Center for International Maritime Security Fostering the Discussion on Securing the Seas.
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Call for Articles: Should the U.S. Surface Warfare Community Specialize?by Dmitry Filipoff on 13 October 2025 at 10:00 am
Articles Due: December 8, 2025 Week Dates: January 5-9, 2026 Story Length: 1,5000-3,000 Words Submit to: [email protected] By Dmitry Filipoff The U.S. Surface Warfare Officer community has operated on a generalist career path since 1899. SWOs are responsible for matters of both operational and material readiness, while the surface fleets of other navies, as well as … Continue reading Call for Articles: Should the U.S. Surface Warfare Community Specialize? →
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Strategic Minerals and the False Promise of Seabed Miningby Guest Author on 9 October 2025 at 10:00 am
By Drake Long On April 29, a small seabed mining enterprise known as The Metals Company (TMC) formally submitted an application to NOAA to commence commercial-scale mining in an area of the ocean known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. This followed an executive order issued by the White House explicitly ordering the expedition of seabed mining … Continue reading Strategic Minerals and the False Promise of Seabed Mining →
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Building Tactical Excellence: How SWCTC Supports LT Breen’s Call for Higher SWO Proficiencyby Guest Author on 8 October 2025 at 10:00 am
By LCDR Jeffrey Bolstad (ASW/SUW WTI) and LT Matthew Bain (ASW/SUW WTI) In his recent CIMSEC article, “Reprioritize SWO Tactical Qualifications for the High-End Fight,” LT Seth Breen underscores a pressing challenge for the Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) community – achieving tactical proficiency commensurate with the demands of great power conflict. While his argument addresses … Continue reading Building Tactical Excellence: How SWCTC Supports LT Breen’s Call for Higher SWO Proficiency →
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Made In China 2025’s Impact on Chinese Shipbuildingby Guest Author on 7 October 2025 at 10:00 am
By Dan Katz Ten years ago, the Chinese Communist Party, under the leadership of Xi Jinping, introduced two major policy initiatives: Made in China 2025 and military-civil fusion. Each represents an upgrade of existing policies aimed at boosting China’s economic and military strength, and now receives more attention and resources. Made in China 2025 aims … Continue reading Made In China 2025’s Impact on Chinese Shipbuilding →
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Notes to the New CNO Series Concludes on CIMSECby Dmitry Filipoff on 6 October 2025 at 10:00 am
By Dmitry Filipoff For the past two weeks, CIMSEC featured short notes submitted to our Call for Notes to the New CNO. In this special series, authors conveyed their thoughts on what they believe are the most pressing issues for the U.S. Navy’s new top leader, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle. Authors wrote … Continue reading Notes to the New CNO Series Concludes on CIMSEC →
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Three Focus Areas for the New CNOby Guest Author on 3 October 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Jacob Wiencek The U.S. Navy faces multiple, simultaneous pressures that necessitate equal levels of attention. We face legendary shipyard pressures with critical projects far behind schedule. While much physical and digital ink will continue to be spilled on these issues, and deservedly, there are three additional areas that … Continue reading Three Focus Areas for the New CNO →
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Navigate the Future Through Maritime Wisdomby Guest Author on 2 October 2025 at 11:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Roshan Kulatunga Subtle intellect remains the most essential trait for individuals steering maritime power. Yet the acquisition of maritime wisdom is not an overnight endeavor, it is cultivated through sustained engagement with centuries of thought, strategic practice, and the lived experiences of sailors, commanders, and statesmen. Renowned military … Continue reading Navigate the Future Through Maritime Wisdom →
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Technical Interoperability in Contested Environments is a Mustby Guest Author on 2 October 2025 at 10:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Nicholas A. Kristof In his remarks at his assumption of office ceremony, Admiral Caudle stated that, “Great power competition is sharpening, threats and capabilities are proliferating, technological disruption is accelerating, the maritime domain is increasingly contested and the margin for error is shrinking. To prevail in this environment, we … Continue reading Technical Interoperability in Contested Environments is a Must →
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Rugby and Rivalry: Use Sports Diplomacy to Counter China in the South Pacificby Guest Author on 2 October 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Jason Lancaster Despite U.S. and allied development aid contributions dwarfing PRC contributions in the South Pacific, the PRC has made significant regional gains in influence. PRC competition means the region can no longer be treated as a geostrategic backwater. Its 14 countries are small but their economic exclusion … Continue reading Rugby and Rivalry: Use Sports Diplomacy to Counter China in the South Pacific →
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Conduct Legal Preparation of the Battlespaceby Guest Author on 1 October 2025 at 10:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By James Kraska The U.S. Navy must rebuild its capacity to shape and influence international maritime law. Since the first Code of Naval Warfare was published at the U.S. Naval War College in 1900 through the negotiations of the Law of the Sea Convention in the 1970s, the U.S. … Continue reading Conduct Legal Preparation of the Battlespace →
