Naval Operations Research Articles

Bernard Bailyn on the Craft and Art of Historical Writing

Bernard Bailyn on the Craft and Art of Historical Writing

Analyzing risks in Naval Operations: The case of visit, board, search and seizure operations in the Côte D’Ivoire Navy

Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations, which are the preferred modus operandi to deliver law enforcement at sea, have always been, and remain, a risky endeavor. Because this type of operation holds a pivotal role in maritime law enforcement, safe execution is vital to protect involved staff and assets. Hence, this paper analyzes risks associated with VBSS operations; its main aim is to improve the overall level of safety and bring the identified risks under control, by developing associated mitigation measures. First, the risks under discussion were assessed, based on the professional judgment and experience of the naval personnel involved in these operations. Their inputs were introduced in a conceptual framework and the associated results were scored, compared, and benchmarked. It is true that there is an inherent level of risk built in the execution of VBSS operations; although the occurrence of negative incidents/mishaps can be considered marginal for the vast majority of the time, events like these are most often associated with serious consequences. The results of this research effort acknowledged that risk management practices can be useful and have variable performance in bringing risks to as low as reasonably practicable. In this aspect, risk mitigation can be more effective by implementing a systems approach of physical and administrative barriers with four distinct pillars: “Training”, “Equipment”, “Organizational Culture”, and “Procedures”. Highlights Research bridges the gap of knowledge in studies on risks in a key naval operations Novelty of the conceptual research framework designed by authors which has proven to grasp important aspects of naval operations Research addresses performance factors of naval forces securing the Gulf of Guinea region

Iran’s changing naval strategy in the Persian Gulf: motives and features

ABSTRACT Beginning in 2016 Iran’s naval posture in the Persian Gulf changed from a defensive-offensive strategy, which had been in effect since 2001, to an offensive one. This was reinforced in 2019–2020, when, in response to the Trump administration, Iranian military strategists determined that any potential confrontation with the country’s adversaries is likely to take place at sea rather than on land or in the air. After the end of the Iran–Iraq war, Iran’s naval strategies can be divided into three, each coinciding with different periods: defensive (1988–2001), defensive-offensive (2001–2016) and offensive (since 2016). The intensification of the US military presence in the Persian Gulf and issuing threats against Iran have played a central role Tehran’s adoption of an offensive naval strategy. Features of this new strategy include the development of ballistic and cruise missile programmes; development and deployment of drones in naval manoeuvres; the use of air defence in supporting naval operations; deepening Iran’s military presence in Persian Gulf islands; ensuring the ability to disrupt the flow of energy; conducting naval manoeuvres in collaboration with trans-regional powers and continued use of proxy warfare. Tehran believes the new strategy will help it better prepare for international threats.

Османсько-російське дипломатичне протистояння в період Другої Балканської війни 1913 р.

On the basis of British, German, French, and Russian documents, the origins, course, and consequences of the diplomatic struggle between the Russian and Ottoman empires caused by St. Petersburg’s gross interference in international relations in the Balkans have been studied. It is shown that Russia actively, though unsuccessfully, made enormous diplomatic efforts during the First Balkan War of 1912–1913 to persuade the Bulgarian army to relinquish control of Adrianople, which was under Ottoman control at the time because it viewed Bulgaria as its immediate competitor in the potential struggle for control of Constantinople and the Black Sea straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. After all, the capture of these strategically located Ottoman territories was one of the main directions of Russian policy for several centuries. The article considers how the Russian autocracy, on the contrary, already tried to prevent the return of Adrianople to Ottoman control during the Second Balkan War by seeking allies among European powers, no longer wanting to strengthen the sultan’s position near the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, considering these territories as its potential prey. All the tools of St. Petersburg’s pressure on the Ottoman government were analyzed, including threats to carry out a naval operation in the Black Sea Straits or seize part of Turkey’s Asian possessions, and to urge Russia’s ally France to abandon further lending to the Ottoman Empire. It has been proven that such an inconsistent and rather aggressive Russian policy in the Balkans led to the fact that the Ottoman Empire, like Bulgaria, actively sought allies to resist this encroachment, quickly became closer to Germany, and later entered the First World War on its side. It is noted that looking for partners to resist this Russian expansion, the Ottoman government later cooperated quite successfully with the Ukrainian liberation movement, especially the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine, which was represented in Constantinople, and officially declared support for the liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people against tsarist autocracy. Furthermore, it is emphasized that both Russia’s partners in the Entente (France and Great Britain) and its potential rivals in the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) categorically did not accept Russia’s attempts to expand to Ottoman Constantinople, the Bosporus, the Dardanelles and beyond to the Eastern Mediterranean, as it would radically upset the balance of power in Europe and the Middle East and, in general, destabilize international relations to which the great powers were not yet ready.

