Summary The conversation delves into various themes surrounding innovation, customization, and future planning. It highlights the importance of bespoke solutions in development and addresses the challenges faced in implementing these ideas. The speakers reflect on their insights and look forward to new developments in the field.Show Links Trump Dec…

Showlinks Joint Sword 2024 off Taiwan. TAFFY-3 off Samar. USAF NGAD Pause. Narrow Seas, Small Navies, and Fat Merchantmen: Naval Strategies for the 1990s. USS Carney’s 1 year anniversary. Debt service now greater than spending on defense. Summary In this episode of Midrats, Sal and Mark discuss the evolving geopolitical landscape, focusing on China…

It’s mid-October, and time for another no-hold-barred Maritime Melee from Midrats!You can listen at this link, or via the Spotify widget below. Show Links Happy 249th Birthday Navy! Kaman K-MAX helicopters Starlink Lifestraw Iodine tablets CNOC bag Katadyn filters Ukraine’s Baba Yaga drones Navy relearns how to reload at sea Heavy lift ships Net As…

What can be done to reform The Pentagon? Returning to Midrats to discuss the challenge of real reform to our military bureaucratic establishment will be Steve Deal. Steve Deal, Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.) served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Navy and Deputy Chief Learning Officer for the Department of the Navy. During his twenty-se…

For the last 23 years, the major powers outside the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been engaged in a series of imperial police actions like in Afghanistan, small wars turning into inextricable problems, like Iraq, and not-insignificant medium sized wars as we see in Ukraine.The PRC chose to stay out of these conflicts, but has been learning …

Summer is over, and it's time to focus on adult things once again. If it is of interest to from the Pacific to the Red Sea to the Potomac River—we have you covered. Showlinks: Royal Navy Ship Availability graphic CO USS John S. McCain relieved Egypt in Yemen Civil War 1960s/70s US Army Typhon (not Typhoon, I know) launcher Egypt's Interest in PRC A…

Where there appears to be a fair bit of shock and surprise in the general public, for those who have tracked the story closest, the feeling could be found along the spectrum from resignation to dismay. This did not happen overnight - and for those given responsibility for our nation’s sea power, this was only a matter of time. By acts of commission…

If you find a message that is consistent over time, through times of ease and times of challenge, and at each challenge in the real world this message is validated, reinforced, and found to be correct — is that a message you need to pay attention to? Since the Houthi joined a second front with the Gazans against Israel by attacking international sh…

Look who we have on a short-turnaround visit to Midrats, Dr. Emma Salisbury!We’re going to cover the waterfront issues in the Anglosphere, but we’ll kick off the discussion with the issues she outlined in her recent Behind the Front post, Franken-FREMM: How the Constellation Class Became a Monster. Emma recently completed her PhD at Birkbeck Colleg…

What has the People’s Republic of China been doing to grow its influence in the Pacific Island nations that proved so crucial in the Pacific theater in WWII, and will be just as important for the next Great Pacific War? Our guest for the full hour is be Cleo Paskal.Cleo is Non-Resident Senior Fellow focusing on the Indo-Pacific at the Foundation fo…

Summary In this conversation, Sal and Mark discuss various topics related to national security and the military. They start by questioning the purpose and effectiveness of the US presence in the Red Sea. They also touch on the lack of accountability in the executive branch, the importance of congressional oversight, and the decline in military pres…

How have the modern European navies developed since the start of the Cold War, and how are they positioned to address the challenges we see today? Returning to Midrats this Sunday at 3pm Eastern will be Dr. Jeremy Stöhs.Jeremy is an Austrian-American security and defense analyst. He co-heads the Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda & Securi…

In a news cycle dominated by the attempted assassination of former President Trump, give yourself a break with an update on the Russian military in year three of the Russo-Ukrainian War, with regular Midrats guest Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg. Dmitry Gorenburg is Senior Research Scientist in the Strategy, Policy, Plans, and Programs division of CNA, where …

Law. Ethics. Morality. Character. What do these words mean, and why are they important in the profession of arms. That is the subject of this week’s Midrats. We have just the right person to dig in to this topic, returning to Midrats, Dr. Pauline Shanks-Kaurin. Professor Shanks-Kaurin is the Admiral James B. Stockdale Chair in Professional Military…

Anyone even remotely around the Navy or the national defense area in DC and the Pacific knows this two words, “Fat Leonard” and the unprecedented impact it has had on the navy as an institution and its very highest uniformed leadership for well over a decade. Visiting the topic on Midrats for the full hour will be Craig Whitlock, investigative repo…

Hope you enjoy the new audio quality for this month's melee! We kick things off with an overview of the Gaza Pier debacle, the Eisenhower deployment extension, the Constellation Class frigate purgatory, the potential fun with the #AsianNATO, and finish things up with a former VCNO who is not in a happy place. Showlinks: Better Tabletop Exercises fo…

