Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (4-Jul-2017)

HMS Queen Elizabeth (File Photo)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea state

After a tricky few weeks, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s cyber security resilience has been called into question after photos taken during a tour of the ship appeared to show computer screens running the out-dated Windows XP operating system—the same system targeted by the recent WannaCry ransomware attack. In response, the Ministry of Defence said that Windows XP wouldn’t be used ‘when the ship becomes operational’, but many still criticised the claim that the system wasn’t vulnerable to attack. In defence of the carrier’s cyber capabilities, Commander Mark Deller said the crew included a specialist cyber team and that, with respect to naval procurement, we should ‘think more NASA than NHS’.

After Boaty McBoatface set off on its maiden mission earlier in the year, scientists have reported that it has obtained ‘unprecedented data’ from the Orkney Passage, about 800 km from the Arctic Peninsula. Water flow speed, underwater turbulence and temperature data collected by Boaty (from as deep as 4,000 m) will improve scientists’ understanding of ‘the complex ways that mixing ocean waters affect climate change’.

Also, Australia may soon get its very own Boaty McBoatface—the Australian Antarctic Division is running a competition for school students to name Australia’s new Antarctic icebreaker. Any suggestions?

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (6-Jun-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

DARPA is looking for a way to improve US Navy capability by making it possible for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to communicate underwater. DARPA thinks the answer might be AMEBA (A Mechanically Based Antenna) which could enable wireless communication and data transfer, with antennae  small enough to be installed on UUVs or carried in troops’ packs.

While US Navy UUVs are used for intelligence operations and minesweeping, others have a somewhat different purpose—such as BIKI, the ‘world’s first bionic robot fish’. Though marketed as an underwater camera or monitoring device, BIKI is the real deal, carrying advanced bionics tech of the kind built for artic research.

In an interview with a Chinese State TV channel, a top Chinese naval engineer has revealed that PLAN’s newest nuclear attack submarines (the Type 095 SSN) will be fitted with a ‘revolutionary and silent propulsion system’—a ‘shaftless rim-driven pumpjet’. Analysis of the announcement is just beginning to roll in, but one commentator views the development as ‘an attempt to leap beyond current submarine technology’, which if successful could see the PLAN outpace the US and Britain, whose SSBNs carrying the option for rim-drive pumpjets won’t enter service until 2030.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (16-May-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

President Trump has been blowing off steam about the US Navy’s catapults. Apparently, the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) on the USS Gerald Ford—‘slated to become the crown jewel of the US Navy’—may not be long for this world. In an interview with TIME, Trump queried the use of ‘digital’ catapults and appeared to suggest a reversal to the previous generation steam-powered catapults. It’s true that EMALS has been beset by cost and schedule overruns, but the system is expected to save the Navy US$4 billion in maintenance costs over the ship’s 50-year lifetime (not to mention its many other potential benefits). Facing an impossible re-engineering task on the Ford class, and said to be ‘blindsided’ by Trump’s comments, Navy officials have declined to comment.

The Philippines is buying a second-hand warship from South Korea for just US$100 (!). But, the 30 year old Pohang-class corvette was decommissioned in December 2016 and will require considerable investment (an estimated US$4 million) to return to service. And it won’t come with all its weaponry. Luckily, South Korea, which is working to build its own arms export industry, ‘is well positioned to re-equip it for the Philippines, at a price’.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (28-Mar-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s second helicopter carrier, the Kaga, entered service last week. The warship is expected to embark Mitsubishi-Sikorsky SH-60K Seahawk anti-submarine warfare helicopters and AgustaWestland/Kawasaki MCH-101 aircraft for mine-countermeasures. That commission takes Japan’s deployment capability another step forward (see last week’s Sea State). There’s little doubt where the ship’s resources will be directed—Japan’s Vice Minister of Defence said at Kaga’s ceremony that China is ‘raising security concerns,’ and by exerting pressure ‘is altering the status quo’ in the South China Sea. And Japan isn’t the only one setting sail. Last week, the Philippine Navy sent the BRP Ramon Alcaraz to patrol Benham Rise, an underwater plateau in the Philippine’s extended continental shelf, after Chinese survey vessels performed oceanographic research in the area.

