 fans (members) on the NOSI Facebook page.
US Marines – Marines reset training for the next war
- San Diego Union Tribune – The U.S. military spent the last decade fighting entrenched insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. What will the next war be like? Will it involve desert, mountains or jungle? An enemy who speaks Farsi or Korean? A national army fighting with tanks, or guerillas planting homemade bombs? It is impossible to know. While future wars remain unseen over the horizon and budget woes squeeze the military budget, the Marine Corps is resetting its combat training to get back to the basics and play to its strengths.
Chinese Navy – China To Find A Target-Rich Environment
- Time – If Chinese warships escalate from locking-on radars to actually pulling the trigger in the East China Sea, they’ll have lots to shoot at – and it won’t be just the Japanese.
US Navy – JSF-Centric Warfare
- Aviation Week – Bill Sweetman critiques a study from the American Enterprise Institute.
US Navy – Navy’s No. 2 Civilian Chronicles Missteps in Littoral Combat Ship
- National Defense – Few Navy ships have been as doggedly assailed by naysayers as the Littoral Combat Ship, laments Navy Undersecretary Robert O. Work…Work, who has for years been one of the Navy’s most ardent defenders of LCS, contends in a new white paper that although critics are entitled to their opinions, they continue to miss the point about LCS.
US Navy – Navy mishaps, mistakes could cost $1B
- Military Times – The past year has been a banner one for the U.S. Navy in at least one unhappy category — major mishaps. The number of major mishaps involving aircraft carriers, ships and submarines was higher than in recent years, and the unbudgeted repair bill is just one more factor squeezing fleet maintenance accounts in the middle of the service’s fiscal crisis.
Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force – Senkaku/Diaoyu islands: Japan may release China radar data
- BBC – Japan says it may release evidence to prove a Chinese naval frigate locked its fire-control radar onto a Japanese ship near disputed islands.
US Navy – Sailors across Navy will feel impact of carrier change
- Virginian Pilot – With less than 48 hours to spare, defense officials decided Wednesday to axe the cruise of the USS Harry S. Truman – the first in an expected wave of defense cuts tied to a federal budget squeeze.
US Navy – Truman deployment canceled in light of budget woes
- Virginian Pilot – The Pentagon halted the upcoming deployment of a Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Wednesday two days before it was set to ship out – the strongest indication yet that looming budget cuts are forcing the military to change the way it operates. The Harry S. Truman had cleared all its training and certifications and was gearing up for deployment Friday. But the Navy, faced with a budget crisis that could mean more than $8 billion in cuts this year alone, asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to cancel a requirement that the United States keep two carriers in the Persian Gulf, Pentagon officials said. Panetta acquiesced and, in a sharp turnaround for a ship the size of a small city, about 5,000 sailors learned Wednesday afternoon that the deployment had been cancelled.
US Navy – Solving the Navy’s carrier shortage
- Washington Times – The U.S. Navy, operating with too few carriers, now has a forward-deployment dilemma. Keeping two carriers deployed to the Middle East with only nine deployable strike carriers is not sustainable, even with their deployment time increasing by 50 percent. This is having debilitating consequences for fleet readiness. An immediate relaxation from the two-carrier commitment would provide much-needed forward deployment flexibility. This can be accomplished by utilizing operational alternatives, including modified U.S. Air Force Air Expeditionary Forces, along with U.S. Marine Corps Air Wing, to provide the required close air support mission in Afghanistan.
Russian Navy – French Warship for Russia ‘Won’t Work in Cold’ – Minister
- RIA Novosti – Two amphibious assault ships bought for the Russian Navy from France in a 1.2 billion euro deal will not be able to operate in temperatures below seven degrees centigrade, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin admitted on Saturday, in critical comments about the contract.
Chinese Navy – Japan protest over China ship’s radar action
- BBC – A Chinese vessel has locked its weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese ship, Tokyo says, amid mounting tensions over a territorial row.
US Navy – Stuck Minesweeper to Be Cut Into Pieces
- ABC – Unable to tow the minesweeper USS Guardian off a reef in the Philippines, the Navy has decided that the only way to free the ship without causing further damage to the reef is to cut the ship into pieces.
South Korean Navy – South Korea, US begin naval drills amid nuclear tensions
- BBC – South Korea and the US have begun three days of naval exercises in what is being seen as a show of force aimed at North Korea.
Indian Navy – Russia Hands Over Refitted Indian Sub
- RIA Novosti – An Indian Navy diesel-electric submarine was handed back to the service in an official ceremony following a major refit at Russia’s Zvezdochka shipyard on Saturday.
Russian Navy – Eyewitness: Tragedy of Soviet nuclear submarine K-27
- BBC – The Russian authorities are investigating whether a sunken Soviet nuclear-powered submarine, the K-27, can be safely raised so that the uranium in its reactors may be removed.
US Navy – Powering the Pacific “Pivot” With Leon and Chuck
- Time – Winslow Wheeler critiques Air Sea Battle…
US Navy – Mighty ZUMWALT Is Coming Together
- Defense News – One of the most striking warships ever built is coming together in the little coastal town of Bath, Maine. The major components of the 610-foot-long ZUMWALT (DDG 1000) — a “destroyer” in name only — have been assembled this winter at the General Dynamics shipyard of Bath Iron Works, and the ship’s stark, tumblehome hull and superstructure is now together.
Ground Warfare – The Guerilla Myth
- Wall Street Journal – Unconventional wars are our most pressing national security concern. They’re also the most ancient form of war in the world. Max Boot on the lessons of insurgency we seem unable to learn.
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