Category Archives: asymmetric warfare

Prime Chance West?

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Marine Corps AH-1Z Vipers of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367 “Scarface” execute flight operations aboard USS Canberra (LCS 30), showing off something which a littoral combat ship could excel at—providing a forward lily pad for maritime sea control.

A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopter, attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367, is folded on the flight deck of Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) as part of Navy-Marine Corps integration in the White Beach, Okinawa, Oct. 3, 2026. A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopter, attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367, approaches the flight deck of Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) while conducting flight operations in the Philippine Sea, Oct. 1, 2026. 

Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) moors at White Beach, Okinawa, with a U.S. Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopter, attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 367, aboard during Navy-Marine Corps integration, Oct. 3, 2026.

Canberra is working with DESRON 7 overseas.

“As the Navy’s forward-deployed destroyer squadron (DESRON) in Southeast Asia, DESRON 7 serves as the primary tactical and operational commander of assigned ships in the Southeast Asia area of operations.”

The Navy has a history of running “green” light attack helicopters from small decks, hosting Task Force 117/118 Army OH/AH-58C/Ds and AH/M-6 Little Birds operated as “Sea Cavalry” during Operation Prime Chance in the Persian Gulf (1987-89) followed by Desert Shield/Storm and off Haiti in Uphold Democracy.

US Army OH-58D Kiowa Warrior of TF 118’s 4 Sqn., 17 Cav., 18 Aviation Brig. “Thugs” overflying USS Curts (FFG-38). Academy model top box art.

Task Force 118, OP Prime Chance, a Navy FFG with A/OH-58D Kiowa embarked

With the Army giving all its Kiowas a dirt nap in without replacement, and the Apache just a beast, the Viper could be up.

The Marines have been using Vipers and companion UH-1Y Venoms in a series of very kinetic maritime interdictions in both the Middle East and Eastern Pacific. Perhaps LCS has found a mission it can do.

A U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 365 (Reinforced), Littoral Combat Force-24, flies over a vessel of interest being destroyed during a Maritime Interdiction Operation while in the Pacific Ocean, Sept. 05, 2026. The vessel of interest was boarded and cleared before being destroyed. U.S. military forces are deployed to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility in support of Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, Department of War-directed operations, and the President’s priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking, deter malign actors and protect the homeland through continuous presence. (U.S. Marine Corps photo)

Just the USCG Enforcing International Naval Blockades, again

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The Coast Guard, while on its face tasked with preventing smuggling and maintaining the U.S. maritime border, also has a long history of running maritime blockades off the coasts of other countries.

The rundown:

  • The Civil War: Cutters like the USRC Harriet Lane (which fired the first maritime shot of the war at Fort Sumter) were deployed to enforce blockades off Charleston, Wilmington, and New Orleans, with smaller, shallow-draft cutters often tasked with inshore interdiction while the Navy stuck to more blue-water ops.
  • The Spanish-American War saw eight Revenue Cutters join the Navy’s blockade of Cuba and Puerto Rico. This included the USRC McCulloch, Morrill, Windom, Manning, and Hudson enforcing the outer and inner rings of the blockade off Havana and Cienfuegos, directly engaging Spanish shore batteries and gunboats while making turns to capture blockade runners.
  • WWII Neutrality Patrol: The USCG established maritime blockades off Greenland to deny Germany access to cryolite mines and weather tracking stations even before the U.S. entered the war.
  • Cuban Naval Quarantine-– Besides the Coast Guard patrol aircraft based in South Florida, at least 12 cutters were involved in the TF 136 and TF 137 blockade of Castro’s island during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, including the service’s only oceanography ship. Further, USCGC Barataria (WAVP-381), while on met duty at Ocean Station Echo in the North Atlantic some 2,200 miles northeast of Cuba, identified and solo trailed a Soviet freighter with missile deck cargo for several days until the Navy could join the effort.
  • Vietnam War: Operation Market Time, arguably the most comprehensive coastal blockade in USCG history, which included Squadron One (deploying 26 82-foot Point-class patrol boats) and Squadron Three (deploying 31 blue water High Endurance Cutters between 1967 and 1972) assigned to the effort, getting their hands dirty numerous times and sending NVA trawlers loaded with weapons to the bottom. RonThree alone conducted more than 65,000 vessel stops in the Vietnamese littoral.
  • The service conducted a sustained offshore surveillance of Grenada in 1983-84 (Operation Island Breeze) after the U.S. invasion of the island.
  • Operation Maritime Intercept (1990–2003): Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, cutters deployed to the North Arabian Gulf alongside Navy forces to enforce UN sanctions against Iraq. Coast Guard Boarding Teams (LEDETs) were heavily relied upon for their expertise in maritime law enforcement aboard civilian cargo ships.
  • Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003): Six 110-foot Island-class USCG patrol boats and Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs) deployed to the Khawr Abd Allah waterway to maintain a blockade against Iraqi forces, secure oil platforms, and clear routes for humanitarian vessels.
  • The Vigilant Sentry effort off Haiti has been ongoing since 2004.
  • Operation Southern Spear combined maritime interdiction with the oil blockade and intervention in Venezuela, which has since morphed into JTF-WHEM last month. The Venezuelan oil blockade led the USCG to one stop (Skipper) and seven seizures, including the Guyanan/Russian-flagged Marinera (Bella 1) off Iceland after a leisurely 2,500 nm, 20-day pursuit. LEDETs may also have conducted three seizures in the Indian Ocean.

