News, Articles and Comment

Ed. With the Royal Navy declaredly pushing towards a ‘Hybrid’ fleet utilising several classes of complex ‘ship-like’ uncrewed vessels, the author, Associate Professor of International Security and Strategy at the University of Exeter, identifies key limitations of such autonomous naval systems and proposes that a lean-crewed model may instead offer distinctive advantages. A 25 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers the latest edition of Geoffrey Till’s Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century.

Ed. This article follows Arthur Nicholson’s ‘Some thoughts on that Battle off Malaya’ [113/2, p. 287], focusing on the contemporary controversies surrounding the salvage of HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse: The last resting places for 842 sailors are still not at peace. With an Afterword by Professor Steven Haines. A 20 minute read.

Ed. RN Coastal Forces have been of historic importance throughout the 20^th century. The authors place the CFHT into its historical context and address where it currently stands today. A 10 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers the eagerly awaited and significant concluding volume of Professor N. A. M. Rodger’s trilogy on British naval history: The Price of Victory.

Ed. The author continues his Cassandra call for counter-intuitive solutions targeting RN hull number shortages amidst perilous fiscal conditions. A 15 minute read.

Ed. Many leading Arctic nations are engaging programmes to build more icebreakers or to otherwise modernise or refit their icebreaking capability. China is an emerging polar nation with icebreakers and an overall presence in the Arctic only set to increase – and perhaps to overtake existing Russian Arctic dominance. A 20 minute read.

Ed. Employing Ken Booth’s model of naval functions as a lens, and with the Russian Federation Navy in his sights, the author argues that modern navies offer policy-makers unique options and variable scaling when addressing regional challenges and crises. A 10 minute read.

Ed. Extreme weather events and climate change have increased the stakes for regional engagement in the South Pacific, with China and the US vying for strategic influence. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) will need renewed investment to continue tackling climate emergencies. A 35 minute read.