Military & War News and Discussions

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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

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[raklian]

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[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

[weatheriscool]

Raytheon to create DARPA's airborne "wireless internet for energy"
By Loz Blain
December 14, 2023

https://newatlas.com/military/raytheon- ... ess-power/
DARPA has tapped Raytheon to design and develop a wireless, airborne relay system to "deliver energy into contested environments," as part of its Energy Web Dominance program, in which DARPA wants to be able to power anything from nearly anywhere.

Under a two-year, US$10 million DARPA contract, Raytheon will create a Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) system, using a series of high altitude unmanned aircraft equipped with laser-based power receiving and transmitting capabilities. Energy will be beamed up to high altitude, then relayed across however many jumps are necessary to reach the target area.

That target might be on the ground, or it might itself be another autonomous aerial platform, in which case it could stay airborne as long as necessary, its batteries being constantly charged from afar.

With enough of these power-relaying birds in the air, the POWER system creates an "energy web" that military logisticians can use to route energy where it's most needed at a moment's notice. It's a supply line in the sky, capable of giving land, sky or sea-based robots indefinite endurance, or sending the same energy elsewhere if it's strategically necessary.
Each airborne relay drone will receive power through an optical laser system, then send it further on in the network

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

I wonder if this will eventually lead to an intervention in Yemen

[caltrek]

New Stealth Destroyer INS Imphal Joins Indian Navy Fleet
by Rahul Singh
December 27, 2023

Introduction:

(Hindustan Times) The Indian Navy on Tuesday commissioned its latest guided missile stealth destroyer, INS Imphal, which will bolster the country’s presence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region and its capabilities to respond to an array of regional contingencies including the emerging challenges in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, where tensions have escalated following a wave of drone and missile attacks against merchant vessels by Houthi rebels, officials aware of the matter said.

INS Imphal, built under a ₹35,000-crore project for four modern stealth destroyers, comes with a raft of historic firsts, the officials said.

It is the first warship to have fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile before its commissioning; it has separate accommodation for women officers and sailors, as no woman officer has yet been a part of a warship’s commissioning crew; and its construction time has been the shortest for this class of destroyers. It is also the first warship in naval history to be named after a city in the country’s Northeast.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who commissioned the destroyer at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, said INS Imphal was a symbol of India’s growing maritime might, and it would enhance the country’s power in the vast Indo-Pacific region in line with the time-honoured naval strategy of “One Who Controls the Sea is All Powerful”.

“India plays the role of a net security provider in the entire Indian Ocean region. We will ensure that maritime trade in this region reaches greater heights. For this, together with our friendly countries, we will keep the sea lanes secure. We have full confidence in the ability and strength of our navy,” Singh said.

Read more here: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-n ... 617.html

[caltrek]

In Major Shift, Japan Gives Nod to Exports of Lethal Weapons
by Nobuhiko Tajima
December 23, 2023

Introduction:

(The Asahi Shmbun) In a hugely significant policy shift for pacifist Japan, the government approved revisions that will allow for the export of finished weapons like Patriot missiles.

The changes that got the nod from the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were made possible by the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology. The National Security Council later approved revisions to the implementation guidelines for those principles.

In 1976, the government banned weapons exports in principle, citing war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution.

But in 2014 when Shinzo Abe was prime minister, the government scrapped the three principles regarding weapons exports and replaced them with the current principles on the transfer of defense equipment and technology.

On Dec. 22, the government quickly took advantage of the revisions and approved the export of finished Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the United States.

Read more here: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15093193

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Business of War Is Booming as Orders Surge at Top Global Arms Firms
by Brett Wilkins
December 28, 2023

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) Orders at many of the world's biggest arms companies are "near record highs" due to rising geopolitical tensions in recent years, an analysis published Wednesday by Financial Times revealed.

The London-based newspaper analyzed the order books of the world's 15 top arms makers and found their combined backlogs were $777.6 billion at the end of 2022—a 10% increase from 2020.

