The U.S. Navy is firming up plans for new, large cruise-missile submarines to replace the four aging Ohio-class SSGNs. The sailing branch is also working on a new missile for these boats. The combination of new submarines and missiles could help the Navy to restore its overall firepower potential... Read more
Dry-Dock Sinking Could Accelerate the Russian Navy’s Decline
WIB sea November 12, 2018
The sinking of the Russian navy’s biggest dry dock could spell trouble, and change, for the world’s third-biggest navy. PD-50, a huge floating dry dock at the 82nd Repair Shipyard in Roslyakovo, Russia, accidentally sank on Oct. 29, 2018 after an electrical malfunction resulting in pumps overfilling the dock’s... Read more
Russia’s Giant Dry Dock Sank With an Aircraft Carrier Inside
WIB sea November 5, 2018
PD-50, a huge floating dry dock at the 82nd Repair Shipyard in Roslyakovo, Russia, accidentally sank on Oct. 29, 2018 while Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia’s only aircraft carrier, was inside for repairs. Kuznetsov is still afloat but the dry dock could be a total loss. While injuries and possible deaths... Read more
China’s Second Aircraft Carrier Sails Closer to Joining the Fleet
WIB sea November 1, 2018
China’s first homemade aircraft carrier left her home port of Dalian for her third sea trial on Oct. 28, 2018. The Type 001A flattop could commission into front-line service as early as 2019, according to the U.S. Defense Department — growing Beijing’s carrier force to two and giving China... Read more
China’s New Nuke Subs Might Boost World Stability
WIB sea October 29, 2018
China for decades has struggled to develop nuclear ballistic-missile submarines. The country finally might be on the cusp of deploying reliable boomers. An effective Chinese ballistic-missile submarine fleet over the long term could have a stabilizing influence on the world’s nuclear balance. But in the short term, it might... Read more
The U.S. Navy plans to develop two new classes of submarine, according to congressional analysis of the sea service’s shipbuilding plan for 2019. The submarines could help to maintain the Navy’s advantage in submarine-on-submarine warfare while also filling a looming shortfall in the sailing branch’s capacity for sea-to-land missile... Read more
China Wants More Nuclear-Armed Submarines
WIB sea October 23, 2018
Tong Zhao is a fellow in Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. He has written a useful explainer on China’s nuclear arsenal, focusing on the Chinese navy’s growing fleet of ballistic-missile submarines. “For many years, China has mostly relied on land-based nuclear weapons... Read more
Is the U.S. Navy Too Small to Protect Convoys?
WIB sea October 17, 2018
The U.S. military’s top sealift officials are worried that, in a war with Russia or China, the U.S. Navy might not have enough warships to escort vital supply convoys from the United States to war zones in Europe or Asia. Those fears might be overblown. Regardless, the Navy is... Read more
U.S. Marine Corps Rocket Batteries Could Become Ship-Killers
WIB sea October 17, 2018
The U.S. Marine Corps recently proved that an F-35 stealth fighter can pass targeting data to a ground-based rocket launcher. The test, which took place in Yuma, Arizona sometime prior to mid-October 2018, involved a Marine F-35B detecting a metal container on the ground and passing the GPS coordinates... Read more
Politics Could Scuttle America’s New Icebreakers
WIB sea September 17, 2018
The U.S. Coast Guard is on the cusp of finally acquiring new icebreakers, 42 years after commissioning its only current heavy icebreaker. But politically-motivated maneuvers in the U.S. House of Representatives could scuttle the long-in-works shipbuilding effort. As of late 2018 the Coast Guard, which has been responsible for... Read more
