Maritime Security

Updating NATO’s maritime strategy

By STEVEN HORRELL, MAGNUS NORDENMAN, WALTER B. SLOCOMBE

On the eve of the 2016 Warsaw Summit, NATO faces a new and challenging security environment dominated by a revanchist Russia increasingly willing to challenge the West and turbulence and violence across the Mediterranean’s southern rim. In this new security environment, the maritime domains around Europe are potential friction zones and where these challenges increasingly […]

Brooks in Real Clear Defense: Preparing for The “Pure Risk” of Tomorrow’s Smart Minefields

By Atlantic Council

NATO’s next consortium: Maritime patrol aircraft

By Magnus Nordenman

Airborne systems to provide MDA, and maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs) in particular, stand out among the most important and urgent maritime requirements. Maritime patrol aircraft fulfill a number of roles, from high-end Anti-Submarine Warfare and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) to maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), and search and rescue at sea. NATO members must now recapture these capabilities and invest in a robust maritime patrol aircraft fleet.

Like Predator, like Sea Hunter

By James Hasik

DARPA’s new robotic frigate might seriously change naval warfare. The prototype boat in DARPA’s ASW Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program, the Sea Hunter, is beginning sea trials. Sailing last week from Portland to San Diego, she’ll undergo two years of testing to determine whether an unmanned ship under “sparse human control” can trail Iranian, […]

A maritime framework for the Baltic Sea region

By Franklin D. Kramer and Magnus Nordenman

An effective maritime framework would be a critical element in an integrated NATO deterrent and reassurance strategy for the Baltic Sea region, in light of hostile Russian actions and the emerging Anti-Access/Area-Denial (A2/AD) challenge in northern Europe. Such a framework would provide the Alliance the capability for sea and air control over the Baltic Sea region and, as necessary, support the requirements of reinforcement and combined capabilities including intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance, electronic warfare, and precision engagement.

Ospreys across the no-man’s sea

By James Hasik

A new “island strategy” for reaction forces could make carrier and amphibious groups less essential. On Monday, the American Hellenic Institute hosted a luncheon with Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos on the occasion of the rollout of a paper by Dan Gouré’s of the Lexington Institute on “Souda Bay: NATO’s Military Gem in the Eastern Mediterranean.” I […]

Why we need those little crappy ships

By James Hasik

Ash Carter’s emphasis on aircraft and quality over ships-in-quantity may be the wrong call on technology and strategy. Defense Secretary Ash Carter just told the Navy to spend less money on ships and more on jets. In a memorandum this week, he directed Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to cap purchases of Independence– and Freedom-class ships […]

What if the aircraft carrier had never been invented?

By James Hasik

A thought experiment in bureaucratic rivalries, foregone technologies, and alternative histories Aircraft carriers are multi-billion dollar investments—in the case of USS Gerald Ford, some $12 billion. They take years to build—in the case of the French ship Charles de Gaulle, twelve years. They take a long time to repair—USS Eisenhower is just back from a two-year stay at […]