By Alex Clarke
Wowzer, it is not just another historically informed maritime current events podcast from the Bilge Pumps crew, it is a bumper double feature with the one, the only, Commodore Michael Clapp, RN (Ret.), commander of the 1982 Falklands War Amphibious Task Group, joining your regular Bilge Pumps crew for a discussion on the future of amphibious shipping. So this time instead of it just being your regular three naval geeks of yore – we are four!
So what is episode nine all about? Well, primarily, it is the future of amphibious warfare, but not as it is often told. This time, it is from the perspective of the ships, and the reality of experience and historical precedent as a guide for them. They can be guided not necessarily on how they will do it, but what they will need to do.
#Bilgepumps can still call itself a new series and new avenue, yet this is even newer, because this is our first guest episode. We hope you like it, we hope you find it useful and, more than ever, we would love any comments, topic suggestions or ideas for artwork to be tweeted to us, the Bilgepump crew (with #Bilgepump) at Alex (@AC_NavalHistory), Drach (@Drachinifel), and Jamie (@Armouredcarrier). Or you can comment on our Youtube channels (listed down below).
Download Bilge Pumps 9, Part One
Download Bilge Pumps 9, Part Two
Links
3. Jamie’s Youtube Channel Armoured Carriers
4. U.S: Paul Fraioli, “The Future of Amphibious Operations,” IISS, January 2020.
5. U.K.: Future Navy Vision: The Royal Navy Today, Tomorrow, and Towards 2025 , Royal Navy, 2020.
6. China: Minnie Chang, “China Building Navy’s Biggest Amphibious Assault Vessel, Sources Say, South China Morning Post, March 29, 2017.
7. Russia: “Russian MoD Signs Contract for Two Project 23900 Helicopter Carriers LHD,” Navy Recognition, May 27, 2020.
8. Australia: Parliament of Australia, Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Defence Annual Report 2003 .
9. Future of Amphibious Warfare in General: Michael O’Hanlon, “The Questionable Future of Amphibious Warfare,” Brookings Institution, June 23, 2020 .
Alex Clarke is the producer of The Bilge Pumps podcast.
Contact the CIMSEC podcast team at Seacontrol@cimsec.org.