Midrats returns for a broad-reaching discussion on maritime and national security issues from the Gaza Beaches to the South China Sea! My audio was a bit poppy early in the show, but it gets better. Mentioned links: PRC is playing games with undersea cables CONGRESSIONAL GUIDANCE FOR A NATIONAL MARITIME STRATEGY Reversing the Decline of America’s M…

Just as they share a common tradition going back to before the American Revolution, the United State's Navy and Britain's Royal Navy, today both nations' navies share a similar challenge of prioritizing and finding the navy - and the industrial base to support it - that both nations need in order to secure their nation's from global threats and cha…

For the first two decades of this century, as the West and her friends were distracted by small wars in Central Asia and the Middle East, the People's Republic of China slowly, deliberately, and steadily grew her economic, diplomatic, and economic power. As we are in the last year closing out the first quarter of the 21st Century, the West distract…

For navalists from Souda Bay to San Diego, April has started not with a whimper, not a grin - but with a scream. For the full hour, we'll start in Baltimore, review the latest revelations about shipbuilding, and some enlightening developments on our allies from Australia to NATO…and end things up after a little spot of tech bother, with a discussio…

For our last podcast of March, come join us for and open-ended free-for-all format to look at the national security environment as we head in to April. From the water cannons off the Philippines to the folly of keeping your naval bases in range of your enemies missiles ... and perhaps a dive in to the long winter for navalists that 2024 is lining u…

If people are policy and policy shapes decisions, then that is the start in understanding why a nation like the USA wound up neglecting what should be a core sector of not just its economy, but its strategic advantage - its civilian maritime industry. Using his recent article, The Urgent Need for U.S. Maritime Reform as a starting point, our guest …

Especially for the Royal Navy, it was assumed the military leaders, politicians, and the general population understood that they were island nations and that their security and prosperity depended on a strong navy and civilian maritime commerce. Even the greatest naval power of the last century, the United States of America seems to be unable to ha…

Feel like the chaos from the Black Sea, Red Sea, South China Sea and various places ashore seems just too much to keep track of? Well, if you need an hour to catch up and ponder as Sal & Eagle One will take you from the Houthi's sinking their first ship, Darwinism at war, to the US Navy heading in to Haiphong witih guns blazing ... for peace.…

From the February 12th guest post over at Sal's substack, our guest today opened with a firm point;"..the combat performance of U.S. Navy destroyers in the Red Sea against a variety of weapons employed by the Houthis from Yemen stands as a monument to decades of brilliance, hard work, and dedication across generations of naval officers, government …

The vulnerability of aircraft carriers is nothing new. They are vulnerable not just because of how they are designed - really just a thin hulled ship full of fuel and explosives - but because of what they do. At peace and at war, there is no other platform that can project power and national will on a global scale at sea than an aircraft carrier. A…

Feel like there is too much going on in the national security world to keep up with? Well, let your heart not be troubled. Mark & Sal will deliver a full hour of discussion of not just what's breaking in to the news in the last week of January 2024, but whatever else pops up. Iranian proxies causing American military losses from Jordan to the Horn …

If we are approaching the end of the almost century-long age of the aircraft carrier, for the United States Navy, what are some of the options we could have in fleet designed to execute the Navy's mission in its place? Challenges, opportunities, and compromises - we'll dive into it all with guest Jeff Vandenengel, CDR USN.The reference point for ou…

While everyone is focused on the Red Sea or the goings on in Ukraine, there are serious developments between The Philippines and the Peoples Republic of China that is not going to wait for the other world's problems to finish up their time in the sun. If the main game is in the Western Pacific, then The Philippines are the center square. Returning …

From moving grain to the world markets from the Black Sea to global trade through the Red Sea, and the People’s Republic of China’s unabashed bullying of The Philippines and the nations surrounding the South China Sea – the US Navy is not large enough to carry the burden of maintaining the international order at sea. We have a series of alliances w…

With a few exceptions on the sidelines by Japan and France, what has been clearly apparent in the last two months has been the absence of the International Community's presence in the Red Sea to enforce the International Order everyone seems to consider of utmost importance to the economic system that gives us the standard of living the globe is ac…

With Thanksgiving behind us and another month of the Holiday Season to go, it's time to catch up on the goings on at the waterfront with a special guest calling in who we decided to hijack and keep for the rest of the show - returning listener favorite Mark Vandroff.Af Midrats

How is a maritime power like the United States going to be able to sustain a fight against a land power with four times its population, a larger Navy, and is located on the other side of the Pacific? The only reliable way you can get the fuel, weapons, and supplies is with a robust force of combat logistics ships.Do we have that force? Do our budge…