This brings us to a release last Friday announcing an all-USCG operation that stopped a vessel looking to break the oil blockade on Cuba, the M/V Grace, following the detention of a similar vessel earlier this summer, M/V Jaira Provider, also headed to Havana.

The old 210-foot cutter Alert (WMEC-630) stopped and rerouted the vessel to Mexico, assisted by the new 154-foot FRC Charles Sexton (WPC-1108) and other USCG assets.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutters Alert (WMEC-630) and Charles Sexton (WPC-1108) escort the motor vessel Grace in early September 2026. The Coast Guard interdicted the vessel following a coordinated international enforcement operation concerning its suspected illicit transport of fuel to Cuba. The vessel was later escorted to Progreso, Mexico, where a Mexican Navy inspection team confirmed the presence of large quantities of fuel in its ballast tanks. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

011026-G-KH296-1002

In early September, a Coast Guard tactical team boarded M/V Grace in the Caribbean Sea. M/V Grace was transiting to Cuba, carrying fuel, and was believed to be employing tactics common amongst the “dark fleet.” After the boarding, the Coast Guard escorted the M/V Grace to Progreso, Mexico, where a Mexican Navy (MARINA) inspection team confirmed large quantities of fuel in the vessel’s ballast tanks. The vessel was also carrying several containers believed to contain illicit fuel.

More Maritime Patrol Birds

With the USCG so busy doing maritime patrol and blockade work as of late, it is no surprise that last week the service also announced it will be buying another six HC-130J Super Herks, expanding its program to 31 such LRSAs, complete with a 360-degree, belly-mounted, AN/APY-11 multimode surface search radar, advanced IR cameras, and a 20+ hour endurance.

USCG Air Station Kodiak HC-130Js, AET3 Lauren Bulow

They have been especially useful in keeping tabs on Chinese ships in the Arctic just off Alaska.

An HC-130J Super Hercules airplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak observes two Russian Border Guard ships and two Chinese Coast Guard ships approximately 440 miles southwest of St. Lawrence Island, Sept. 28, 2024. This marked the northernmost location where the U.S. Coast Guard has observed Chinese Coast Guard vessels. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo)

Can we talk ESBs?

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The Navy just received the final ship in the six-hull Expeditionary Sea Base program, transferring in the delivery ceremony of the 106,664-ton (not a misprint) USNS (future USS) Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (ESB 8) last week.

No other fleet in the world has anything that even comes close, not to mention having a half-dozen of them…

Expeditionary Sea Base USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr. (ESB 8)

A peek into the hangar opening at the front of the huge topside aviation deck. You can store (at least) four CH-53s in there.

That metacentric height, tho…

While big deck commissioned (USS) ‘phibs like LHDs/LHAs, and LPDs get all the attention, the ESB, basically a converted Alaska-class oil tanker, has largely slid under the radar, and it should get more love.

