By Lieutenant (junior Grade) Samuel Heenan Winegar, U.S. Navy
[USNI] In the event of a future conflict with China, sensors distributed throughout the first island chain would offer a clear benefit to the United States and its allies.
December 2022 Proceedings Vol. 148/12/1,438
Twentieth-century British naval theoretician Sir Julian Corbett stated that the object of naval warfare is to control the sea lines of communication (SLOCs).1 All Indo-Pacific states, including the United States, have long enjoyed unfettered access to the surrounding SLOCs under the regional maritime regime. By using gray-zone tactics such as maritime militias, a militarized coast guard, and prosecution of legitimate competing commercial vessels and platforms, China has slowly attempted to challenge the existing free-and-open maritime commons in the first island chain, referring to Taiwan as “essential strategic space for China’s rejuvenation” and a “springboard to the Pacific” in official military writings.2
Similarly, Admiral Ernest King dubbed Taiwan “the cork in the bottle” of Japanese SLOCs during World War II.3 Were Taiwanese sovereignty ever so challenged as to call into question the security of the SLOCs it straddles, a revisionist and belligerent China could threaten these vital economic links. Speaking strictly from this perspective, and without regard for the persuasive political and moral considerations of continued Taiwanese sovereignty, it is decidedly in U.S. national interest to deter a hostile takeover of Taiwan by China and maintain the kinetic capabilities necessary to protect Taiwan if deterrence fails.
A MODERN READING OF CORBETT
A prolonged high-end conflict with the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will prove incredibly difficult for the U.S. Navy. It is no secret that China would seek to sever the Navy’s vulnerable supply networks, targeting resupply vessels and depots across the Indo-Pacific.4 While it is possible the United States will strengthen or otherwise diversify its logistics network, the confines of geography will endure—in a Taiwanese contingency, China would be fighting (and resupplying) in its strategic backyard.5 If deterrence fails, the Navy must be prepared to fight and win in as short a timeframe as possible.
Does this mean a Mahanian-style concentration-of-forces, winner-take-all battle? Not necessarily. As Corbett puts it, a battleforce need not be “huddled together like a drove of sheep, but distributed with regard to a single common purpose, and linked together by the effectual energy of a single will.”6 In this regard, the distributed maritime operations (DMO) concept is clearly Corbettian in nature. As described by Vice Admiral Philip Sawyer, DMO is “geographically distributed naval forces integrated to synchronize operations across all domains.”7
The theories Corbett espoused in Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, however prophetic, simply cannot be applied 111 years later without significant modification. When Corbett wrote his seminal work in 1911, the unmatched guns of the British battle fleet had a maximum firing range of around ten miles.8 Today’s antiship missiles enjoy effective ranges of hundreds if not thousands of miles. A simple and enduring truth of kinetic warfare is the connection between shooter and target—who can shoot farthest and most effectively? For Corbett, this meant cruisers: fast, lightweight ships serving as “eyes of the fleet”—dedicated to seeking out enemy combatants and reporting their position and maneuvers to more capable battleships for subsequent engagement.9
Of course, the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of Corbett’s cruisers are a far cry from those of the U.S. Navy’s Ticonderoga class, cruisers arguably just as ISR-capable as their Arleigh Burke–class destroyer compatriots, or the aircraft employed by a carrier strike group.10 Shipborne sensors offer individual units and networked strike groups a wide tactical horizon compared with the dreadnoughts of old. These advances in ISR have been matched equally by the increasing range of shore-based and sea-based strike capabilities. Read the rest at the link
It was the coup attempt that rocked the world. In the morning of December 7, 2022, 3,000 members of the German police armed and clad in tactical gear descended on 50 homes in Germany, Austria and Italy, and arrested 25 people accused of plotting to overthrow the government. This was the largest police operation ever in Germany. A moment that will forever be captured in history books—from multiple high-resolution angles—thanks to the German media, whom, according to a far-left politician, the government courteously informed of the secret operation two weeks prior (to give you a sense of the priorities) (source: antifascist politician Martina Renner, n-tv.de "Die Razzia wirkt wie eine PR-Aktion").
Just like that, an imperial government-in-waiting was exposed to the world. Many already know about the eccentric leader Prince Heinrich XIII (age 71), but he was just the tip of the bratwurst. An organizational chart published in BILD reveals the names and functions of key lieutenants and advisors, including Frank Heppner (age 62), a restaurant owner chosen by the plotters to oversee the Reichskantinen (imperial cafeterias) after the coup succeeded. Another potential minister, an astrologist, would have been put in charge of "Transcommunication." A doctor was set to be "Minister of Spirituality and Healing."
Now people might wonder what type of arsenal these people were equipped with. What weapons did the 3,000 police members discover at the homes and hideouts of these extremists? Two rifles, one handgun, swords, crossbows, and some antique guns. Which makes the following comment from leftist politician Janine Wissler all the more ridiculous: "What makes such networks especially dangerous is their connections to the army, police and legal system. Among them are people who are trained in using weapons and have access to weapons as well as sensitive information. Therefore it is vital to identify and dismantle right-wing networks within the army and police." It turns those vast connections were only able to deliver 3 modern guns to the group.
25 people arrested with a mean age past retirement armed with maybe one tenth of the arsenal of your average Turkish gang in Berlin. This is what Interior Minister Faeser called the "abyss of a terrorist threat." This is what inspired the German government to organize the largest police operation in German history. It all seems a little ridiculous (although to be fair, we have yet to see the Reichsburger group chats, which authorities promise are full hate speech most foul). As Federicus Versago pointed out in Krautzone, it is worth noting that the failed 2016 coup in Turkey involved the participation of over 8,000 soldiers.