There was an interesting read in Foreign Affairs last week on ‘Why Europe is Floating Egypt’s Navy’. Egypt is being increasingly sought out as a military partner against security threats in the Mediterranean, including sea-faring terrorists and migrants.

The US Office of Naval Research posted a video last week, showing a test fire of BAE’s electromagnetic cannon. The Navy’s railgun project has been in the works since 2005, and is reportedly still expected to be in service by 2025. This article from The Drive talks pros and cons of the experimental weapon. (ASPI’s James Mugg has some views too.)

Sea, air, land and space updates (21-Mar-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

In its biggest show of naval force in the Asia–Pacific since WWII, Japan has unveiled plans to send its largest warship—the Izumo helicopter carrier—on a three-month tour of the South China Sea, kicking off in May. Stopping off in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, its destination is the Indian Ocean, where it will join India and the US in the Malabar naval exercise. Japan’s drills last week with South Korea and the US in the Sea of Japan further demonstrated that its ‘naval forces [are] playing a bigger part in the region.’Unimpressed, China has promised to ‘take firm responsive measures’ should Japan ‘persist in taking the wrong actions’.

After last Monday’s hijacking of the tanker Aris 13 by Somali pirates off Somalia’s coast (the first since 2012), a new spate of attacks is feared, with one pirate warning: ‘In the coming days we are going to seize even more foreign ships.’ Somali officials have now called upon NATO—which ended its counter-piracy mission in November—to do more to stop illegal fishing in the area, which some believe provoked the attack.

Everyone’s favourite submersible, Boaty McBoatface, left Chile on Friday on board the RRS James Clark Ross. It’s headed to the Antarctic to explore ‘some of the deepest and coldest abyssal waters on Earth’… Better you than me, Boaty!

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (7-Mar-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

Last week’s US Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) report, Iranian Naval Forces: A Tale of Two Navies, says Iran’s developing a new Besat-class submarine with anti-ship cruise missile capability. It’s believed the development aims to better enable Iran to target the US Navy in the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts caution however, that the Iranians tend to overstate their abilities and reports that they’re already “building” should be ‘take[n] with a grain of salt’. ONI also reports Iran’s likely to ‘go on an international shopping spree’ for naval capabilities come 2020 when the UN’s conventional weapons acquisition ban is due to expire.

US defence budget increases in 2018 apparently won’t extend to the Coast Guard, which is facing a US$1.3 billion cut. Already reported to be under-resourced and overstretched, the Coast Guard protects 95,000 miles of coastline with a force of just 56,000. Proposed cutbacks would eliminate the counterterrorism unit and all regional Maritime Safety and Security teams—some of which provide security for President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago visits.

News Story: Why it's time for Australia to launch its own space agency

by Simon Driver

Any nation that hopes to have a space program needs to be able to keep an eye on its orbiting assets at all times. This means that Australia has become a key link in the global chain of ground-based tracking stations. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a deep space tracking facility at Tidbinbilla in the ACT, managed by the CSIRO, and the European Space Agency (ESA) has one in New Norcia, Western Australia.

The New Norcia station plays a further role as it picks up and tracks the ESA launches from French Guiana as they curve across the Indian Ocean on their way to Earth orbit or beyond.

This means that Australia plays a critical role in many other countries' space programs. Right now, about 40 space missions - including deep space planetary explorers, Mars rovers, solar observatories and astronomical space observatories - are routinely downlinking their data through radio dishes on Australian soil.

This uniquely acquired data is then piped out of the country to the eagerly waiting US and European scientific communities, bypassing our own.