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The Imperative for Integrated Maritime Operationsby Ben Van Horrick on 1 October 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Steven Bancroft and Benjamin Van Horrick The Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit (ARG/MEU) team serves as the cornerstone of America’s forward-deployed, rapid-response capability. The MEU’s ability to blend land, air, and sea power to project maritime force and respond to global crises gives the joint force an exquisite … Continue reading The Imperative for Integrated Maritime Operations →
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Start Building Small Warshipsby Guest Author on 1 October 2025 at 9:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Shelley Gallup and Ben DiDonato In past wars, small and well-armed ships have been a necessary complement to the large, multipurpose ships that dominate today’s U.S. Navy. China understands this and utilizes a full range of maritime capabilities to outmaneuver us. These ships can easily overwhelm the navies … Continue reading Start Building Small Warships →
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The Indian Ocean: An Opportunity to Strengthen Alliances and Deter Chinaby Guest Author on 30 September 2025 at 11:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Captain Renato Scarfi, (Italian Navy, Ret.) and Captain Gian Carlo Poddighe (Italian Navy, Ret.) Today, the new global order imposes a different vision of alliances. On the Western side, we are experiencing a temporary crisis of the values of transatlantic ties due to the political winds swaying, typical … Continue reading The Indian Ocean: An Opportunity to Strengthen Alliances and Deter China →
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To Win the Fight, We Must First Win the Mind: Create NDP-1.1 Naval Warfightingby Guest Author on 30 September 2025 at 10:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Paul Nickell The new CNO’s vision to place the Sailor at the center of the Foundry, the Fleet, and the Way We Fight provides a powerful focus for the U.S. Navy. The enduring question is how we build the intellectual foundation to connect these pillars. While our service … Continue reading To Win the Fight, We Must First Win the Mind: Create NDP-1.1 Naval Warfighting →
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Expand the Navy’s Over-the Horizon Targeting Solutionsby Guest Author on 30 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Richard Mosier Since the fielding of the Harpoon missile in the 1970s and the original Tomahawk Anti-ship Missile (TASM) in 1982, maritime over-the-horizon targeting has been an insufficient and largely unresolved ISR capability requirement for the U.S. Navy. The Navy has had limited long-range sensors for detection and … Continue reading Expand the Navy’s Over-the Horizon Targeting Solutions →
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Anchor Acquisition and Force Development on Targeting China’s C4ISRby Guest Author on 29 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Nicholas Weising Admiral Daryl Caudle’s tenure as CNO began on August 25th, 2025, meaning his four-year term includes the end of the Davidson window in 2027, when China will have reached its milestone of developing sufficient defense capability to forcefully annex Taiwan. The key to China succeeding is … Continue reading Anchor Acquisition and Force Development on Targeting China’s C4ISR →
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A Navy for War in the Age of Intelligent Missilesby Guest Author on 29 September 2025 at 9:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Craig Koerner The U.S. model of delivering firepower continues to predominantly take the form of short-range weapons delivered from smart and expensive tactical platforms, defined as platforms which primarily use organic sensors to find and engage targets. These are quickly becoming obsolete in modern warfare given the rise … Continue reading A Navy for War in the Age of Intelligent Missiles →
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The Submarine Force Needs More Flexible Training Toolsby Guest Author on 26 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Andrew Pfau and Bridger Smith Shore-based team trainers – attack centers – are critical for submarine crews preparing for deployment to exercise the full range of tactical skills in a challenging training environment. These trainers focus on modeling complex ocean environments, sensors, and warships, resulting in a high-cost … Continue reading The Submarine Force Needs More Flexible Training Tools →
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Revisiting A Modest Proposal for Improving Shipyard Production and Repair Capacityby Guest Author on 26 September 2025 at 9:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Ryan Walker It came as a great surprise to me that, despite disliking being a submariner in a shipyard, I quite enjoyed working as a test engineer/technician at Electric Boat. Shipyards have defined my adult life, and despite my current career forcing me to move away from them, … Continue reading Revisiting A Modest Proposal for Improving Shipyard Production and Repair Capacity →
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Fix the Navy’s Flawed System of Warfighting Developmentby Dmitry Filipoff on 25 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Dmitry Filipoff “After their examination, the recruits should then receive the military mark, and be taught the use of their arms by constant and daily exercise. But this essential custom has been abolished by the relaxation introduced by a long peace. We cannot now expect to find a … Continue reading Fix the Navy’s Flawed System of Warfighting Development →