The Coordinated Maritime Presences concept and the EU’s naval ambitions in the Indo-Pacific

Since the launch of the first-ever EU naval operation in 2008, the ongoing Operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa, EU naval forces have operated primarily in Europe’s vicinity or in regions in which great-power tensions have been low. Yet, the Union has also begun to seek a naval role for itself in more sensitive regions, namely the Indo-Pacific, via the new Coordinated Maritime Presences concept. This article analyses the EU’s plans to play a more visible naval role in the Indo-Pacific, and argues that the extension of this concept to the region would raise the EU’s level of ambition as a naval actor. However, the EU’s ability to be a meaningful maritime security provider in the Indo-Pacific depends on the EU countries coming closer to seeing eye-to-eye on how the Union should approach China, and on their willingness to send vessels to the Indo-Pacific.

Operational Rule Extraction and Construction Based on Task Scenario Analysis

Changes in the information age have induced the necessity for a more efficient and effective self-decision-making requirement. A method of extracting and constructing naval operations decision-making rules based on scenario analysis is proposed. The template specifications of Event Condition Action (ECA) rules are defined, and a consistency detection method of ECA rules based on SWRL is proposed. The logical relationships and state transitions of the naval operational process is analyzed in detail, and the association of objects, events, and behaviors is realized. Finally, the operation of the proposed methods is illustrated through an example process, showing the method can effectively solve the problems of self-decision-making rule extraction and construction among naval battlefield decision environment, and avoid relying on artificial intelligence, which may have brought some uncertain factors.

Redesign of Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) Hull to Increase the Performance and to Support Naval Operations

The Indonesian Navy's current unmanned vessel is the first unmanned ship made by the Indonesian Navy's Research and Development Service. This vessel is not optimal, it is necessary to redesign the hull using the model simulation method with the assistance of Maxsurf software. By using this maxsurf software, it will be easier to analyze hydrodynamic performance, one of which is the vessel's resistance. The redesign shows the results that there is a reduction in ship resistance. By redesigning, the hull of the Indonesian Navy's unmanned vessel by using the model simulation method with the assistance of the Maxsurf software in analyzing hydrodynamic performance, we get the resistance value at maximum speed. Meanwhile, the power required by the ship is at maximum speed so that the speed shows an increase in maximum ship speed, thereby fulfilling the operational requirements and producing good maneuverability. Therefore, it can be concluded that the ship after being redesigned can be better.

The Personal and Operational Consequences of Global Forward Basing and Officer Rotation in the Interwar Royal Navy

Royal Navy officers appointed to command warships around the world played a key role in the maintenance of the British Empire and the implementation of its foreign policy. This study will demonstrate that the personal experiences and operational consequences of how those officers were managed has long been significantly underappreciated. While functional, the Admiralty’s system for selecting, preparing and managing its commanding officers struggled to keep up with the evolving requirements of modern peacetime naval operations. By exploring the experiences of over 500 officers posted around the world, 1919-35, this article will add a new human dimension to our understanding of how naval power functioned in interwar international relations.

