Sailors from the Republic of Korea Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force tour the USS Benfold (DDG-65) during a trilateral antisubmarine warfare exercise. Closer cooperation between Japan and South Korea would benefit both countries’ national security.

A Warming Korea–Japan Relationship is Necessary

There is an unspoken understanding that, if push came to shove, these forces—and those of the United States—would stand shoulder to shoulder and go into harm’s way for each other.

Lieutenant Jeong Soo Kim, U.S. Navy Reserve
December 2024
MSRon 10, assigned to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, conducts maritime security operations off the Horn of Africa. Maritime expeditionary security squadrons offer junior officers authorities and responsibilities usually reserved for more-senior officers.

Junior Officers in Expeditionary Command

Young surface warfare officers eager for the challenges and excitement of early command will find it in the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force.

Commander Joey Vitollo, U.S. Navy
November 2024
The Isaac Peral is the first of four S-80-class submarines, but Spain may need more to meet all its security needs.

The Spanish Navy Needs More Submarines

Spain’s geostrategic situation and current global events call for more submarines.

Commander Augusto Conte de los Ríos, Spanish Navy
October 2024
The USS Laboon (DDG-58) departs in support of Operation Prosperity Guardian. Operation Prosperity Guardian, the current operation in the Red Sea, could borrow aspects of Earnest Will and expand on that model to deliver on the stated mission aims.

Go All in to Reopen the Red Sea

Defeating the Houthi antishipping campaign in the Red Sea and fully reopening that vital sea lane will require more than air-defense picket ships operating in a self-defense mode.

September 2024
The USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) operates in the vicinity of the Luzon Strait, in August 2024. Commerce raiding predates the Peloponnesian Wars, but in a future conflict it may help throttle Beijing’s true center of gravity: their control of 1.4 billion people. China relies on uninterrupted overseas trade and stable economic growth and it simply cannot afford a long war.

The Surface Navy and the Long War

China relies on uninterrupted overseas trade and simply cannot afford a long war. Allied surface forces can and should establish sea control—just not where one might expect.

September 2024
Aviation Cadets at the Navy's balloon school, Moffett Field, California, send a message to their base by way of homing pigeon in 1943. The next fight will not be won by the smartest bombs and the most cutting-edge technology. The side that will win is the side that knows how to adapt to the environment. 

Knife-Fighting Distance

In a future fight against China in the western Pacific, cutting-edge technology will not win the day. A fictional story demonstrates that the future is the past.

August 2024