THE GREAT WALL OF TRUMP TO BE BUILT BY BIDEN – Embattled Arizona Democrat Senator Mark Kelly announced the intention of DHS to build the gaps in Trump’s Wall. From his website, “Kelly has urged the Biden administration to close this gap and find solutions that include…upgrading ports of entry, and fencing and barriers where they make sense and are effective.”
… Vulnerable Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly wants to win in November. Illegal immigration is drowning the state. Gov. Ducey has been sending people on buses to Washington, D.C. But that’s another story.
I guess his susceptibility got to the point he couldn’t ignore it because Kelly pushed President Joe Biden to build a portion of President Donald Trump’s border wall in Arizona.
After many months of pushing the Biden administration to close border barrier gaps near the Morelos Dam, today, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has authorized Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to move forward with closing the gaps located near the Morelos Dam in the Yuma Sector. Listening to city leaders, local law enforcement, and Border Patrol, Kelly worked to ensure DHS closed the gaps posing security challenges in Yuma.
GALLUP REGISTERS NEW APPROVAL LOW FOR BIDEN – A July Survey from Gallup shows that President Biden has reached a new low in their tracking, registering 38 percent approval versus 59 percent disapproval. Strongly approve stood at 13 percent while strongly disapprove is 45 percent. Only 31 percent of independents approve of Biden’s job performance.
“… Democrats were already facing a tough environment in this fall’s midterms as they seek to retain their narrow majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Biden’s now weaker approval makes their odds of doing so even steeper,” Gallup noted.
US CIRCUIT COURT UPHOLDS RIGHT TO VIDEO POLICE – The 10th US Circuit Court upheld the right to video police, saying in their final judgement, “… as to all three elements of First Amendment retaliation, Mr. Irizarry has shown a violation of clearly established law. Officer Yehia is not entitled to qualified immunity.”
… The case centered on events that took place in 2019, when the YouTube blogger and three other people were filming a DUI traffic stop in Colorado and police on the scene called for backup from an officer, after telling that officer about the filming. The officer stood in front of one of the people filming, blocking their view and shining a light into the camera lens. When fellow officers told that officer to leave due to his “disruptive and uncontrolled behavior,” according to the court ruling, he got into his police car and drove directly at the person whose view he’d blocked, right before swerving and blaring an air horn. The blogger sued the officer, alleging retaliation for the exercising of his First Amendment rights, while the officer responded by arguing that qualified immunity protected him from being sued.
LOCAL NY POLICE DEPTS REJECT STATE CCW LAWS – Another NY Police Dept has made a statement rejecting Albany’s latest gun control law. From the Village of Bath Police Department, “… Police Officers have been instructed not to arrest anyone with a valid NYS concealed carry pistol permit for possessing a licensed handgun in our Village public parks or public playgrounds.”
The Village of Bath Police Department posted a statement on their Facebook page stating they will not be following part of New York’s newly signed Concealed Carry Improvement Act that goes into effect Sept. 1, 2022, specifically regarding public parks and playgrounds.
“The Village of Bath Police Officers have been instructed not to arrest anyone with a valid NYS concealed carry pistol permit for possessing a licensed handgun in our Village public parks or public playgrounds. The police cannot be everywhere, and your right to protect your family and others is our priority. Many other locations forbidden for concealed carry in the new law will be referred to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution instructions prior to arrest. Thank you.”
2021 VA HOUSE ELECTION UPHELD AGAIN BY FEDERAL JUDGE – US District Judge David J Novak issued a 49-page ruling declaring the results of the 2021 Virginia House Election will not be re-run, despite efforts by the DNC to seek to overturn an election that saw them lose control of the Virginia Legislature, as well as the governorship.
…In a 49-page opinion, U.S. District Judge David. J. Novak ruled the plaintiffs in the case don’t have standing to sue the state and the federal courts lack the authority to order a new election. With early voting for the 2022 elections set to begin next month, Monday’s ruling appears to be the end of the line for efforts to hold new House elections this year.
The case centered on the constitutionality of Virginia’s 2021 elections and the state’s seeming inability to redraw its political maps on schedule due to the late arrival of 2020 U.S. Census data.
The legal challengers argued the state violated Virginians’ voting rights by failing to conduct redistricting on time…
NOTE TO THE READER: The following is a necessarily brief overview of a top-tier national military force. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and are based solely on “open-source” research. This is the first of a series on national military forces that may not be well-known to the general reader.
Additionally, a version of this article was previously published online, on May 29, 2017, by this author, at the former “Military Gazette” web page (now defunct). This version has been edited and updated, and is published here with the agreement and consent of the editorial staff, as well as this author.
