Military & War News and Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Philippines says a coast guard ship and supply boat were rammed by Chinese vessels at disputed shoal

Source: AP

By JIM GOMEZ
Updated 7:56 AM CDT, October 22, 2023

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Chinese coast guard ship and an accompanying vessel rammed a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat Sunday off a contested shoal, Philippine officials said, in an encounter that heightened fears of an armed conflict in the disputed South China Sea.

A top Philippine security official told The Associated Press there were no injuries among the Filipino crew members and an assessment of the damage to both vessels was underway.

The official said that the two incidents near Second Thomas Shoal, where China has repeatedly tried to isolate a Philippine marine outpost, could have been worse if the vessels were not able to maneuver rapidly away from the Chinese ships. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authority to publicly discuss the matter.

China’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, including over islands closer to Philippine shore, have raised tensions and brought in the United States, a longtime treaty ally of the Philippines, into the fray.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/south-china- ... 83fb39fe1d

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[raklian]

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Japan’s Futuristic Mogami Frigates
by Oliver Parken
November 17, 2023
Introduction:

(The Drive) On November 14, Japan's eighth Mogami class frigate, JS Yūbetsu, was launched in Tamano City, Okayama Prefecture, in the southern part of Japan’s Honshu island. Mogami class 30FFM Multi-Function Frigates are set to become the backbone of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and are packed with a wide array of advanced features. The stealthy frigates, which feature a futuristic appearance given their clean, geometric profiles, will have the ability to perform various mission-sets for the JMSDF. With this in mind, we thought it would be a good time to profile these fascinating and highly automated ships.

The Mogami class is capable of everything from surveillance to minesweeping operations as well as anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine warfare. The frigates feature advanced electronic warfare and sensor suites. But above all else, they are designed to be operated by remarkably small crews. In essence, they will help the JMSDF to be able to do far more with far less.

Yūbetsu is under construction by prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). The vessel is named after Japan’s Yūbetsu River in Hokkaido, the country’s second-largest island — all frigates within the Mogami class are, in fact, named after famous Japanese rivers. MHI has already delivered three ships in the class to the JMSDF — JS Mogami, Noshiro, and Mikuma, which were commissioned in April 2022, December 2022, and March 2023, respectively. The second Mogami class vessel, JS Kumano, was built by subcontractor Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding, and was commissioned ahead of JS Mogami in March 2022.

MHI is under contract to deliver frigates five through 10 to the JMSDF, the first four of which have been named as JS Yahagi, Agano, Niyodo, and Yūbetsu. Yahagi and Agano are set to be commissioned by the end of the year, with plans for Niyodo and Yūbetsu to be commissioned sometime in 2024.

Read more here (and see photos): https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... -to-know

[caltrek]

The Pentagon Just Can’t Pass an Audit
by Lindsay Koshgarian
November 29, 2023

Introduction:

(Other Words) The Pentagon just failed its audit — again. For the sixth time in a row, the agency that accounts for half the money Congress approves each year can’t figure out what it did with all that money.

For a brief recap, the Pentagon has never passed an audit. Until 2018, it had never even completed one.

Since then, the Pentagon has done an audit every year and given itself a participation prize each time. Yet despite this year’s triumphant press release — titled “DOD Makes Incremental Progress Towards Clean Audit” — it has failed every time.

In its most recent audit, the Pentagon was able to account for just half of its $3.8 trillion in assets (including equipment, facilities, etc). That means $1.9 trillion is unaccounted for — more than the entire budget Congress agreed to for the current fiscal year.

No other federal agency could get away with this. There would be congressional hearings. There would be demands to remove agency leaders, or to defund those agencies. Every other major federal agency has passed an audit, proving that it knows where taxpayer dollars it is entrusted with are going.