If Australia is to capitalise on its strengths in space tracking as well as space science, and is to get on board with the burgeoning commercial space industry, it's time that we considered forming a space agency of our own.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (7-Feb-2017)

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

A Saudi Arabian frigate was attacked by Houthi rebels in waters west of Yemen on 30 January. Conflicting reports are floating around about the attack method—while the official Saudi Press Agency attributed it to “suicide boats,” the rebels themselves (and Iran) claim to have used anti-ship missiles. At least two other Houthi attacks on navy vessels have occurred in the Bab el Mandeb strait recently, including a successful cruise missile strike against a UAE Navy vessel last October.

The pacific hagfish (or slime eel!) is on the menu of new defence tools being investigated by the US Navy. In a cool example of biomimicry, researchers are using the fish’s slime to develop a new synthetic material which they hope could provide an extra layer of defence on warships. The slime has properties similar to Kevlar and could also be used for anything from ‘ballistics protection, firefighting, anti-fouling, diver protection or anti-shark spray.’ The research team has recreated the slime’s distinctive proteins, and are now working to refine and then mass-produce the synthetic slime.

Finally, we said farewell this week to the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, as it was decommissioned on 3 February. Read more about its important legacy here.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates

Zoe Glasson, Sophie Qin, Madeleine Nyst and Patrick Kennedy

Sea State

US Senator John McCain has made waves around DC with his recently released defence budget white paper, ‘Restoring American Power’. In it, McCain argues for a diversified US military, as opposed to just buying ‘more of the same’. Enter, the much-maligned Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). McCain’s plan calls for the LCS program to be truncated this year and succeeded by a replacement frigate by 2022. To make the move quickly, affordably and at scale, McCain advocates for an acquisition ‘bridge’ until 2022 for the two shipyards building LCSs, allowing them to then compete for the follow-on frigate—with the added benefit of lowering costs and increasing productivity.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) commissioned its fifth Luyang III-class (Type 052D) destroyer, the Xining, on 22 January. While the PLAN has four Type 052D vessels currently assigned to its South Sea Fleet, this one’s the first to be allocated to the North Sea Fleet. Aside from the geographical distinction, the Type 052D distinguishes itself in other ways: its anti-submarine warfare capabilities are superior to previous classes. Read more about the improvements here.

And closer to home, Adelaide’s Flinders University has signed a memorandum of understanding with four top French engineering schools for academic and research cooperation relating to Australia’s Future Submarine Program.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (20-Dec-2016)

RAAF C-27J Spartan Cargo Aircraft

Christopher Cowan, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

The US Navy released its much-anticipated 2016 Force Structure Assessment (FSA) last week and the results are sure to please proponents of a large USN The FSA advocates a 355 ship navy, which is a significant increase from the 308 ships advocated by the 2014 FSA. The 47-hull boost comes most prominently from one more aircraft carrier, 18 more nuclear attack submarines and 16 more large surface combatants (cruisers and destroyers). But achieving the 355-ship goal won’t be easy, as analysts are predicting it will take decades (and billions of dollars) to come to fruition. ASPI’s Andrew Davies says that history tells us it probably won’t happen—especially if the emphasis is on big ships.

China’s new (and only) aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, conducted its first ever live-fire exercise last week. According to the People’s Liberation Army Navy, the goal of the exercise was to enhance the Liaoning’s ability to operate as a part of a carrier battle group, as well as verify the capabilities of its sailors and airmen. This video, courtesy of CCTV, shows the Liaoning’s carrier-borne J-15 aircraft participating in the exercise.

After months of speculation, the US Navy’s new class of ballistic missile submarines officially has its new name. Secretary of the Navy Roy Mabus announced last week that the submarines would be called the Columbia-class—named after the District of Columbia.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (13-Dec-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

One of the Su-33 Flanker-D aircraft onboard the Admiral Kuznetsov—Russia’s aircraft carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean—crashed last week. The accident was the second one in a month and occurred after one of the ship’s arrestor cables snapped during landing operations. While those types of accidents aren’t uncommon in naval aviation, Russia’s lack of experience with carrier operations, as well as equipment that’s reportedly poorly maintained, might be to blame.