Introduction
The modern Indian armed forces date from 1947, but trying to write even a general overview of the military history of India is far beyond the scope of an article such as this. Indeed, this article can give only the barest overview; thus, any holes that appear are unintentional, and were left out for the sake of brevity.
Postcard captioned “Gentlemen of India marching to chasten German Hooligans” in English and French, 1914
India did not lack for professionalism in armed forces when it gained its independence from Great Britain in 1947. Indeed, Indian forces had been fighting under British direction for well over 200 years, since at least 1774AD. Interestingly, this makes the modern Indian Army slightly older than its United States counterpart. Indian troops from across the subcontinent have repeatedly proven themselves the equal – if not the superior – to both British and European armed forces. India’s success as an independent state is directly attributable to the professionalism of both its Civil Service, and its Armed Forces, part of the latter being the subject of this article.
At the time of the Partition of India, the various British Imperial Indian forces were divided between between India and Pakistan; other than the inevitable disruption caused to organizational structures, both new countries inherited highly professional forces, as well as school structures and defense industries. As a result, Indian forces performed very well in their firsttests, and ensured India’s continued existence as a nation.
Indian soldiers of the 9th Battalion, Sikh Infantry test-firing a handgun aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) – US Navy photo
Although there would be missteps later on, India’s national integrity has never been seriously threatened over the course of the last seventy years, in stark contrast to many other former European colonies, who seem continually on the brink of complete and utter collapse.
With a total of over 5.137million troops – counting Active, Reserve and Paramilitary – India possesses the fourth-largest armed force in the world, ahead of even the People’s Republic of China, and the second-largest Active Duty force, overall, ahead of the United States. Below, we will briefly glance at India’s army, and will then assess its strategic capabilities.
Comprising some eighty percent of India’s national forces, the Army is a modern force, striving to upgrade its capabilities to keep pace with the more “public” militaries, such as those of the United States, Britain, France and Germany. However, those states are not India’s adversaries – those slots are taken up primarily by Pakistan and the PRC.
India, by and large, neither starts wars – directly or indirectly – nor seeks conflicts. In the past, however, India has faced attacks from both Pakistan and the PRC; in the former case, several times.
Indian army infantry vehicles move onto the firing range at Camp Bundela, India Oct. 26, 2009 – US Army photo
Like most states, the core of India’s armed forces is its infantry. Indian infantry have long been regarded as among the toughest and most capable in the world. India, like the United States, uses a modified “regimental system” within its army, with regiments such as the Madras, the Gurkha’s, and the Sikh Light Infantry (among many, many more) having long and distinguished histories, but those regiments primarily provide well-trained battalions to the Army’s divisional structures (some forty divisions, in fourteen corps), as part of the seven major commands that the Army is structured into, rather than deploy as complete units on the battlefield. These divisions, except for certain specialized units – such as mountain, parachute and several special forces units – are mingled with tanks and artillery to form cohesive battlefield units.
The Army’s F-INSAS program is a development project aimed at reequipping the individual soldier with an advanced suite of combat systems. This program, modeled on the US Army’s zombie-like “Future Force Warrior” program (that has been killed and resurrected so many times, it is now hard to keep track of the various iterations), is perhaps over-ambitious.
Lance Naik (Lance Cpl.) Fateh Singh, of the 4th Rajput Battalion of the Indian Army confirms the zero of his INSAS assault rifle, Donnelly Training Area, Fort Greely, Alaska, 2007 — US Army photo
However, the Indian Army demonstrated in 2016 that it has the intestinal and institutional fortitude to make choices that would embarrass other forces, in its acknowledgement that its 5.56x45mmINSAS rifle (no relation to the aforementioned program) simply wasn’t working. The Indian Army’s 2016 requirement is one of the clearest signs, yet, that the end of the “intermediate cartridge” ballistic dead-end is near, as the Army requirement acknowledged the need for a “full-power” (in this case, the venerable 7.62x51mm) cartridge for frontline service.
As a result, the Indian Army inked deals to both purchase and manufacture the AK-203 rifle in 7.62x39mm (a total of 670,000 – 70,000 directly from Russia, with the remainder to be manufactured under license) in Uttar Pradesh, while also purchasing slightly modified SIG Sauer 716 G2 Patrol rifles in 7.62mmNATO for more specialized units. Simultaneously, a deal for over 16,000 Israeli-madeNG-7 ‘Negev’ Light Machine Guns – also in 7.62x51mm NATO – was let in 2019, with the first batch of 6,000 arriving in India in early 2021.
While arguments can certainly be made over some of the choices made in the Army’s reequipping strategy, real armies always strive to stay out on the edge of technological development, while also keeping hold of tools and doctrines that have been proven to work, before adopting newer – but untested – concepts. Truly professional forces are able to acknowledge when they have taken a wrong turn, and move forward to fix the issue…That’s a lesson the US military would benefit from remembering.