Proposed Interactive Framework as Support in the Analysis of Maritime Exercises of the Brazilian Navy

Regarding the monitoring of maritime exercises by the Brazilian Navy, this work presents a computational framework proposal for the monitoring and analysis of data based on maritime routes. In search to support the proposal, was developed in R software an interactive model of data manipulation, integrated with its Shiny package, providing the exposition of geographical data for planning and monitoring of naval operations. Even in its early stages of development, the computational framework has great research value, enabling a robust data analysis through a simple and intuitive platform, making it possible to track and plan future routes for high-impact decision-making analysis in naval operations of the Brazilian Navy.

Lightweight Mask RCNN for Warship Detection and Segmentation

As the term X(Everything)+AI indicates, AI is applied in every aspect of current societies. Likewise, the military requirements for AI are increasing as well. AIs that automatically detect and classify objects are required for surveillance and reconnaissance. Especially in terms of naval operation, identifying types of warships and recognizing mounted armaments have significance as the first step of the operation. This study is the proposal of an AI model that can identify warships’ type and weapon by analyzing video information taken on sea, and evaluate threat priority and response level. The proposed model is based on Mask RCNN, the Image Segmentation model, but was designed in a lightweight version, so that it could be used on a platform of the vessel where the use of high performing computers is limited. To lightweight the model, the former backbone was replaced with MobileNetV2, and the convolution operation of the RPN was replaced with Depthwise Separable Convolution operation, which operates respectively in each channel. The lightweight Mask RCNN model showed 64% lower number of parameters compared to the base model. However, its mAP, the classification accuracy, was similar with the base model.

Project Putin-2024 in the Geostrategy of Confrontation and Internal Challenges

Franklin Delano Roosevelt left us with the notion that we cannot do without Russia. But in the post-war world, a tough approach to Russia has prevailed, one based on Sir Winston Churchill’s Fulton concept: there can be only a total and uncompromising struggle of the “countries of freedom” against “tyranny.” And you need to have an overwhelming superiority in military power that ensures a “mutual understanding with Russia.”1 “More aggression” against Russia and China these days harkens back to naval commander Admiral John Richardson.2 Balancing on the edge of a razor blade is like balancing on the edge of a collapse into war. But sometimes actions speak louder than words. In the harsh confrontation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the militant rhetoric 1 Former British prime minister Winston Churchill delivered what is known as the “Fulton Speech” or “Iron Curtain Speech” in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946. In the speech, he stressed the necessity for the United States and Britain to act as the guardians of peace and stability against the menace of Soviet communism. 2 ohn Michael Richardson is a retired four-star admiral in the United States Navy who previously served as the 31st Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral Richardson has called for taking more of a hardline approach with Russia and China in the wake of incidents challenging the US navy with dangerous and aggressive flying and sailing actions. See (2019, February 7) Navy chief says the US needs to hit first and get ‘muscular’ with Russian and Chinese ships. Business Insider. URL https://www.businessinsider.com/chief-naval-officer-richardson-us-navy-go-onoffensive- against-russian-chinese-ships-2019-2. of the Americans did not match their scrupulous observance of the “red line” clearly drawn by Pyongyang.

An analytical and probabilistic model with concordance for detecting mine-like objects with mirror symmetry

PurposeThe purpose is to develop search and detection strategies that maximize the probability of detection of mine-like objects.Design/methodology/approachThe author have developed a methodology that incorporates variational calculus, number theory and algebra to derive a globally optimal strategy that maximizes the expected probability of detection.FindingsThe author found a set of look angles that globally maximize the probability of detection for a general class of mirror symmetric targets.Research limitations/implicationsThe optimal strategies only maximize the probability of detection and not the probability of identification.Practical implicationsIn the context of a search and detection operation, there is only a limited time to find the target before life is lost; hence, improving the chance of detection will in real terms be translated into the difference between success or failure, life or death. This rich field of study can be applied to mine countermeasure operations to make sure that the areas of operations are free of mines so that naval operations can be conducted safely.Originality/valueThere are two novel elements in this paper. First, the author determine the set of globally optimal look angles that maximize the probability of detection. Second, the author introduce the phenomenon of concordance between sensor images.

