News, Articles and Comment

Ed. Our correspondent reflects on the development of the Type 45’s shipborne air defence as a hull form problem.

Ed. The author reviews the defence and foreign policy background of Operation FORTIS, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s 2021 Indo-Pacific deployment, considering the operation a watershed in post-Cold War British foreign policy. A 10 minute read.

Ed. A warm welcome to 2026! What a year, already, which may bring a new world order. The Chairman has outlined the current global challenges, but the current pace of events is such that with a turnaround time of three weeks for the hardcopy there may well be more. As we stand away from the map as far as it is possible, one can see and feel the paradigm shift of global reality underway, probably the biggest and most significant movement in over 100 years.

Ed. The author critiques senior leadership reform in the Royal Navy, demonstrating a chain of unresolved logic, cognitive dissonance, and moral hazards that can arise when cultural diagnosis stops short of self-accountability. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The expert author continues his ongoing survey [113/1, p. 61] of the Ukraine War, providing updates on the conflict’s military, economic, and geopolitical developments, with the resulting implications for the Royal Navy. A 30 minute read.

Ed. The author’s self-examination of an equipment incident at sea, with important lessons for the present. A 10 minute read.

Ed. The author considers the past century of technological innovation in the USN, its impact on the Service’s officer corps and naval leadership, and proposes several possible outcomes with regard to AI integration. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, December edition. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The author considers the lessons of the late-19^th century Jeune École, a historical cautionary tale reflective of the introduction of naval drone warfare. A 10 minute read.

Ed. The author, an RNSSC 1SL Fellow, continues his ‘liminal advantage’ series [111/4, p. 40], with due regard to the imaginative demands of leadership in the maritime domain. A 30 minute read.