Army Air
One of the challenges for the Army is its somewhat limited organic aircraft and helicopter assets. As it took the common page from other modern forces, India from the beginning separated its air forces from its ground forces. And, also like many modern armies, the result has been very spotty application of close air support (CAS) to the ground forces. Like all air forces, the Indian Air Force tries, but it is hampered in its efforts by both budgetary constraints and the associated need to focus on that service’s core missions. India is not alone in this issue; the US military discovered the problems inherent in this type of division with its own “Key West Agreement” in 1948, a confused decision that would cause delays and confusions that would impact combat operations well into the 1970’s.
Mi-35 Hind helicopter, Kandahar, Afghanistan, 2009 – US Air Force photo
Arjun Mk II MBT, live demonstration, 2016 – photo by Indian Navy
On the brighter side, the Arjun Mk IIMBT has finally matured. After a rough start to its development cycle, and serious problems in its earlier version, as well as major cost overruns and an epically long (37 years, to be exact) development cycle, the Arjun has matured into a frontline weapon that is in the top tier of combat vehicles. The only real hurdle to its full-scale deployment, as with virtually every army, is money. On the other hand, its deployment, while slow, has finally allowed India to retire its 1940’s-era T-55’s. At the same time, the Defense Ministry settled on a modernizaton and upgrade program for its Soviet-era T-72’s and T-90’s, the better to avoid too unevenly improving systems.
Pinaka MBRL’s on parade, 2011
India’s burgeoning economy, however, has allowed plans to significantly modernize its artillery park to move forward with speed. Systems like the Dhanush howitzer, developed to replace the Haubits FH77/B units acquired from Sweden in the 1980’s; the excellent M1954 (M-46) 155mm model, as upgraded by Soltam, of one of the best artillery pieces ever built, with a maximum unassisted range of 27km/16.77mi, and an assisted range of 38km/23.61mi; rounding off the new purchases is the indiginously developed, truck-mounted Pinaka multiple rocket launcher (similar to the US ‘HIMARS‘), designed to replace the BM-21’s and ‘Smerch’ 9K58’s acquired from the Soviet Union. Something DRDO may want to look at is the EVO-105, which the Freedomist recently reviewed.
A serious problem, however, is in India’s IFV park. The ‘Abhay’ (Sanskrit: अभय, “Fearless”) IFV is still in “development hell” (although the incorporation of the 40mm Bofors L/70 gun is an inspired choice for a main weapon of this type). While DRDO has informed Russia that they intend to pursue an Indian IFV, rather than purchase the BMP-3, the Indian Army is stuck, in the meanwhile, with the abysmal BMP-2. The BMP series, generally speaking, has a well-deserved reputation as the worst of the IFV field: its limited range, cramped compartments, horrible ride and poor armor are legendary…well, perhaps “notorious” is a better term. Armor – as has been decisively proven – cannot operate without infantry support, and infantry need something more than a “battle taxi”, as good as the M113 might be. The original models of the US Marine Corps’LAV-series is another off-the shelf option that would be far superior to the BMP-series.
Combat Support
Ashok Leyland Stallion 4×4’s of the Indian Army, Himalaya region, 2010
India’s motorized military support is firmly anchored on three vehicles: the Ashok Leyland Stallion Mk III & IV, the Maruti Gypsy, and the Tatra 815, although the Tatra 815 is slowly being replaced by newer vehicles. These are all solid, highly capable vehicles, supplemented by smaller numbers of more specialized frames, easily the equal of other nation’s vehicle parks in capacity and reliablity.
As well, mine protected vehicles such as the venerable and battle-tested South AfricanCasspir and the domestically-produced Aditya are entering the vehicle pools in increasing numbers, in ackowledgement of the growing threat of IEDs.
Strategic Forces
India, as is well-known, maintains a nuclear arsenal and an ongoing development plan. This arsenal is currently estimated at between 150 and 300 devices. Currently, the known weapons available to be deployed are the short-range Prithvi-I and the intermediate-range Agni-III, with longer-range land-based weapons and MIRVs under development. The K-15 SagarikaSLBM, now operational, is now deployed aboard the INS Arihant…and awaiting sister ships.
Country’s first under-water- launched Missile B05 (Sagarika) was successfully flight tested from Bay of Bengal off the coast of Visakhapatnam.
This developmental pace is surprising only to people who lack a grounding on India’s regional security situation. A nuclear deterrent is definitely something taken seriously by the People’s Republic of China. But the main focus is India’s long-time enemy, Pakistan. While the nuclear program was originally more of a prestige program than an operational imperative, increasing instability in the Muslim world, coupled to both Pakistan and Iran’snuclear programs, as well as both 9/11 and the 2008 Mumbai attack have transformed the nuclear program into a real and pressing project: India has serious reasons to maintain a nuclear arsenal…which is a very serious range issues that need to be solved, lest they get out of hand.