Initially called the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and the MLP Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB), over the past decade, five other huge sister ESBs have been delivered: USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3), USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4), USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), USS John L. Canley (ESB 6), and USNS (future USS) Robert E. Simanek (ESB 7).

Commanded by a Navy O-6 with a permanently embarked 250-member military crew and accommodations for up to another 298 transient personnel, these gigantic NASSCO-built platforms run as big as an aircraft carrier and can rightfully be considered a large LPH with a four-spot flight deck for MV-22s/CH-53s, a mission deck, a hangar, an ordnance storage magazine, and underway replenishment facilities.

They are designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support, and command and control assets. The ship is perfect for missions such as counter-piracy, maritime security, airborne minesweeping, and humanitarian and disaster relief, all with an emphasis on rotor-wing aircraft.

I mean, look at this 52,000-square-foot flight deck. For reference, it is the third-largest in the Navy’s inventory, just behind LHA/LHDs and CVNs. The giant hangar is forward towards the bow, so no elevators are needed. But you can imagine that deck as a great base for UAVs.

The Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) sails in the Atlantic Ocean, Oct. 17, 2020. Photo by: Sgt. Megan Roses | VIRIN: 201017-M-JH926-303

Plus, underneath the flight deck, the ESBs have a 25,000-square-foot mission deck used for storing heavy equipment, vehicle staging, and small boats.

Yes, they are slow (just 15 knots, max), but the Navy has mitigated that low speed by forward-deploying these ships overseas (ESB 3 is in CENTCOM, ESB 4 is at FDNF Souda Bay, ESB 5 and ESB 6 are at FDNF Saipan, etc.).

However, they are criminally under-armed with just 12 .50 cal stations, but are supposed to be used in low-threat situations and, in theory, could always be escorted by a DDG or two when not.

They should probably at least get a proper weapon fit more akin to an LHA/CVN (two RAM launchers, two CIWS, two Sea Sparrow launchers, four Mk 38s/Mk 46s plus the sensors and fire control to use them as well as soft kills such as Nukla, SLQ-32B, etc.) for which they have the space to spare for sure but will add a bit of cost and require some more rates to keep running.

Hell, maybe they should get some VLS cells for quad-packed ESSMs (the San Antonio-class LPDs were designed for such a thing but not fitted with them), or strike-length TLAMs.

Now that could get very interesting.

Retro-Vintage Style Recruiting Posters Show off USCG’s New Tactical Jet Ski Program

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Check out these great new recruiting posters for the USCG, which show off current programs (MSRT, Blackfin MH-65Es with HITRON, etc.) in an early 1980s throwback style.

The last features a great image by Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Robertson of Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Ilima Maiava, an aviation survival technician assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Kapolei, Hawaii, during training with a Barbers Point MH-65 Dolphin June 3, 2026. The station uses rescue watercraft to assist in rescue swimmer training by providing safety watch, mitigating the use of two helicopters.

It also serves as a good Segway to the new…

USCG Tactical Personal Watercraft (PWC) Program

Earlier this year, the Coast Guard stood up a program to train maritime LE folks on high-speed watercraft to intercept human smugglers and deter unlawful migration in shallow surf zones and restrictive environments where traditional pursuit boats cannot safely go.

Based in San Diego, the program excels in using jetskis to conduct shallow water pursuits in tight spaces, narrow channels, and shallow surf zones. The training is part of the Office of Rapid Response and Prototyping (CG-RAPTOR) Coast Guard program, which identifies, tests, and deploys new technologies, including tactical personal watercraft.

Coast Guard members conduct personal watercraft interdiction training at Coronado Beach, California, Jan. 15, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Roberto Nieves)

They are using what looks to be all-black Yamaha FX Series WaveRunners with P2P Rescue attachments while the livery includes USCG ensign flashes and white stencils, but no racing stripes.