Russian state media is reporting that the Russian Navy is expanding development on two different types of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). One, the Surrogat, is designed as both a survey vessel and a decoy—it can supposedly imitate both conventional and nuclear powered submarines. The other, called the Kanyon by US intelligence, was first revealed by accident last year during a segment on Russian television.

Australia and France signed an intelligence sharing agreement last week to support the development of Australia’s Future Submarine program. The agreement sets out ‘mechanisms and safeguards’ for the handling of classified materials related to the program.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (22-Nov-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

The British Ministry of Defence last week admitted that the Royal Navy’s fleet of frigates and destroyers would be losing their primary over-the-horizon anti-surface weapons due to cost-cutting measures. The Royal Navy will withdraw its helicopter-launched Sea Skua missiles from service in 2017, followed by the retirement of its ship-launched Harpoon missiles in 2018. Those retirements will leave the Royal Navy without any anti-ship missiles at all until 2020, when the Sea Skua’s replacement, the Sea Venom missile, is introduced.

An American warship visited New Zealand last week for the first time since the US suspended its ANZUS treaty obligations to New Zealand in 1986 over a dispute regarding the US Navy’s policy of nuclear weapons ambiguity. While relations between the two have thawed recently, the US hasn’t lifted New Zealand’s suspension just yet. The USS Sampson was to take part in the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th anniversary celebrations before it was diverted to provide relief for the earthquake-stricken town of Kaikoura. The vessel was joined in the disaster relief operation by the Canadian warship HMCS Vancouver and the HMAS Darwin, as well as vessels from Japan and Singapore. A short time-lapse video of the USS Sampson’s visit can be found here courtesy of the US Naval Institute.

Think Tank: Sea, air, land and space updates (8-Nov-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

What happens when you cross a tank with boat? You get a ‘tank boat’ of course! Indonesian defence firms PT Lundin and Pindad—in collaboration with Belgian firm CMI Defence and SAAB—presented a full scale mock-up of this odd combination at last week’s Indo Defence 2016 expo in Jakarta. The companies are currently undertaking a study to test whether the design, first shown in 2014, is feasible. However, this isn’t the first time someone has crossed a tank and a boat. The US Navy fitted some of its patrol boats and old landing craft with large calibre guns during the Vietnam War.

Problems continue to mount for the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier. The USN announced last week that delivery of the USS Gerald R Ford, the lead ship of the USN’s new class of aircraft carriers, will be delayed until 2017. Issues with the ship’s main turbine generators, as well as worries about its new Advanced Arresting Gear, are responsible for the delays. The USN has garnered significant criticism for its handling of the construction of the ship, with the US Government Accountability Office stating in 2015 that the issues stem from an acquisition culture that ‘encourages undue optimism about program risks and costs‘.

Think Tank:Sea, air, land and space updates (20-Sep-2016)

Christopher Cowan, Thulasi Wigneswaran, Elisabeth Buchan and Alexander Vipond

Sea State

The US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program is back in the headlines this week with new footage of the LCS Jackson’s June shock trials. The trials involved detonating a 10,000 pound (4,546 kilogram) explosive device near the vessel to simulate an attack and examine its survivability. The LCS Jackson appears to have fared well in the trials, which is good news for a program in troubled waters recently. A recent review has led to numerous changes to the program, including new crewing schemes, limits to the vessels’ vaunted modularity features, and deployment limitations for the first four LCS ships.

In news closer to home, HMAS Hobart, the Royal Australian Navy’s first Hobart-class air warfare destroyer, began builder’s sea trials last week. The trials are taking place in the Great Australian Bight and are designed to test the vessel’s non-combat features, including its propulsion and navigation systems. The Hobart will undergo further trials early next year to test its combat systems before initial operating capability is declared. However, as a recent ASPI report explains (PDF), the AWDs will become operational with an earlier version of the Aegis combat system than new build USN vessels, making them unable to operate the latest versions of some missiles like the SM-6.