News, Articles and Comment

Ed. If a cyber-attack paralyses a dockyard or a disrupted supply chain prevents a critical repair, the resulting loss of fleet availability constitutes a military defeat achieved by civilian means. The era of the homeland as a sanctuary is over. This article, by the NR’s Chairman, challenges the unhurried pace of current government resilience planning, arguing that the Royal Navy must adopt a National Support Base mindset and apply the same rigorous, FOST-style testing to its civilian dependencies as to its warships. A 20 minute read.

Ed. Today, with the US-led post-1945 financial order under strain, the author points to the re-arming of like-minded middle powers as a path forward. A 10 minute read.

Ed. The author makes the case for Russian language learning in the RN, citing 20^th century precedent and 21^st century expediency. A 10 minute read.

Ed. Members who have read today’s Times or Daily Telegraph will have seen that the First Sea Lord made an important speech on the relevance of the Atlantic to the defence of the United Kingdom. That speech in full is available for members to read here.

Ed. The independent researcher provides a unique and comprehensive, based on open-source intelligence and source-audited, order of battle and assessment of deployability for the Russian Submarine Service. Now available in the NR‘s Briefing Room.

Ed. The author’s investigation into the history of maritime strait multilateralism, a pertinent example of the ad hoc nature of sea control resulting from a rules-based vacuum, and the alternatives available to regional powers. A 25 minute read.

Ed. The author’s call for resilience with respect to coastal navigation support. Hormuz has shown the vulnerability but there are other emerging challenges to chokepoints like our own Dover Strait. First published in The House Magazine, May 2026. A 5 minute read.

Ed. The Naval Staff Research author argues that the post-Cold War ‘peace dividend’ era has come to an end, necessitating a total reconsideration of defence policy and warfighting doctrine. A 10 minute read.

Ed. This article argues that although the Ukraine War has degraded Russian conventional forces, Moscow’s hybrid and grey zone warfare capability remains a persistent and growing national security concern. A 15 minute read.