U.S. Coast Guard personnel demonstrate the use of jet skis during a training exercise in San Diego, California, Feb. 11, 2026. The training highlights the service’s implementation of new watercraft assets to enhance rapid response, interdiction, and maritime safety operations. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by PA2 Carmen Caver)

And yes, they use Nods and blue/green lights.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Austin Ladner, a maritime enforcement specialist, maneuvers his personal watercraft during night operations training near San Diego on May 8, 2026. Ladner was one of the first qualified Coast Guard PWC operators and instructors; he initially trained with qualified U.S. Border Patrol personnel. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabriel Wisdom)

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Dugan, a maritime enforcement specialist, instructs his class of unqualified PWC operators during night operations training near San Diego on May 7, 2026. Dugan was one of the first qualified Coast Guard PWC operators and instructors; he initially trained with qualified U.S. Border Patrol personnel. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabriel Wisdom)

They can work directly alongside tactical pursuit boat crews as a combined unit and perform physically demanding interventions in dark, turbulent surf to stop smugglers from abandoning migrants in dangerous waters.

U.S. Coast Guard personal watercraft operators follow behind a Coast Guard boatcrew near Point Loma in San Diego on May 8, 2026. The unqualified PWC operators followed behind a boatcrew as part of a force package before simulating a pursuit by chasing their qualified instructors at high speeds. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabriel Wisdom)

Note the very sharp USCG insignia on the front cowling of the above image in the inset below:

260508-G-JO805-6513

The force was also seen in New York Harbor during the recent Sail250 evolution.

Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Dorian Casey, assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard National Motor Lifeboat School in Ilwaco, Washington, operates a Coast Guard personal watercraft near the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) in New York Harbor during Sail 250, July 5, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Perry Shirzad)

You gotta admit, it sells itself as far as recruiting goes.

Navy Greenlights CHAOS maritime strike system

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CoAspire’s CHAOS (Coalition Heterogeneous Affordable Offensive Strike) system, composed of the RAACM-ER cruise missile attached to a booster and a launcher system, is billed as a sort of cheap mini-Tomahawk or JASSM, with a 500-pound warhead, a 900nm(+) range, and a well under $1m cost per round (compared to a $2.6m JASSM or a $4m TLAM).

Further, it can be surfaced or air-launched.

It has the same lineage as the uber-underreported yet combat-proven Zone 5-made AGM-188 Rusty Dagger, which was just used by Ukrainian Mig-29s and Su-27s to strike the Voronezh Semiconductor Devices Plant, which is about 200nm north of the Ukraine border/lines.

Well, it was just announced that PAE Munitions has contracted with CoAspire and Zone 5 to deliver a CHAOS maritime strike system.

A cheap ship-killer.

CoAspire’s CHAOS Surface Launched system. The system is composed of the RAACM-ER cruise missile attached to a booster and a launcher system. (Photo courtesy of CoAspire)

Managed under Program Acquisition Executive Munitions, CHAOS is designed to rapidly build and deliver low-cost, scalable precision strike weapons to allies and partners.

“As adversaries increasingly deploy advanced area denial systems, coalition and allied forces face significant challenges in maintaining credible, modern, and affordable anti-ship capabilities,” said Capt. Sarah Abbott, PMX-201 program manager.

“CHAOS closes this capability gap, by delivering a highly capable, adaptable, and exportable maritime strike solution that overcomes present day obsolescence and supply chain challenges,” she said.

More here.

Rare German Light Schnellboot Discovered, 96m under the Ionian Sea

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While the big S-boots (E boats in Allied parlance) were a crown jewel of the Kriegsmarine during WWII (and with other countries well after), a class that sort of slipped through the historical cracks was the Leichte Schnellboote (LS) boats.

Designed to be carried by cruisers abroad and auxiliary cruisers (HSK), the LS boats were just 41 feet long and made of aluminum and composites. Light enough (11.5 tons) to be winched up and down via davits, they could make 38 knots on two Daimler-Benz MB 507 diesels, and carried a stinger of two rear-dropped 21-inch torpedoes and an MG151 15mm machine cannon.