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What Unifies the Foundry, Fleet, and Fighting Triad? Warfighting Focusby Guest Author on 25 September 2025 at 9:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By CDR Paul Viscovich, USN (Ret.) Which part of a spear makes it lethal? The shaft. Without its alignment of all vectors behind the tip, a spear is no more deadly than a stone. Likewise, unless the Foundry and Fleet behave like a shaft, focusing all their energy toward … Continue reading What Unifies the Foundry, Fleet, and Fighting Triad? Warfighting Focus →
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We are at Risk of Forgetting the Lessons of the 2017 Collisionsby Guest Author on 24 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By John Cordle A common saying in safety organizations is to consider the “half-life of scared” as a measure of the decay of institutional urgency after an accident. In 2017 the U.S. Navy lost 17 sailors in two tragic collisions that prompted an assessment of how the Navy looked … Continue reading We are at Risk of Forgetting the Lessons of the 2017 Collisions →
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Train to Win Below the Threshold of Warby Guest Author on 24 September 2025 at 9:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Vince Vanterpool In support of developing a new Navy Deterrence Concept, the U.S. Navy needs to develop and train to new tactics and techniques in how to operate just below the threshold of armed conflict. The PRC and PLAN are very comfortable in this realm under the doctrine … Continue reading Train to Win Below the Threshold of War →
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Sink the Kill Chain: A Navy Space Guide to Protecting Ships and Sailorsby Guest Author on 23 September 2025 at 11:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Alan Brechbill Admiral Caudle’s first message to the fleet outlined three priorities: the Foundry; the Fleet and the way we Fight. These priorities cannot be realized without acknowledging the simple fact that the next war at sea will be decided first in space. Ships and Sailors operating inside … Continue reading Sink the Kill Chain: A Navy Space Guide to Protecting Ships and Sailors →
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Accelerate Human-Machine Teaming in the Maritime Operations Centerby Guest Author on 23 September 2025 at 10:30 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Michael Posey To maintain maritime superiority in this era of trans-regional, multi-domain warfare, the Navy must accelerate human-machine teaming within Maritime Operations Centers (MOCs). Our adversaries, including our pacing challenge, China, invest heavily in adopting AI technology, a consequential technology for command and control. MOCs serve as the … Continue reading Accelerate Human-Machine Teaming in the Maritime Operations Center →
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Change the Navy’s Narrative: The Future Fight and the Hybrid Fleetby Guest Author on 23 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Peter Dombrowski With Admiral Caudle assuming the post of Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy has a timely opportunity to realign its strategic narrative with its emerging operational reality, especially in the Indo-Pacific. After years of experimentation with distributed maritime operations, integration of unmanned systems, and renewed industrial … Continue reading Change the Navy’s Narrative: The Future Fight and the Hybrid Fleet →
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Sir, Be Radicalby Guest Author on 22 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Notes to the New CNO Series By Chris Rielage Navy thinkers have already laid the intellectual groundwork for aggressive change. Senior leaders now need to follow through with equally radical actions. It has been just under two years since the last Call for Notes to the New CNO, written for Admiral Lisa Franchetti – and … Continue reading Sir, Be Radical →
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Notes to the New CNO Series Kicks Off on CIMSECby Dmitry Filipoff on 22 September 2025 at 9:30 am
By Dmitry Filipoff For the next two weeks, CIMSEC will be featuring short notes submitted to our Call for Notes to the New CNO. In this special series, authors convey their thoughts on what they believe are the most pressing issues for the U.S. Navy’s new top leader, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Caudle. … Continue reading Notes to the New CNO Series Kicks Off on CIMSEC →
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Sea Control 586: What Moral Leadership Looks Like with William Spearsby Guest Author on 18 September 2025 at 10:00 am
By Brian Kerg Commander William Spears, U.S. Navy, joins the program to discuss his article, “What Moral Leadership Looks Like,” which examines the philosophical approach of Admiral Stockdale during his time as a POW in North Vietnam. Commander William C. Spears is a submarine warfare officer in the U.S. Navy and the author of Stoicism as … Continue reading Sea Control 586: What Moral Leadership Looks Like with William Spears →
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Call for Articles: Short Story Fictionby Dmitry Filipoff on 15 September 2025 at 10:00 am
Stories Due: November 10, 2025 Week Dates: December 1-5, 2025 Story Length: 1,5000-3,000 Words Submit to: [email protected] By Dmitry Filipoff In annual tradition, CIMSEC will be running a series of short stories looking to explore the nature of conflict and competition through fiction. Fiction has long served as a powerful means for exploring hypotheticals and envisioning … Continue reading Call for Articles: Short Story Fiction →