Navy denies interest in new force options

The Navy’s top strategist has floated to the chief of naval operations three alternatives to the service’s current 30-year shipbuilding plan that if adopted would radically reshape American naval power.

The three options are contained in a 26-page briefing titled “Three Futures, One Navy, A Portfolio Analysis” by Vice Adm. John Morgan, the service’s strategy chief, which was e-mailed to Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, just before the Thanksgiving holiday.

The force structure options — a 263-ship fleet optimized for major combat operations against a peer competitor; a 534-ship shaping force tailored for coalition and maritime security operations; and a 474-ship balanced force able to perform high- and low-end missions — would replace the current 30-year shipbuilding plan. Each option is based in part on the findings of a 2005 “table top exercise” involving Lockheed Martin, the maker of the Aegis combat system that equips the Navy’s cruisers and destroyers, as well as one of the two builders of the service’s new Littoral Combat Ship.

Japanese navy officer arrested for leaking secret data: police

Japanese police said Thursday they had arrested a senior navy officer over a leak of secret data on the high-tech Aegis combat system, seen as a top line of defence against a possible attack by North Korea.

The government called for increased efforts to protect sensitive data after the arrest of the 34-year-old lieutenant commander in Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force.

Although the leak of the sensitive information is believed to have been contained within the Japanese naval force, it spread to reach rank-and-file officials, including one whose wife is Chinese, causing concern in Washington.

Australian navy may soon track Japanese whalers

Australian navy vessels could be deployed to track Japanese whalers as early as next week to gather evidence for a possible international legal battle.

Labor raised the idea of using the navy to search for evidence of illegal whaling in Australian waters before last month’s election.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday said he would make an announcement next week on what action the government will take as the whaling season gets underway.

Mr Rudd said: “We take seriously Australia’s international obligations on the proper protection of whales.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 and is filed under Australia, Japan, Maritime Strategy News, Navy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.