Tactically, however, the main question is the true state of the Indian military’s nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) program for allowing individual troops to operate in such environments.
Conclusion
The Indian Army is a highly capable, well-disciplined and professional force, with a very long, and honored history. It has repeatedly demonstrated that it is capable of both making hard decisions, as well as admitting its errors, at least to a greater extent than many other top-tier forces. If the Indian Army has any weaknesses, they lay in procurement, which is something the force does not have full control over, although a critical need for a real airmobile component is its worst issue; there are very cogent reasons why virtually all modern militaries have abandoned parachute infantry as primary “first in” forces, in favor of heliborne formations.
The Army well understands that it needs to modernize its forces – too long tied into less-than-capable (to be polite), Soviet-era systems – a task made significantly easier by the increasingly close relationship to Western militaries, militaries that recognize the danger of an unstable, nuclear-armed Pakistan, as well as an increasingly bellicose China.
Armies exist to buy time through intimidation, for political leaders to avoid conflict. But those forces, for their intimidation strategies to work, must be capable of actually following through on their promise of ability.
Ultimately, the Indian Army succeeds in this quite admirably.
The goal of this column is to present news from around the world that is not often – if ever – covered by more mainstream entities, using local sources wherever possible, but occasionally using news aggregators not used, again, by the mainstream media. Also, please note that we do use links to Wikipedia; while Wikipedia is well-known as a largely-useless site for any kind of serious research, it does serve as a launch-pad for further inquiry, in addition to being generally free of malicious ads. As with anything from Wikipedia, always verify their sources before making any conclusions based on their pages.
This column will cover the preceding week of news.
To make it easier for readers to follow story source links: anytime you see a bracketed number marked in green – [1] – those are the source links relating to that story.
North America
The ongoing “Strategy of Tension” continued across the United States this week, with a continuing wave of hoax bomb threats being called in to various locations, primarily colleges and technical schools; curiously, several nursing schools were also on the call roster. As noted previously, many of the source links below refer to multiple calls and threats being made to schools in a given area. [1]-[13] In a few cases, actual devices were discovered, and in two cases, arrests were made. [14]-[16]
One interesting aspect of the devices being recovered, is that few, if any of them, were actually triggered. It remains to be seen, if this is a deliberate tactic, or if it is simply poor assembly.
In Nigeria, terrorist and bandit violence continues, as the wave of ambushes, kidnappings, targeted murders, skirmishing and violence continue, seemingly without respite.
In Somalia, heavy fighting was reported in a the villages of Yeed, Aato and Washaaqo along the country’s ill-defined border with Ethiopia. Reports – as usual in the area – remain sketchy, but it appears that Al-Shabaab fighters attacked detachments of Ethiopian regional police operating in that area of Somalia by agreement with Somali authorities, striking directly at the towns of Yeed and Aato, while also launching what appears to be “spoiling attack” on Washaaqo, to pin possible reinforcements.
As in Nigeria, scattered fighting continued apace throughout the Middle East, this week. Turkish forces inside Syriaand Iraq continued to launch drone and artillery strikes on essentially any armed force that is not Turkish. [1]-[3] Further south, in Iraq, several Iraqi troops have been killed in skirmishes with remnant Islamic State terrorists. [4]
In Afghanistan, a local-area Taliban commander was reportedly killed near the city of Kunduz, by unknown gunmen. This comes as a recent UN report concluded that IS-Khorasan and other groups are gaining ground in securing footholds in Afghanistan, as the Taliban’s hold on the country is increasingly shaky. This has the potential to return the world to the situation as it stood in 2001, with Afghanistan becoming a base-area, yet again, for terrorists from around the world.
In Pakistan, scattered attacks were reported, including a bombing of a girls’ school in the port of Gwadar, and a grenade attack on Frontier Corps (FC) police, that wounded a total of four people, including an FC officer.
In India, aside from the long-running violence in Jammu & Kashmir [1]-[6], the only issues of note were a hoax bomb threat against a private school and a bomb attack that injured one woman, being blamed on Naxalite activity. [7][8]
Finally, reports from Myanmar are emerging that the ethnic Arakan Army group has claimed to have killed several government soldiers and captured as many as thirteen more, including at least one officer. Myanmar, ruled by a military juntasince 2021, has seen an increasing number of rebels actively attacking its forces since it’s seizure of power.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th of 2022, the Ukrainian military has struggled to hold on against enormous pressure. While there have been successes against the surprisingly anemic Russian juggernaut, the fact is that the conflict has seen the return of massed artillery fires, at a scale and intensity not seen since at least the 1990-1991 Gulf War.
