HIMARS

Australian Navy Faces Major Hurdles in Building AUKUS Attack Boats, Says Defense Review

Able Seaman Combat Systems Operator Benjamin Stewart participates in an Anti-Submarine Warfare exercise with a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine during Exercise ARC21 in 2021. Royal Australian Navy Photo

The Royal Australian Navy faces the greatest challenge of the Australian Defense Force as it pursues a nuclear-powered submarine fleet, according to the nation’s latest defense blueprint.

Building the new boats under the AUKUS agreement is central to Australia’s new strategy of denial...

https://news.usni.org/2023/05/18/australian-navy-faces-major-hurdles-in-building-aukus-attack-boats-says-defense-review

PLAN Surface Action Group Operating in East China Sea; Japan and U.S. to Hold Security Talks

People’s Liberation Army Navy destroyer CNS Kaifeng (124). JSDF Photo

A People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) surface action group and surveillance ship have returned to the East China Sea from the Pacific Ocean after operating there for the last few weeks.
On Monday at 11 p.m., three PLAN ships were sighted sailing northwest in an area 160 kilometers southeast of Yonaguni island, according to a Wednesday news release from Japan’s Joint Staff Office (JSO) of the Ministry of Defense. Yonaguni...

https://news.usni.org/2023/01/06/plan-surface-action-group-operating-in-east-china-sea-japan-and-u-s-to-hold-security-talks

Report to Congress on Ukrainian Military Performance

The following is the June 29, 2022, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Ukrainian Military Performance and Outlook.

From the report

The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) continue to face disadvantages in seeking to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity against Russian military forces. On the one hand, since Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UAF has successfully defended against, and in some areas pushed back, Russian forces. On the other hand, this resistance has...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/04/report-to-congress-on-ukrainian-military-performance

CNO Gilday: Sweden, Finland’s NATO Membership Poised to Change Allied Arctic Strategy

CNO Adm. Mike Gilday arrives at the BALTOPS22 closing reception aboard the Blue Ridge-class command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) in Kiel, Germany, June 17, 2022. US Navy Photo

WASHINGTON NAVY YARD — Finland and Sweden joining the NATO alliance would fundamentally alter naval strategy and operations in the Baltic Sea and Arctic Basin, the heads of the French and American navies said today.

Because the two Nordic nations – which have officially applied for NATO membership – already...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/24/cno-gilday-sweden-finlands-nato-membership-poised-to-change-allied-arctic-strategy

U.S., Allies Increase Training Rate for Equipment Earmarked For Ukraine, Says National Security Advisor

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Christian Hernandez, a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Operator (HIMARS) with 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, observes the terrain in front of an AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar with Marine Air Control Group (MACG) 18 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, June 13, 2022, in support of Valiant Shield 2022. U.S. Marine Corps Photo

The United States, United Kingdom and Germany have increased the pace for training Ukrainian forces on sophisticated artillery so...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/17/u-s-allies-increase-training-rate-for-equipment-earmarked-for-ukraine-says-national-security-advisor

Finland, Sweden Will Bolster NATO in Baltic, Says EUCOM Nominee Cavoli

The U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command Commanding General Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli delivers a speech during the 7th Army Training Command change of command ceremony at Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, June 2, 2021. U.S. Army

The nominee to be the next top commander of United States forces in Europe told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that he “looks forward to the accession” of Finland and Sweden to NATO to bolster the alliance’s defenses, particularly in the Baltic Sea...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/27/finland-sweden-will-bolster-nato-in-baltic-says-eucom-nominee-cavoli

U.S., NATO in for a ‘Long Haul’ Conflict with Russia, Says Polish PM

U.S. Army Sgt. Keegan Davis, assigned to 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, walks towards his Soldiers after laying out parts of machine guns onto the front of an M1A2 Abrams tank after conducting a live-fire accuracy screening test as part of Defender 22 at Mielno Range, Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland, May 11, 2022. U.S. Army Photo

NATO and the West must be “in the fight for the long haul” economically, diplomatically and militarily in...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/17/u-s-nato-in-for-a-long-haul-conflict-with-russia-says-polish-pm

Marines’ Force Design 2030 May Allow MEUs Tailored for Different Geographies, Adversaries

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit Marines embarked aboard San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD-20) operate assault amphibious vehicles during a rehearsal exercise with Royal Thai military in support of Cobra Gold 2020 on Feb. 27, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps’ new force design may allow East Coast expeditionary units to look much different than West Coast or Japan-based units, a nod to the complex but different environments they’ll operate in and...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/02/marines-force-design-2030-may-allow-meus-tailored-for-different-geographies-adversaries

How to Seize Islands, Set Up a Forward Refueling Point: Marine Corps Recipes for Expeditionary Operations

A Marine with Echo Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, posts security during a simulated airfield seizure after a long-range raid from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) at Ie Shima Training Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 12, 2019. US Marine Corps photo.

The U.S. Marine Corps has been refining a pair of related concepts, Expeditionary Advance Base Operations (EABO) and the overarching Littoral Operations in a Contested...

https://news.usni.org/2019/09/13/how-to-seize-islands-set-up-a-forward-refueling-point-marine-corps-recipes-for-expeditionary-operations