Strategic and Economic Importance of Gwadar for China and other Regional and Western States

Gwadar is a deep seaport that played the role of main communication and trade route among India and the Gulf States. In collaboration with China, Gwadar Port has been intended to be connected with Afghanistan and via Afghanistan to Central Asia through road links. If we take the case of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, it is Gwadar Port that allows China to counterbalance the Indo-US supremacy. Beijing now has the ability to counterbalance Indian maritime activities in the Indian Ocean by praising and acknowledging this Port. Gwadar Port's distance from Pakistan's Karachi Port and India's Gujarat and Mumbai naval stations allows China to observe Indo-US naval operations in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Persia Gulf is responsible for over 60% of Beijing's energy supply demands. This phenomenon, in the long run, allows Beijing to monitor and control the sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and up to the Strait of Hormuz.

KEY LEADER ENGAGEMENT – CONCEPTUAL DELIMITATIONS

Abstract: In the information age, the strategic, operational and tactical levels are more interrelated than in the past, which demands a different quality of co-ordination and command and control (C2) across the levels of engagement. Today’s military operations to counter the complex challenges of the global security environment require consideration and integration of the information factor throughout all processes – analysis, planning, execution and assessment. Key Leader Engagement (KLE) is an important element of C2 that the commander can use to achieve this. These engagements can be used to shape and influence local leaders within the operations area or may also be directed toward leaders who may influence specific groups based upon military, social, religious, and traditional patterns. Military commanders and diplomats have been meeting with important local officials for decades in different countries and mission areas, but the new security challenges express the need for collaborative C2 have renewed the interest in this concept. This article is based on a literature review and my personal experience gained through ATALANTA Operation mandate, as FOPS Jn KLE. This project is the first attempt to empirically evaluate the impact of key leader engagements as part of naval operations. It gives a flavour of what KLE is and how it can be integrated in the Navy Doctrine, especially in the multinational operations where ROU Navy is frequently involved. Through this approach, I address not only the specialists, those who contribute to the development of operative and doctrinal documents, but also the ones that are continuously self-educated as part of the resilient leadership process.

Optimization of the Navy’s three-dimensional mine impact burial prediction simulation model, Impact35, using high-order numerical methods

The aim of this paper is to present an application of high-order numerical analysis methods to a simulation system that models the movement of a cylindrical-shaped object (mine, projectile, etc.) in a marine environment and in general in fluids with important applications in Naval operations. More specifically, an alternative methodology is proposed for the dynamics of the Navy’s three-dimensional mine impact burial prediction model, Impact35/vortex, based on the Dormand–Prince Runge–Kutta fifth-order and the singly diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta fifth-order methods. The main aim is to improve the time efficiency of the system, while keeping the deviation levels of the final results, derived from the standard and the proposed methodology, low.

NSOF AND ROTARY-WING PLATFORMS – INTEGRATED OR JOINT?

