The Strategist – Bill Sweetman opines on a unique solution for replacing the B-52, particularly in its anti-shipping role.
UK F-35 fleet stretched by combat operations and upgrade delays
Navy Lookout – The UK has now received all 48 F-35B Lightning aircraft ordered under its initial programme, supposedly providing the Royal Navy with the nucleus of the fast jet force intended to underpin carrier strike operations for decades to come. This may appear to be a healthy number, but it is far from adequate, given its availability and the multiple roles it must perform.
Marine Rotational Force-Darwin Certified as Special Purpose MAGTF
USNI News – Marine Rotational Force-Darwin 26 was recently certified as a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force, marking the first MRF-D unit to earn the certification since the rotational force was established in 2011.
First Sea Lord warns Royal Navy ‘ever bigger, ever more expensive platforms’ era is over
Navy Lookout – In the Keynote speech for the 2026 Combined Naval Event at Farnborough, First Sea Lord General Gwyn Jenkins delivered his sharpest challenge yet to the concept of building ever more expensive warships. His insistence that the RN must move away from the need for “ever bigger, ever more expensive platforms”carries pointed implications for significant warship programmes still in the planning pipeline.
U.S. Navy tests high-tech maritime drones off northern Norway
The Barents Observer – Newly developed high-speed autonomous surface vessels have been seen operating in the fjord outside Ramsund Naval Base during an exercise that runs until 24 May.
Ukrainian FPV & Rocket Armed Surface Drone (USV)
Covert Shores – A new type of Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessel (USV) has been employed to strike Russian positions on the Kinburn Peninsula, north of Crimea. The USV is armed with 6 rockets, reportedly RPO-A Shmel thermobaric type (but possibly the Ukrainian RPV-16) and 6-8 FPV (first person view) drones.
French Navy Details Steps Taken to Build Frigate Availability to 80%
Naval News – The French Navy is maximising frigate availability through developing its approach to maintenance and operations.
Italy is forward-deploying mine countermeasures assets in the Middle East
Naval News – The two mine countermeasures vessels that Italy is forward-deploying in the Middle East area to participate to the international coalition to make the Strait of Hormuz free for navigation again, have left Augusta in Sicily on 15 May.
Maritime Cost Imposition: A New Approach to Great Power War
CIMSEC – The U.S. Navy remains intent on using its high-end platforms for sea denial. To its credit, it is developing the kinds of unmanned systems that are ideally suited for this mission, but only at too slow a pace. To optimize its force structure and accelerate the development of technology, the U.S. Navy should instead commit to a strategy of customized, low-end sea denial coupled with high-end global maritime punishment, and then tailor its doctrine, tactics, and weapons systems to each mission.
U.S. Surface Force to Receive Major Round of Investments
Naval News – Under the U.S. Navy’s released shipbuilding plan as apart of the Future Year Defense Program (FYDP), the U.S. Navy’s surface force will receive a major reshuffle in it’s structure, targeted towards fielding continually advanced surface ship based capabilities and increasing industrial output.
US Admiral says Iranian navy and its stocks of sea mines have been substantially eliminated
Navy Lookout – The United States has claimed the destruction of 90% of Iran’s stockpile of around 8,000 mines, as well as 161 naval vessels of all types during 38 days of combat operations. Admiral Cooper, Commander CENTCOM, delivered the assessment in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.
From destroyers to drones, how a Europe-led coalition aims to open the Strait of Hormuz
Breaking Defense – A coalition of over 40 nations have said they’re committed to the Multinational Military Mission (MMA), led by France and the UK, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a ceasefire has been agreed.
Nuclear-Powered Trump Class Battleships Will Reverse One Of The Navy’s “Largest Mistakes”: Navy Boss
The War Zone – The Chief of Naval Operations says giving up on nuclear-powered surface combatants was one of the worst decisions his service has ever made.
Iran’s Plan to Charge for Strait of Hormuz Transits Could Spread to Other Regions, Experts Warn
USNI News – Iran’s push to charge merchant shippers for passage through the Strait of Hormuz under threat of violence could spread to other parts of the world, maritime experts said this week.