Derelict Tank in badly shelled mud area, Europe, 1917.
Artillery, in its many forms, has been a major component of armies since at least the 15th Century. Artillery can cause heavy damage to both attacking forces in an open field, but can also hammer fortifications into a moonscape, if allowed to.
French Caesar self-propelled howitzer fires into the Middle Euphrates River Valley.
Like many armies, Ukraine had allowed its artillery establishment to atrophy – despite armies depending on massed artillery for centuries – and it now finds itself desperately scrambling to replace damaged and lost artillery pieces, and scrape together more ammunition. This has seen the first mass deployments for systems such as the French ‘CAESAR‘ 155mm self-propelled howitzer, the M777155mm towed howitzer and the M142 HIMARS Multiple-Launch Rocket System, among others, all supplied by NATO states trying to shore up Ukraine’s defenses.
But none of these weapons – nor their ammunition – are arriving in the quantities Ukraine needs. There may be at least a partial solution to Ukraine’s problem, however:
The EVO-105, now designated the K105HT.
Improved K105HT during firing drill. Undated photo.
The EVO-105/K105HT uses an assembly of long-proven systems to make a lightweight, self-propelled artillery piece. While originally produced as a cost-saving idea to get the maximum utilization out of old artillery, the basic design could easily be adapted to artillery similar to the M101-series, such as the L118, or the M119. Although having a significantly shorter range than larger-caliber weapons (a maximum of 17.5km (10.9 mi), or 19.5km (12.1 mi) with RAP (Rocket-Assisted Projectiles)), the K105HT is much faster to “shoot-n-scoot“, firing one or two rounds, then rapidly moving to a new firing location, and can do this faster than most other similar systems.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but other states and other forces can take the artillery issue as a lesson from Ukraine’s failure to maintain a well-rounded defense establishment.
Artillery matters. Victory also matters – and artillery wins more wars than gory pictures do.
The goal of this column is to present news from around the world that is not often – if ever – covered by more mainstream entities, using local sources wherever possible, but occasionally using news aggregators not used, again, by the mainstream media. Also, please note that we do use links to Wikipedia; while Wikipedia is well-known as a largely-useless site for any kind of serious research, it does serve as a launch-pad for further inquiry, in addition to being generally free of malicious ads. As with anything from Wikipedia, always verify their sources before making any conclusions based on their pages.
This column will cover the preceding week of news.
To make it easier for readers to follow story source links: anytime you see a bracketed number marked in green – [1] – those are the source links relating to that story.
North America, Central America & the Caribbean
United States
The “Strategy of Tension” continued in the United States this week, with what can only be described as a “swarm attack“, hoax bomb threats were called in to dozens of locations around the country, again primarily to college campuses (including as far out as Hawaii, and another in Canada), but also to businesses and public buildings, repeatedly overloading emergency services in the impacted areas. The focus of the ‘swarming’ this week was the State of Florida – although smaller swarms occurred in Ohio, New Jersey and Virginia – as opposed to the states of Texas and Louisiana, last week. And, also as with last week’s reporting, although there are 21 news links, these represent as many as a dozen additional hoax threats, as some stories report on multiple threats. [1]-[21]
Additionally, an increasing number of actual explosive devices are being disarmed and recovered by police and military bomb-disposal teams, throughout the nation, including three actual explosive devices found in Calaveras County, CA this week, alone. [1]-[3]
In Haiti, reports from the global medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (“Doctor’s Without Borders”) are coming out that thousands of residents in the capital of Port-au-Prince’s notorious Cité Soleil slum have been cut off from food, water and medical aid, as rival gangs – some reportedly allied to various factions within the police and military – battle each other in what is rapidly spiraling into a war-zone/collapse scenario. The protests had begun in May of 2022, over a lack of fuel for generators, as Haiti’s electrical grid has never recovered, following a series of massive earthquakes over the last twelve years, due to endemic instability and corruption in the tropical nation, that included the assassination of the country’s President, Jovenel Moïse in July of 2021.
In Mexico, the long-running drug war continues, as police recovered remains – many beheaded – of drug cartel victims across the country. [1][2] This, as police in Mexico City rescued two kidnap victims being held for ransom, in a furious shootout with cartel members armed with automatic weapons, including a belt-fed machine gun, that freed the victims and resulted 14 arrests, although four officers were wounded in the shootout. [3]
Meanwhile, in the state of Sinaloa, on the country’s Pacific coast, police and military forces conducted a joint operation that resulted in the arrest of Rafael Caro Quintero, co-founder the Guadalajara cartel. Although the 69-year old was found hiding in the bushes by a tracker dog named “Max“, tragically, a Blackhawk helicopter of the Mexican Navy crashed during the operations, killing 14 of the 15 occupants, leaving the survivor in serious condition. Quintero remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for the 1985 kidnapping, torture and killing of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, after he escaped custody following a botched court hearing in 2013 that attempted to free him after 28 years in prison on a technicality, but which was dismissed by Mexico’s high court…but not before Quintero was spirited away. [4][5]
In Brazil, authorities responded to a suspicious package discovered following a threatening call to the Russian Embassy in the capitol of Brasilia on the 14th. Authorities isolated the package, then removed it to a secure location and detonated it safely. Examinations of contents and the investigation into the incident continue at press time.