Abstract: There is today a burgeoning discussion about how Romanian Naval Special Operations Forces (RNSOF) is supported in maritime operations by the conventional means of the Romanian Navy rotary-wing platforms. As part of this approach, we set out to analyze the regulatory framework for ensuring the support of naval aviation in the execution of NSOF missions. Thus, we will study the evolution of the cooperation of the ROU Navy Helicopter Group and NSOF from the perspective of regulations on cooperation, training, common standard operating procedures, references on standardization and safety in the execution of training and missions in the maritime environment. This research addresses an aspect of special operations that has yet to be explained adequately. To achieve this goal, we will describe how these operations are conducted in NATO countries, which have integrated maritime aviation in support of naval forces for special operations in the maritime environment. According to the specified causes to achieve our objectives, we will search for solutions to compensate or reduce the gap between necessity and reality. Through comparative analysis and documentation on the strategies used by foreign military forces, with similar roles and missions, we will provide solutions that will cover an area that can vary from adapting procedures to establishing the need to develop certain regulations. Our study is addressed to persons involved or interested in the military field and special naval operations and aims to highlight the importance of developing the NSOF capacity to cooperate with integrated maritime aviation and adjusted to the requirements of the execution of special maritime operations. Taking these recommendations into account will increase the effectiveness of NSOF maritime operations with the support of rotary-wing platforms while ensuring the transition to a robust/ real joint NSOF capability in response to existing threats in the Black Sea.

MARINE MAMMALS IN NAVAL OPERATIONS

Abstract: This paper aims to provide an overview how to employ marine mammals in naval operations and also to identify possibilities of involving mammals in support of the Romanian Naval Forces. The article uses domain observation and comparative analysis of how to employ marine mammals in the actions of modern fleets. For this purpose, we set out to identify the possibilities of using mammals for military scopes. Also, we will provide historical aspects of involving mammals in military activities in the Black Sea. In addition, we will offer relevant implications and perspectives regarding the use of marine mammals by the Romanian Naval Forces. The novelty of this article comes from the motivation to bring to the attention of Romanian Naval Forces the approach of employing mammals and developing research in the underwater domain based on training marine mammals. The present article is addressed especially to the master students and the personnel of the Naval Forces, and also to those who contribute to the implementation of feasible ideas at the level of the Romanian Naval Forces and intend to develop the underwater domain in order to discourage actions of a potential adversary

Iranian-American Tensions and the Energy Security of the Persian Gulf Countries

ABSTRACT At the end of April 2020, Iran and the United States again exchanged harsh statements regarding each other’s naval operations in the Persian Gulf and threatened to use force against each other. While there was nothing new in the exchange of threats, two aspects are cause for concern. First, the exchange of statements came after a pause that lasted several months following the assassination by the American military of Qosem. Soleimani, a high-ranking officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in January 2020. The sharp escalation at the time forced Tehran to be more cautious in its statements and actions, and the subsequent outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic completely distracted the two sides from continuing the conflict. Their return to aggressive rhetoric suggests that the United States and Iran have adjusted to the new conditions and are ready to continue their traditional game of “chicken.” Second, the Iranian–American tensions flared at a particularly unfavorable moment. This flare-up will inevitably heighten the apprehensions of consumers of oil from the Persian Gulf region regarding potential threats to the security of raw-material supplies. The escalation, however, will not primarily harm the interests of consumers, as was the case in previous decades (from the 1970s to the 2000s), when the very presence of a threat to oil exports from the region’s countries led to oil price increases. This time the main victims will be the regional producers, who could lose their traditional customers. This reflects both a result of the current evolution of the world oil market, in which the rules of the game are no longer set by the producers of oil but by its consumers, and a shift of emphasis in the safeguarding of the Gulf states’ energy security.

Sino-American Tensions and Their Effects on Counter-terrorism Operations in Djibouti

This research note examines the tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in Djibouti. Djibouti has become a battleground of interests between the US and China with both building military bases on its territory. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) utilises its base to conduct naval operations and to implement the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), often conflicting with US operations and interests. The research note relies on primary documents to investigate the interaction between the two states over Djibouti and to assess whether and how China’s presence is an obstacle to US counterterrorism operations. This analysis indicates that a conflict of interests between the US and China is inevitable, but the US’ counterterrorism operation in Djibouti can be protected from the diplomatic conflict.

Timothy J. Demy (ed.) The U.S. Naval Institute on Arctic Naval Operations (Fabrizio Martino)

Timothy J. Demy (ed.) The U.S. Naval Institute on Arctic Naval Operations (Fabrizio Martino)