Read more here: https://otherwords.org/the-pentagon-ju ... an-audit/

caltrek’s comment: Complicating the issue is the question of just how much do we want our adversaries to know about our potential strength?
For example, as I understand it, hidden within the Pentagon budget is an undisclosed amount of funding for the CIA.
Still, I suspect the biggest factor is just outright corruption. Things like way overpriced toilet seats, etc. Collectively, these things can add up to massive amounts of funding.

[weatheriscool]

China’s Navy Researchers Claim to Have a Hypersonic Railgun Firing 120 Rounds
December 9, 2023 by Brian Wang

A group of Chinese navy engineers claim to have built an electromagnetic rail gun that can swiftly fire a multitude of projectiles without sustaining damage. There were older photos that China had mounted a full-sized railgun onto a navy ship.

IF the China’s navy railgun breakthrough claims are true then China has a massive lead with working railguns. The guns will out-range regular US Navy guns by 120 miles to 16 miles while being able to shoot hundreds of shots.

The US had worked on railguns for many years and tested them at land based facilities. The US canceled it railgun program because the US could not prevent too much damage to the railgun barrel.

The China Navy railgun reported the ability to achieve continuous firing. The weapon retained a remarkable level of shooting accuracy while rapidly firing. The shells shoot out of the barrel at 2km per second (mach 5.8 which is hypersonic speed and about 2.5 times the velocity of regular Navy guns), which means any target within 100-200km can be hit.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/12/c ... inute.html

[weatheriscool]

A missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels strikes a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea

Source: AP

By JON GAMBRELL
Updated 8:54 AM CST, December 12, 2023

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen near a key maritime chokepoint, the rebels and authorities said Tuesday.

The assault on the oil and chemical tanker Strinda expands a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into apparently now striking those that have no clear ties to Israel. That potentially imperils cargo and energy shipments coming through the Suez Canal and further widens the international impact of the Israel-Hamas war now raging in the Gaza Strip.

Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree issued a video statement saying the rebels only fired on the vessel when it “rejected all warning calls.”

The U.S. military’s Central Command issued a statement Tuesday saying an anti-ship cruise missile “launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen” hit the Strinda.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/yemen-ship-a ... f734311be9

[caltrek]

Senate Passes Defense Bill Despite Culture-war Pushback from GOP Hardliners
by Sareen Habeshian
December 14, 2023

Introduction:

(Axios) The Senate on Wednesday passed a $886 billion defense bill, advancing funding and setting policy for the Pentagon.

Why it matters: The move goes against demands from staunchly conservative Republicans, who tried to add provisions to the bill that took on culture war issues that have become a cornerstone of the GOP agenda.

• These include proposed amendments on abortion, diversity, equity and inclusion programs and transgender health care.
The big picture: The annual bill has been passed by Congress on a bipartisan basis for the past 61 years.

• On Wednesday, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a bipartisan 87-13 vote.
Zoom in: The Senate bill includes $844.3 billion for the Department of Defense and $32.4 billion for the Department of Energy's national security initiatives.

Read more of the Axios article here: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/14/senat ... te-ndaa

From Common Dreams:

$886 Billion Military Bill Includes Mass Spying Extension
by Jake Johnson

(Common Dreams) In an overwhelming bipartisan vote, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a sprawling $886 billion military policy bill that includes an extension of surveillance authority that the government has used—and heavily abused—to access the communications of activists, journalists, lawmakers, and others without a warrant.

The four-month extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was tucked into the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as proposals to reauthorize the spying authority drew backlash from civil liberties groups and some members of Congress.

Given an opportunity to remove the extension from the NDAA on Wednesday, 65 senators—including 31 Democrats—voted to keep it in the military policy bill, which ultimately passed in an 87-13 vote.

Section 702 spying—part of a mass surveillance apparatus that lawmakers expanded dramatically in the wake of the 9/11 attacks—is supposed to be limited to non-U.S. citizens located outside the country. But U.S. citizens' communications have frequently been hoovered up by authorities in the process of surveilling foreigners—and in circumstances completely unrelated to foreign spying efforts.

Read more of the Common Dreams article here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/section-702-ndaa