According to FT:

• The trend's momentum continued into 2023. In the first six months of this year—the latest comprehensive quarterly data available—combined backlogs at these companies stood at $764 billion, swelling their future pipeline of work as governments kept placing orders.

• The sustained spending has spurred investors' interest in the sector. [Member of Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment's] global benchmark for the industry's stocks is up 25% over the past 12 months. Europe's Stoxx aerospace and defense stocks index has risen by more than 50% over the same period.

Private equity firms including BlackRock, Vanguard, Capital Group, and State Street are dominant or major shareholders in most of the weapons companies analyzed by FT. These Wall Street speculators are "the ones driving the perpetual wars to maintain their bankrupt financial system," according to the International Schiller Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/arms ... 66819054

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

After U.S. Navy Helicopters Sink Houthi Boats Are Strikes Next?
by Tyler Rogoway
December 31, 2023

Introduction:

(The Drive) Things are really heating up in the southern end of the Red Sea. Houthi attacks on shipping moving through the chokepoint not only continue, but appear to be getting more complex. Now U.S. Central Command has said Navy helicopters were fired upon by Houthi raiding craft while responding to a distress call from a cargo ship. The helicopters fired back, sinking the boats. This comes as a report claims the U.S. and the U.K. are planning to strike back against Houthi forces.

The statement from CENTCOM about the latest incident reads as follows:

"Iranian-backed Houthi small boats attack merchant vessel and U.S. Navy helicopters in Southern Red Sea

On Dec. 31 at 6:30am (Sanaa time) the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours reporting being under attack by four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats. The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew served and small arms weapons at the MAERSK HANGZHOU, getting to within 20 meters of the vessel, and attempted to board the vessel. A contract embarked security team on the MAERSK HANZGHOU returned fire. U.S. helicopters from the USS EISENHOWER (CVN 69) and GRAVELY (DDG 107) responded to the distress call and in the process of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew served weapons and small arms. The U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews. The fourth boat fled the area. There was no damage to U.S. personnel or equipment."

Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... kes-next


U.S. Navy photo by: Cmdr. Daniel J. Walford

[caltrek]

Endless War and the American 'Ghost Budget' That Pays for It
by Linda J. Bilmes
January 7, 2024

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) The post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were enabled by a historically unprecedented combination of budgetary procedures and financing methods. Unlike all previous U.S. wars, the post-9/11 wars were funded without higher taxes or non-war budget cuts, and through a separate budget. This set of circumstances – one that I have termed the “Ghost Budget” – enabled successive administrations to prosecute the wars with limited congressional oversight and minimal transparency and public debate. I adopted the name “Ghost Budget” because the term “ghost” appeared frequently in post-9/11 government reports in reference to funds allocated to people, places, or projects that turned out to be phantoms.

The Ghost Budget was the result of an interplay between changes in the U.S. budgetary process, a more assertive military establishment, and the conditions in global capital markets. It has had far-reaching implications for the conduct and course of the post-9/11 wars and for defense policy today.

Funding the Post-9/11 Wars

The “Ghost Budget” was the biggest budgetary anomaly in U.S. history. Prior to 9/11, U.S. wars were financed through a mixture of higher taxes and budget cuts, and funded mostly through the regular defense budget. One third of the costs of World War I and half the costs of World War II were met through higher taxes. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt described paying taxes as a “patriotic duty” as he raised taxes on business, imposed a “wealth tax,” raised inheritance taxes, and expanded the number of income taxpayers to roughly 80 percent of the workforce by 1945. Wars in Korea and Vietnam largely followed a similar pattern, with President Harry Truman pledging to make the country “pay as you go” for the Korean War. War funding was also a central issue in the Vietnam War, which ended when Congress refused to appropriate money for the South Vietnamese military.

The post-9/11 war funding pattern was completely different. For the first time since the American Revolutionary War, war costs were covered almost entirely by debt.

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/e ... 66881362