In England, the passport office in Newport, Wales was evacuated after a suspicious package was received that contained a white powder. The building was sealed off, and staff were medically examined. The powder was determined to be non-toxic, and the facility reopened later in the day. [1]
In Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands, several town council members and administrative staff were evacuated following what police termed a “credible bomb threat“. A police investigation discovered no devices, nor suspicious persons, despite an earlier report of a man with a bomb. Investigations continue. [2]
Finally, in Moldavia, the Chisinau International Airport – Moldova’s main international air transit facility – was temporarily closed following an emailed bomb threat against the airport. operations resumed after some three hours, while security checked the airport buildings, but no devices were found. Chisinau International has been the target of several hoax bomb attacks in the previous weeks.[3]
Once more, fighting in Nigeria dominates the African news scene, as repeated violence continues around the country. Gunmen, variously reported as either “bandits” or as “terrorists“, have continued a vicious campaign of bombings, kidnappings, assassinations of state-level politicians and random murders, design to incite fear among the population, even as police try to increase security for targets deemed most at risk, specifically schools and churches. [1]-[12]
In somewhat better news, relatively speaking, Nigerian troops in the northern state of Borno, reacted swiftly to reports of Boko Haram terrorists blocking roads in the state, and kidnapping people. The troops reacted, and drove the terrorists off, reportedly killing at least ten. [13]
Across the border, in Cameroon, Boko Haram reportedly killed two civilians in an attack on a village in the country’s far north, as the government sought to tighten internal security after a bomb blast rocked a crowded market in the nation’s capital. Although no injuries were reported, this is the second such attack in as many weeks.
In Benoni, South Africa, police arrested a “Mozambican man” on charges of possessing explosives on the 13th, as attacks by Islamist insurgents continue to increase in number and violence, even as the Mozambican government insists that it is winning its war with Muslim insurgents that has been raging since 2017. [1]-[4] This is in stark contrast to the assessment of veteran defense journalist John Stupart, Director, African Defense Review, who points out that the current situation is, if anything, worse than it was a year ago. [5]
The ever-shaky ceasefire in Yemen may be about to collapse completely, as a sudden burst of attacks this week threaten to renew fighting on a large scale. Yemen has been trapped in the throes of a civil war since 2014, part of the wider Iran-Saudi Arabia Proxy War.
In Syria and Iraq, scattered skirmishing and assassinations continued this week, as the US State Department warned that the situation in the region would worsen, even including a possible Islamic State “resurgence”, if non-Syrian/non-Iraqi foreign fighters for IS were not returned to their home nations. [1]-[6]
In Afghanistan, Taliban forces clashed with Iranian border guards, as scattered fighting destroyed infrastructure and killed dozens, including religious scholar Sheikh Sardar Wali Saqib. Elsewhere, the increasingly unstable Taliban are beginning to fight amongst themselves, as internal skirmishing killed several, and the Taliban began arresting their own officers because of “internal disputes”. [1]-[6]
In Pakistan, Balochi militants of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) murdered kidnapped Army officerLieutenant-ColonelLaeeq Baig Mirza, as a rescue team closed on the insurgent’s position. The team managed to kill two of the terrorists, but the remainder escaped. LtCol Mirza was kidnapped on the 12th by the militant group. Balochis have been fighting for their independence from Pakistan and Iran off and on since 1948. [1][2]
Elsewhere, Pakistani forces killed a reported dozen terrorists in various operations, with one soldier being killed. [3][4]
Wall relief at Medinet Habu depicting Ramses III defeating the Sea Peoples in the Battle of the (Nile) Delta, c.1200-1150BC
Warfare at sea has been recorded for at least three thousand years, but fighting on the ocean almost certainly occurred long before Ramses fought his desperate battle. As on land, there are a dizzying array of reasons why a nation may fight on the water. However, the challenges of fighting at sea are vastly more complex and expensive than fighting on land, or even in the air. Only the concept of space-based warfare is more expensive.
The crew of the merchant vessel MV Faina stand on the deck after a U.S. Navy request to check on their health and welfare, 9 November 2008. Some of their Somali pirate captors stand above them. US Navy photo.