Any American with an interest in politics—left of right—can probably think of some chat groups, militias, and so on, that would pose a greater threat. The same is true in Germany. Leftist groups have attacked police with incendiary devices and teargas recently. On the right, the Freie Sachsen movement counts tens of thousands of members, the whole of which probably has more than two rifles in their possession. And this is even before we get into ethnic clans and mafias which have been operating largely unhindered. The focus on this group in particular feels inexplicably random. Unless you assume that the whole thing has nothing to do with terrorism, and everything to do with creating political advantage.
A big joke with serious implications
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed ||
12/21/2022 08:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
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#1
Question: I read "German Police armed and clad in tactical gear descended on 50 homes in Germany, Austria and Italy, and arrested 25 people."
Is this a new EU authorized cross border law enforcement agreement of some type? Or did Germany just violate Austrian & Italian Sovereignty & Jurisdictions?
#7
"Question: I read "German Police armed and clad in tactical gear descended on 50 homes in Germany, Austria and Italy, and arrested 25 people."
No, that's an error. Arresting in Austria was done by Austrian police, in Italy by Italian police.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/21/2022 19:43 Comments ||
Top||
#8
^ Figured as much
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/21/2022 19:53 Comments ||
Top||
#9
^^ Seriously?
They arrested the equivalent of the Widmer Kidnap Plot. A bunch of wanna bes talking big boy stuff with no weapons. EC FG you know better than this shit.
How can you overthrow a government with no weapons? Words? Fuck you both.
A Czech company's view:
By Pete Morrison, Chief Product Officer
[BiSimulations] The growing complexity of modern warfare has led many defense organizations to focus on interoperability, automation, and artificial intelligence. Here are BISim’s predictions on some of the trends that will shape military simulation (milsim) investment in 2023, as premier western military organizations strive to prepare their forces for combat in a new era.
#5: Increased interest in simulating space, and sensors in low-earth orbit.
In 2023, we'll see increased interest in space. The fragility of commercial satellite networks has become obvious given recent threats by potential aggressors, and we are seeing more and more demand for space-related simulation and visualization.
BISim has heavily invested in simulation and rendering technology that supports space. Our new VBS Blue engine supports high-fidelity rendering of multiple planets - even though our customers are still a few years away from training combat forces for deployments to the Moon, or Mars!
#4: Militaries will aggregate training data and leverage machine learning.
Most military organizations use military training simulations at the “point of need”, that is, disconnected from the broader enterprise network. A single Battle Simulation Center might be able to train an entire Brigade in simulation at once, but most are disconnected from other Centers, running stand-alone networks. Currently, it is very difficult to aggregate all the training data from all of the Battle Simulation Centers across a typical arm of the US military.
In 2023 and beyond, we’ll see initiatives like US Army Synthetic Training Environment (STE) deploy training simulations on web architectures right down to the point of need. This will allow the US Army, for example, to record the training data for a massive number of simulated exercises. This will in turn result in a fantastic opportunity for machine learning to provide feedback on the training (e.g. recommending ways to improve training) and also train AI based upon thousands of human decisions recorded across thousands of simulated exercises.
#3: The Metaverse might actually work - for the military.
The popular “Metaverse” buzzword can elicit eyerolls, with many different commercial entities promoting technology to support one or many eventual commercial Metaverses, even though the definition of a Metaverse is still open to broad interpretation. Meta's recent stock price drop is — among other things — a reflection of the lack of excitement for the concept. Apple’s Tim Cook recently criticized the metaverse, stating, "I don't think the average person can explain the metaverse."
But, military projects like US Army STE and the UK’s concept of a Single Synthetic Environment (SSE) are leveraging many of the technologies that will underpin future Metaverses, and we believe that premier military organizations will be the first to deliver persistent, cloud-hosted and immersive virtual worlds for training and mission rehearsal. These efforts will ramp up in 2023 and will deliver meaningful results within the next 12-24 months.
#2: Augmented Reality (AR) will explode.
The BISim prediction is that the use of AR will expand in leaps and bounds, starting in 2023. The (as yet unannounced) Apple AR headset will likely be a game-changer, and initial reviews of Magic Leap 2 show big improvements over the previous iteration. The US Army invested billions in the Hololens 2-based IVAS, and this will certainly continue to evolve despite some early negative press. It is only a matter of time before we reach the inflection point where untethered AR headsets are light enough - with acceptable resolutions and fields of view - to become commonplace, not just in the military but in everyday life.
#1: High fidelity, whole-Earth terrain will be readily available on-demand.
The days of onerous terrain development for military simulation are coming to an end, with massive advances in relevant cloud-enabled and cloud-scalable technologies. While high-fidelity satellite data has been available from companies like Microsoft and Google for many years, “simulation-ready” terrain data has required expensive tools and trained experts. Major programs like Army SE Core are dedicated to developing terrains for military simulation.
New platforms like BISim’s Mantle ETM will mature in 2023, which already underpins important programs like the US Army’s Training Simulation Software (TSS)/Training Management Tool (TMT). Mantle ETM builds a custom terrain pipeline perfectly matched to the needs of any sophisticated simulated terrain user, and for any simulation runtime - including those based upon the latest game engines. “Terrain as a service” will soon become commonplace, and BISim looks forward to helping transition customers to the new, on-demand model.
Download the summary of BISim’s top 5 military simulation industry predictions for 2023 below -
#2
Did the goat herders from Afghanistan use AI, Machine Learning or Augmented Reality to defeat the USA? Unless that simulator somehow grows ‘testicles’ bigger in leadership to instill a will to actually win a war I say quit wasting technology
#4
*Pfui!* Like a Real Life version of Schrodinger's Cat simulators can't predict the results of "low level" combat -- they can only "Roll random dice and guess".
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