USVs could be ‘alternate options’ for missions for stretched manned fleet: Navy official
Breaking Defense – USVs are emerging as modular force elements when sending a large combatant ship is too costly or disproportionate.
British carrier deploys north for NATO exercise amid increase in Russian overflights
Barents Observer – HMS Prince of Wales is carrying helicopters set to play a key role as NATO forces conduct submarine detection training in the Norwegian Sea next week.
Royal Navy achieves milestone with first sea trials of NavyPODS
Naval News – UK engineering SME Force Development Services (FDS) has successfully tested its containerised medical mission module at sea for the first time, marking a significant milestone for the UK Royal Navy’s (RN’s) NavyPODS – Navy Persistent Operational Deployment System – programme.
Deterring the Dragon: The US Army and Sea Denial in Maritime Warfare
Modern War Institute – The battle for twenty-first-century global supremacy will be decided across the volatile expanse of the Indo-Pacific. Characterized by vast oceans, dispersed island chains, and contested littorals, the rise of Chinese military power presents distinctive challenges to US military force projection and operational reach. Since World War II, American naval and air forces have typically led these maritime efforts on behalf of coalition teams. However, the changing operational environment—exemplified by recent area-denial campaigns in the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf—now present opportunities for land forces to counter adversary aggression in maritime settings with novel thinking and new approaches. The US Army, with emerging capabilities that promise to reimagine joint sea control, is now postured to enable revitalized strategic deterrence for the middle years of the twenty-first century.
Sinking Ships in the South China Sea
USNI News – Japan, the Philippines and the U.S. are redefining Western Pacific alliances during a missile-heavy Balikatan exercise.
Russian Nuclear Submarines, Thousands of Miles From Ukraine, Get Anti-Drone Defenses
Naval News – Despite being thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine, Russia’s strategic submarine base at Rybachiy in the Pacific is now showing signs of heightened defenses. New satellite imagery reveals anti-drone protections around nuclear submarines, suggesting Russian commanders fear that Ukrainian surprise attacks threaten even their most remote naval assets.
IRGC Navy Claims Vast Expansion In Its Definition Of Strait Of Hormuz
The War Zone – The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy claims it has greatly expanded how it defines the Strait of Hormuz, which it has closed to most shipping since the start of the now-paused war. Under its new definition, the IRGC claimed a tenfold expansion “forming a complete crescent” of “about 20 to 30 miles to one now over 200 to 300 miles.”
Lost in the Small Surface Combatant Wilderness
CIMSEC – The real challenge remains the development of the next-generation surface combatant—a ship with the size, power, and growth margin to accommodate future weapons and sensors. That search has eluded the Navy for decades. The Future Frigate is not that answer. Achieving it will require a clean-sheet design, sustained discipline, and a willingness to align ambition with technical reality. Until then, the frigate program represents not a destination, but a holding action.
The Missing Navies: The Hormuz Crisis and the Limits of America’s Indo-Pacific Partnerships
War on the Rocks – On May 4, 2026, a South Korean vessel came under fire in the Strait of Hormuz, leading President Donald Trump to urge the government in Seoul to join the U.S.-led operation to secure the waterway. The South Korean government politely replied it would “review” the American proposal. The event crystallized a major paradox of the ongoing conflict: The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the worst maritime crisis in decades, is fundamentally an Asian problem, yet Asia is almost entirely absent from the debate over how to resolve it.
Royal Navy USVs to be deployed for potential operational debut in Strait of Hormuz
Navy Lookout – The Ministry of Defence has confirmed the RN will send a new fleet of uncrewed surface vessels to the Gulf as part of a multinational force working to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The Kraken K3 Scout can sense, track and identify threats, possibly working alongside HMS Dragon, RFA Lyme Bay and other coalition assets in what will be the RN’s first acknowledged operational USV deployment.
The Aramid Shield: Snare Drones For an Active Undersea Defense Capability
CIMSEC – To achieve true security for underwater infrastructure, maritime operational posture must transition from passive detection to active non-lethal intervention.
NOSI - Naval Open Source Intelligence™ 
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