Like land warfare, naval warfare has tenets and goals. Those are, however, vastly different from those of land warfare. Central to that concept, is the definition of a “warship“. While people usually have some idea of what a “warship” is, that definition is usually shaped by modern entertainment media. A warship, at its core, has two defining characteristics: it is simultaneously, any water vessel that is armed – whether that ship is a bass boat or a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier – and conveys the perception of being under the control of a crew that adheres to both military discipline and a “legal” higher authority. This last, is what separates “pirate ships” from “naval vessels”.
Broadly speaking, there are three basic kinds of naval forces. Sometimes, there may be aircraft of various type associated to each force; there may be marines/’naval infantry’ (ground troops attached to the naval force) and there may be some form of “special operations forces” as well. The three basic types of forces we will briefly examine here are categorized as “blue water“, “green water“, and “brown water“.
First, however, we need to address the two basic schools of thought, regarding naval warfare.
Mahan’s central theory argued that control of the sea was vital to a nation’s greatness, and that a navy’s main focus should be on controlling the seas by destroying an enemy nation’s main fleet at the earliest stage of war possible, instead of worrying about a more nuanced approach.
German Imperial High Seas Fleet at sea as at the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916.
The naval aspect of World War 1 was inconclusive as to whether Mahan’s theory was correct or not, as there were few fleet actions, and those few were inconclusive draws. However, Mahan formed the basis of both Imperial Japan’s, and the United States’ naval doctrine in World War 2. For the Japanese, Mahan formed the core of their doctrine against Imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, resulting in the decisive fleet action at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.
Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō on the bridge of the Battleship Mikasa during the Battle of Tsushima, 27–28 May 1905.
Murderer’s Row: U.S. Third Fleet aircraft carriers at anchor in Ulithi Atoll, 8 December 1944. US Navy photo.
However, Mahan’s theories were not foolproof. In fact, they masked serious problems.
Sir Julian Corbett came to naval strategy as a civilian, in mid-life. Already a well-regarded historian, Corbett made friends in the Royal Navy with his more limited and nuanced approach to naval strategy, which offered a more realistic application of naval power projection that suited Britain’s needs as an Imperial power, even in its waning days. While agreeing with Mahan about the importance of sea power to a nation, Corbett took a completely opposite view of how to maintain this, arguing that control of the sea did not necessarily have to depend on smashing the main enemy fleet. He went further, arguing that “control of the seas” could be maintained if the fleet could ensure the security of the nation’s maritime commerce while inhibiting, if not outright halting, that of the enemy. German Grand Admiral and Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval OfficeAlfred von Tirpitz, dismissed any sort of “commerce raiding” naval strategy (Corbett’s main view, in its most basic form) during World War 1, opting to do his best to use Mahan’s theories against Britain.
By 1945, it was clear that Corbett was the more correct of the two theorists.
Very briefly, a nation’s “fleet” is the total number of warships it has in current service, along with such vessels it might have “in reserve“, which can be quickly brought into service. For some time, during the late-19th Century, there was an idea that a nation’s “fleet” consisted of all of its major ships, operating en masse, in accordance with Mahanian principles.
The United Kingdom largely attempted to adopt this strategy, keeping the bulk of its main battle fleet massed in British home waters, while dispersing a mush smaller portion of its fleet to stations around the world. The United States, however, faced the harsh reality that due to its geography, it would be forced to split its fleet in any major conflict involving a war in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This was proven true in 1941, as the USN was forced to fight in both oceans, simultaneously.
Physical map of the World, from CIA The World Factbook in 2021.
What everyone generally thinks of when hearing the word “navy”, blue water forces focus on three basic missions: projecting national power well beyond the shores of the home nation, defeating enemy fleets, and “maintaining the SLOC.”
Two US cargo ships docked at Bombay Harbor, 1948
The ‘SLOC‘, or ‘Sea Lines Of Communication‘, are the maritime conduits through which food,
World War II U-boats of Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine following their surrender at Lisahally, near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK in May 1945. Public Domain
fuel, raw materials and finished goods flow. Very few countries are truly self-sufficient, and a nation under attack has a desperate and immediate need to keep the sea open to merchant vessels funneling supplies to them. It was for this reason that winning the Battle of the Atlantic was so vital to the Allied war effort, because losing it would have forced Britain to surrender; world history would have been fundamentally different had that occurred.
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805), by Clarkson Frederick Stanfield, 1936
Russian Black sea Fleet conducting an amphibious landing exercise, near Crimea, Ukraine, 2012
While there have been very few naval battles, as such, in the modern era (and haven’t been since the end of the Napoleonic Period), projecting power is still necessary, as was recently demonstrated by the international anti-piracy patrol off the Horn of Africa, and most famously, by the frequent deployments of the US Navy throughout the world — parking a carrier battle group – containing more fighting power on its own, than the total combat power of most national armed forces…before adding the potential of several thousand US Marines to the mix – off the coast of a restive country is a serious statement, sufficient to give all but the most delusional leader and their supporters serious pause.
