The U.S. Aggressor Squadron (AGGRON) is dedicated to playing the enemy in exercises, but there must be caveats as to how accurately that can be done.
Navy
Retracting ice makes Canadian Arctic easier to navigate
New study documents that the Canadian Arctic has become significantly easier to navigate in the last decade.
Chasing the wrong kind of misinformation: The HMS Defender case
Western journalists were so busy labeling Russian warning shots as misinformation, that they overlooked the real information deceit.
The argument that Russia’s security zones around Crimea are legal
Since HMS Defender’s recent freedom of navigation operation close to Crimea, there has been an interesting public debate about the legal aspects of innocent passage. My attention has been drawn to this article by professor Stefan Talmon where he makes the case that Russia’s suspension of this right in certain areas in the Black Sea […]
HMS Defender’s encounter with Russia’s coastguard off Crimea
Here are a few quick thoughts on yesterday’s incident where Russian ships and aircraft fired warning shots on the British destroyer HMS Defender off Crimea. This was a deliberate freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) by the Royal Navy. HMS Defender purposefully transited closer than 12 nautical miles from Crimea. This point is important to stress […]
Russian submarines are dangerous, says U.S. general
Joseph Trevithich writing for The Drive: A senior U.S. military officer has again sounded the alarm about the threat that advanced, very-quiet, cruise-missile-armed Russian submarines, as well as Chinese ones, increasingly present to the United States. At a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday, U.S. Air Force General Glen VanHerck, who is head of U.S. Northern Command […]
The future of the Russian Navy – Last episode of interview with Jonas Kjellén
Here is the third and last episode in my interview with Jonas Kjellén. Here we discuss the future trends and developments for the Russian Navy. According to Jonas, the future looks bright for the Russian Navy. They now have lead ships ready for many classes, and in the coming years we will see serial production […]
The ships in Russia’s Baltic Fleet – Part 2 of my interview with Jonas Kjellén
This is part two of my interview with Jonas Kjellén. We particularly discussed the Baltic Fleet’s abilities for minelaying and amphibious operations, but other types of maritime operations were touched on as well.
Interview with Jonas Kjellén about the Russian Baltic Fleet – Part 1
Here is an interview I did with Jonas Kjellèn from FOI about the Russian Baltic Fleet. Jonas recently authored a really good report on the topic. This is part one of the interview. The next ones will be available in the coming weeks.
The risks of outsourcing merchant shipping to foreign owners
Sal Mercogliano has a thoughtful look in CIMSEC on the grounding of MV Ever Given that blocked the Suez Canal for six days: Today, international corporations, with ships flying the flags of open registries, dominate the world’s oceans but with little means of protection. This is readily apparent to the Indian crew, onboard the Taiwan-based […]