On April 3, the 20th anti-piracy flotilla of the People’s Liberation Army Navy got underway for operations off the Horn of Africa. Since the arrival off Somalia of the first Chinese anti-piracy flotilla in January 2009, approximately three flotillas have successively served annually in that region. Simple data compiled from open sources on the deployments of … Continue reading China’s Anti-Piracy Flotillas: By the Numbers
By Ian Sundstrom As part of a broader project of land reclamation, beginning in November China started efforts to develop Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. As of late November the reef had been built up to 3,000 meters long and between two and three hundred wide. This makes it large enough, in the … Continue reading Another Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier
The call for more German engagement in international security is not misguided. There are core interests to protect between Gibraltar and East Asia. As politics by other means, this includes showing the flag East of Suez. Maritime Core Interests Recently, James Rogers argued that European geostrategy in the Indo-Pacific is not European, but rather only … Continue reading Germany Needs a Permanent Naval Presence in the Indian Ocean
What do kids do when they get new set of Legos? Immediately start construction. Maybe in the beginning they will follow the assembly instructions, but soon discipline breaks and creativity wins. LCS, thanks its modularity, resembles a Lego set in some respects. As Christopher Cavas noted on Information Dissemination: Will some of the mission equipment … Continue reading Lego Combat Ship
