News, Articles and Comment

Ed. Two letters addressing the Allied and coalition implications for current and long-term RN transformation.

Ed. The author, a retired RN warfare officer, argues for sub-strategic Trident as a prudent escalation measure. A 10 minute read.

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. 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. 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.

Ed. The author’s straightforward study of naval strategy in the Great War, comparing British, US and German approaches. In the final analysis, quantity produced a quality all of its own. A 15 minute read.

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers an edited volume, featuring an eminent selection of contributors, examining the development of maritime strategy from the 17th century through to the present.

Ed. Britain’s maritime rise and fall holds urgent lessons for a United States losing ground to China at sea and in the shipyard. Originally published in the USNI’s Proceedings, August 2026. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The vast population of this ‘sceptred isle’ is ‘sea blind’ or, if you prefer, ‘maritime illiterate’. We should acknowledge this as the steady state and the only thing that could change one’s appreciation would be total war.