While the USN is the only navy currently capable of doing this on any large scale, other countries such as Britain, France and India can deploy smaller but still very powerful forces to trouble spots, actual and potential. The Chinese “People’s Liberation Army Navy“, while large, is not well-practiced in “expeditionary operations“, as yet, and – despite certain breathless reporting – has yet to demonstrate more than a rudimentary capability.
Amphibious assault vehicles from the forward-deployed amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) land on the beach during Exercise Cobra Gold 2012.
However, while some seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, the remaining thirty percent is land. This may seem like a throwaway statement, but according to the United Nations, an estimated 60% of the Earth’s population live within 100km (62 miles) of an ocean coastline…it is for this very reason, that the United States maintains the largest “naval infantry” force in the world. While marine units are certainly capable (or should be) of seizing a section of hostile shore or a port area, their primary function is to hold that space just long enough for reinforcments to be landed, or some other limited mission completed. This is because – in a similar manner to airborne forces – most naval landing forces (short of a massive assault landing, such as D-Day or Okinawa) are very light in combat power, relying far more on confusion, fear and intimidation…which only works for a short time.
Green Water operations – taking their name from the shift in color from the deep blue of the open ocean to the “sea green” of coastal regions – primarily involve either getting troops ashore (“over the beach“), or finding and suppressing coastal anti-ship defenses, whether troops are going to be landed or not. It is here, that most naval mines are laid, to restrict access to vital coastal regions. This is also where most “coast guards” operate, whether under wartime missions, or during peacetime, conducting customs and safety inspections, police functions, and the occasional search and rescue operation.
In general, green water fleets are small in total hull numbers, as well as overall tonnage, but their functions are, comparatively, much more complex than those of blue water fleets. However, because the ships are orders of magnitude less expensive – at least, for the strictly defensive functions – this is what most navies in the world are composed of.
Humankind’s first water forces were riverine – they operated on those rivers deep enough to take hulls carrying significant numbers of occupants. In a word, those ships were able to carry enough people to both operate the boat, and fight from it.
Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC) demonstrate the new Special Operations Craft-Riverine (SOC-R) while training at the Stennis Space Center. U.S. Navy photo
Riverine warfare involves the control of waterways away from the ocean shore. Any waterway – natural or man-made – that can be used as a highway to transport people and goods, is a vital conduit for a nation. Good examples are major rivers, such as the Mississippi, the Rhine, the Amazon, the Nile and the Mekong; the list can continue, running into several pages.
Members of U.S. Navy Seal Team One move down the Bassac River in a Seal Team Assault Boat (STAB) during operations along the river south of Saigon, November 1967.
Ships operating in rivers and delta’s are almost always significantly different in design from their sea-going cousins, but are no less deadly. It is here, where many countries first “dip their toes“, so to speak, in nautical operations. Speeds in rivers and estuaries are generally slower, as is the draft the ships must deal with.
A U.S. riverboat (Zippo monitor) deploying napalm during the Vietnam War
The vessels used in riverine operations can range from shallow-draft, high-speed boats – including small high-speed craft, with a machine gun mount bolted on – to large-scale, heavily-armed, river monitors. These ships are capable of both direct fire as well as indirect fire support missions, forcing enemies ashore to consider their distance to waterways, as well as roads.
Naval Special Forces
Russian commando frogman of the Caspian Flotilla during exercises
Above, we briefly touched on marines/naval infantry. Here, even more briefly, we will touch on naval special operations forces.
The idea of non-marine special operations forces, while not new, has never before reached a level comparable to that of today. This is largely driven by technology, but parochialism also plays a role.
US Navy Seals securing the beach. (Promotional image)
SEAL team member moves through deep mud in South Vietnam, May 1970. US Navy photo.
Like all special operations forces, however, these forces are difficult to employ to their full potential. Their training – of necessity, long and arduous…and expensive – means that they are extremely susceptible to poorly-thought out missions. The numbers of politicians capable of understanding how and when special forces in generally – and naval special forces in particular – should be deployed, is thin indeed.
Conclusion
Naval forces are generally the most expensive sector of a nation’s armed forces. Purpose-built warships represent a very significant investment for any nation, even (perhaps especially) the United States. It is also easy to forget, amid a slew of video games where real people do not die, that even the smallest modern destroyer carries a crew of well over one hundred people…and potentially a crew of thousands.
Anyone talking about naval policy needs to keep that foremost in their minds.
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