CIMSEC – Taiwan’s ability to independently support itself is integral to its survival but also clearly aligns with America’s national interests. Arming Taiwan is an America First policy; the reinvigoration of American global power is enhanced by enabling Taiwan to defend itself.
MoD increasingly vague on when Royal Navy will get Type 31 frigates
Navy Lookout – The Ministry of Defence is now refusing of offer any in-service date for the RN’s Type 31 frigates. In its latest statement on the programme is says that costs are rising and makes a further retreat from the firm dates that once defined the project.
The Navy’s Missing Welders Are Stocking Shelves
War on the Rocks – The yards are still 174,000 workers short. Recent wage increases only reached people already in shipyard jobs, not the larger pool who never applied and cannot afford unpaid months of training. What nobody has tried yet is recruiting a cashier at a mall forty miles away with the same money. Reaching that cashier or other would-be shipyard workers will require an intermediary that pays them during the intermediate training period between jobs, and no such broker yet exists. The Navy can close this gap by measuring programs on whether they reach new entrants, redirecting advertising money to pay trainees while they learn, and letting each shipbuilding region name one accountable intermediary to broker that training.
U.S., Japanese Forces to Rehearse Defense of Japan’s Southwest Islands
USNI News – U.S. and Japanese forces will amass in Japan’s southwest region to rehearse island defense as part of the annual Keen Sword exercise later this month.
U.S. Navy orders $123M more Lionfish underwater drones
Defence Blog – The U.S. Navy has ordered another $123.4 million worth of Lionfish small underwater drones.
Lionfish is the U.S. Navy’s name for HII’s REMUS 300, a torpedo-shaped autonomous vehicle that two people can carry and launch. HII says the design can dive to 305 meters (1,000 feet) and run missions of up to 30 hours, and that it supports mine countermeasures, intelligence and surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and electronic warfare. Its modular body is built to take different sensor payloads, and it replaces the Mk 18 Mod 1 Swordfish, an older vehicle based on HII’s smaller REMUS 100.
(Thanks to Alain)
Exercise Strike Warrior 2026 puts NATO firepower behind UK Commandos
Navy Lookout – More than 2,000 personnel are taking part in UK-led NATO Exercise Strike Warrior 2026. Although Royal Navy warship participation has been minimal, the exercise has seen significant Royal Marine activity, including commandos deploying from a German submarine, directing naval gunfire and conducting amphibious, reconnaissance and strike missions.
U.S. Navy and U.S. Army order more Phalanx guns
Defence Blog – Raytheon has won a $247.1 million contract to build, upgrade and overhaul Phalanx close-in weapon systems for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army, covering the shipboard gun, its land-based counterpart and the missile-armed SeaRAM.
(Thanks to Alain)
Anduril to Build New Submarine Component Facility
USNI News – Defense technology company Anduril will build a new facility in Maryland focused on submarine component construction for the U.S. Navy’s attack boats.
U.S. Navy buys more 30mm guns to shoot down drones
Defence Blog – The U.S. Navy has awarded British-owned MSI Defence Systems a $197 million contract for 30mm deck gun mounts and the electro-optical sights that aim them, the weapons the service is fitting to its warships to shoot down small drones and fast attack boats.
(Thanks to Alain)
Philippines: The Coastal Defense Regiment 2026 BrahMos Update
Naval News – The Philippine Marine Corps is working to fully operationalize its BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles amid tensions with China in the South China Sea.
The New Federation of American Shipyards
USNI News – Pressure to deliver ships faster pushes U.S. naval yards toward distributed shipbuilding.
Towards a JEF naval ecosystem: A blueprint for British leadership in the High North
Council on Geostrategy – The Joint Expeditionary Force provides the UK with essential tactical mass and geographical access to the Wider North, although its members remain reliant upon high-end British sovereign capabilities. By transforming the grouping into a fully fledged regional vanguard for defence, Britain can ensure that adversaries are deterred and allies are reassured as the Wider North becomes ever more significant in an era of growing geopolitical competition.
Pentagon Doubles Down on Pacific Area Denial, Need for High-end Munitions
USNI News – The Pentagon doubled down on its plans to establish a forward-deployed area denial, anti-access network along the First Island Chain to deter China in the 2026 National Defense Security update.
Mounting concern in Australia over UK ability to deliver SSN-AUKUS
Navy Lookout – In this guest article, Rear Admiral Peter Briggs, RAN (Rtd), articulates the worries held by some amongst the defence establishment in Australia about the promises the UK has made on submarine delivery. Some consider statements emanating from the UK Defence Nuclear Enterprise to be public relations rhetoric that do not reflect the true state of the enterprise.
All The Weapons A Single Navy Fighter Squadron Launched During Operation Epic Fury
The War Zone – Strike Fighter Squadron 41’s F/A-18Fs let loose hundreds of air-to-surface and air-to-air weapons during the war with Iran.
Germany Is Finally Giving Its F125 Frigates Some More Teeth With IRIS-T SLM Surface-To-Air Missiles
The War Zone – The 7,200-ton F125 frigates were built with notoriously light armament, which is now being partly addressed.
What America Must Change to Make Korean Shipbuilding Matter
CIMSEC – If Korean involvement leaves American yards more productive, the supplier base deeper, workload more predictable, and the Navy more capable of converting requirements into ships, the Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Initiative will have mattered. If not, it will have become another sophisticated policy framework that correctly diagnosed the crisis while leaving the institutional pathologies that created it largely untouched.
F/A-XX: why the US is putting all its fighter eggs in the Boeing basket
The Strategist – Bill Sweetman asks why would the Defense Department do this?
Inside Ukraine’s First Combat Deployment Of Robotic Amphibious Vehicles
The War Zone – The commander of a Ukrainian uncrewed ground vehicle unit gives us exclusive insights into how vehicles were designed or modified for amphibious combat operations.
UK plans 50% increase in military sealift capacity as ageing ships near replacement
Navy Lookout – The Point-class ro-ro MV Eddystone has completed an eight-week refit in Denmark, the first of four planned for the ships that carry the UK’s heavy military equipment worldwide. The work is intended to keep the class running to 2031 while the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) lays the ground for a larger successor fleet.
Why Modern Navies Still Need a Mine Countermeasures Force in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
CIMSEC – Throughout naval history, few weapons have demonstrated the strategic endurance of the naval mine. Despite successive advances in military technology, it remains a highly effective instrument of sea denial, enabling even conventionally inferior actors to constrain the freedom of maneuver of technologically superior fleets and disrupt critical maritime lines of communication.
Destruction on a budget
The Strategist – Bill Sweetman writes “But if we can cut guided-weapon cost by an order of magnitude, using machinery that can be accelerated into three-shift production overnight, the line of missile cost gets much flatter. Which changes everything.”
Claims Swirl Around U.S. Marines Injured Aboard Mystery Vessel Attacked In The Strait Of Hormuz
The War Zone – At the center of suspicions is a former Royal Mail ship with its own fascinating backstory, but what it was doing at the time is unclear.
Heavily Damaged Submarine USS Connecticut Now Won’t Return To Service Until 2027
The War Zone – The Navy hoped Connecticut would be back by 2025, then this year, and it is now planning for its final retirement with repairs still underway.
EU Needs More Ships for Red Sea; European Navies Adjust Hormuz Deployments
USNI News – The European Union is asking its members to increase the number of ships deployed with European Naval Force Aspides, which is tasked with accompanying merchant ships in the Red Sea to protect them from Houthi attacks.
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