You're heard people talk - and on occasion argue - about "presence" as a naval mission, but what exactly is it? What does that actually mean for our nation and what role does it have in promoting its national security requirements? What does our nation need to do to properly resource it? We're going to dive in deep on the topic today with returning…

There are few naval leaders who had a legendary reputation and such a long running - and not uncontroversial - record of service as Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, USN. Talk to any submarine officer or surface nuclear power officer over the age of 60 and they will have a personal story directly or indirectly about the man who is generally seen as the "F…

Fall is in the air ... so Sal and EagleOne return to the podcast to get you caught up now that FY24 is behind us. We'll cover the waterfront. Links mentioned during the show: SECNAV Del Toro Calls for a New, Bold Maritime Statecraft. What’s Keeping the USS Ronald Reagan in Yokosuka? Taiwan launches its first homemade submarine. What is a DASH? What…

Since its first formation in 2007, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or "Quad" of the Australia, India, Japan and the United States of America has continued to evolve in to something that isn't a fully formed alliance, but is a bit more than just a talking shop as well. Encouraged by the changing nature of the People's Republic of China, it is ev…

While almost all the intellectual energy in the American military establishment is focused on the end of the FY potlatch of spending before fiscal year 2024 kicks off in under three weeks, it's time for EagleOne and Sal to take a deep breath and take a look around the national security waterfront. For the first third of the show we discuss DEPSECDE…

Today we’re going to discuss a helpful solution to the simple reality in our busy world that it is difficult to build a culture of understanding of any challenge unless those involved in addressing that challenge have a similar foundational knowledge of it. As in most complicated issues, addressing the rise of the People’s Republic of China suffers…

We are two years since the greatest national humiliation since the Fall of Saigon almost half a century ago. The negotiated surrender of Afghanistan to the Taliban, retreat to Kabul, and withdraw from Kabul under the grace of our enemy in the summer of 2021 remains a mostly untold story. Partially is it from the attention given to the Russo-Ukraini…

What better way to recover from mid-August heat than to kick back and listen to Midrats as we check in on what the People's Republic of China is up to. This Sunday live is returning guest Dean Cheng.Dean is a Senior Adviser at the US Institute of Peace, a (non-resident) Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, and a Non-resident F…

In mid-July, a rather normal letter from the White House delivered at an awkward time about the authorization to activate 3,000 reservists to support operations in Europe enabling aid to Ukraine got everyone's attention. The reaction has a lot of reservists from all services and National Guardsmen cracking a little smile because even with the wars …

This week we were reminded, again, that the world relies on the free flow of goods at market prices across its oceans to maintain a reasonable standard of living. Most of the world consumes more food and fuel than it can produce locally. Most of the world's people live from paycheck to paycheck, and entire societies' stability rely on the grain and…

EagleOne and Sal pick up last weeks conversation to catch up on the conversation of the latest national security and maritime topics at hand. As always on the melee format, join us live with the open chatroom and studio line if you have some issues you'd like to discuss. We're taking requests! Links to items discussed: Stanford University’s Gordian…

It's too darn hot to do anything outside, so stay inside and put your mind to work! EagleOne and Sal start the show with the discussion of books they plan to use to help overcome the mid-summer heat and then cover some of the latest and greatest on the national security front, at least as we define it! Books Discussed: EagleOne’s List: Developing t…

For generations, a great comparative advantage the United States has enjoyed at sea is the superiority of its submarine force. It has become simply an assumption in our war planning to the point it is treated as almost a natural part of the environment.Of course, nothing stands still in war. Time and technology usually finds a way to blunt any adva…

By 2030, the People's Republic of China is expected to have a navy of 425 warships, up significantly from their 360 today - already larger than the United States Navy. In spite of her struggles ashore, demographic collapse, and structural deficiencies, the Russian Navy still maintains a significant submarine force.While the world's strategic situat…

From the abstract of the article in the Naval War College Review Winter 2023 Edition, Strategy, Uncertainty, and the China Challenge; "Despite China’s increasing aggressiveness, its intentions are indeterminate, even aligning with U.S. interests in some arenas. Furthermore, China simply may fail in achieving even its foremost national and foreign-p…

You're in for a treat this Midrats with a regular since 2010 returning to the podcast, Claude Berube. Claude will be with us the full hour to discuss his third novel in the Connor Stark series, The Philippine Pact, bringing back most of your favorite characters from the first two books in the series, The Aden Effect and Syren's Song. As with all of…

For generations, the US military’s senior leadership in the field had no reason to worry about being on the receiving end of enemy fires at their command posts. Even at the company level but especially at higher echelons, we expected that we would be safe and secure in our command posts. Command posts were where one watched, planned, and executed o…