“LS-Boat” Sideview and Ground Plan Version Torpedo-Boat – Picture from Fock: Schnellboote Bd. 2, via S-boot.net

Just 12 were built, with four (LS 3 to LS 6) intended to be fast stern-launched minelayers rather than TBs. Two of the latter, LS 5 and LS 6, were soon converted to sub chasers with JuMo 205 engines with side-launched depth charge equipment for use on the Black Sea but instead only got as far as Greece, where they worked as “V boat” fast transports moving troops around the coastline of the Aegean and Ionian Seas.

“LS 5” and “LS 6” in the Aegean Sea – Picture from Fock: Schnellboote Vol. 2 via S-boot.net

“LS 5” and “LS 6” in the Aegean Sea – Picture from Fock: Schnellboote Vol. 2 via S-boot.net

There, on 29 September 1943, LS 6 was hit by bombs dropped from a British fighter-bomber during an air raid on Igoumenitsa and sunk while being towed between Lefkada and Preveza for repairs. Two weeks later, her sister LS 5 was grounded off the island of Kos after a similar hit and was written off.

Five other LS boats were lost during the war, with the remainder either being scrapped or kept as trophies post-war. The French finished LS 13 through LS 18 in 1946 for their own use.

Now, the only relic of the design, the long-lost LS 6, has been discovered on the seabed off Preveza in western Greece by the AegeanTec diving team after years of historical research, archival investigations and technical diving expeditions.

And she doesn’t look half bad.

German Leichte Schnellboote LS 6 at Lefkada Island, Greece, where she has been since September 1943.

Coast Guard shifts PATFORSWA to Westpac, ends 24 Year Persian Gulf Mission

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With the Navy being patrol-craft-poor during OIF in the summer of 2002, Big Blue asked its poor uncle, the USCG, to temporarily shift a few 110-foot Island-class patrol boats to CENTCOM control in Bahrain.

Soon after, four East Coast-based Islands, USCGC  Adak, Aquidneck, Baranof, and Wrangell, were carried via heavy lift vessel to the Persian Gulf and eventually became Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA) while four others, USCGC Bainbridge Island, Grand Isle, Knight Island, and Pea Island, were shifted to the Mediterranean as PATFORMED.

While the Med mission evaporated by 2004 due to Turkey not wanting to help support OIF and was stood down, those four cutters sent TDY to PATFORSWA never saw the U.S. again and were decommissioned there decades later, the force augmented to a full six-pack with the addition of Island-class sisters, USCGC Maui and Monomoy.

Persian Gulf (April 27, 2005) – Coast Guardsmen aboard U.S Coast Guard Cutter Monomoy (WPB 1326) wave good-bye to the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 74) after the first underway fuel replenishment (UNREP) between a U.S. Navy cruiser and a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter. Antietam completed fuel replenishment with the Monomoy in about two hours and saved the 110-foot patrol boat a four-hour trip to the nearest refueling station. Antietam and Monomoy are conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the Persian Gulf as part of Commander, Task Force Five Eight CTF-58). U.S. Navy photo by Journalist Seaman Joseph Ebalo (RELEASED)

The force was recently refreshed with six brand-new 154-foot Sentinel-class cutters: USCGC Charles Moulthrope, Robert Goldman, Glen Harris, Emlen Tunnell, John Scheuerman, and Clarence Sutphin Jr arriving, and the old Islands disposed of in-theatre.

220822-A-KS490-1182 STRAIT OF HORMUZ (Aug. 22, 2022) From the left, U.S. Coast Guard fast response cutters USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144), USCGC John Scheuerman (WPC 1146), USCGC Emlen Tunnell (WPC 1145) and USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1147) transit the Strait of Hormuz, Aug. 22. The cutters are forward-deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet to help ensure maritime security and stability across the Middle East. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Noah Martin)

Now, with the NWU-camo wearing 300-member force (six cutters, an extra crew, and 150 shoreside personnel) pulled out of the Gulf ever since February, as the 154s aren’t really built to operate against non-stop drone attacks, it seems the Navy finally threw in the towel on PATFORSWA’s mission and is shifting them to where they can win more hearts and minds, the Western Pacific.

From USCG PAO:

The United States Coast Guard transitioned its Expeditionary Cutter Squadron (ECS), historically called Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), to operate in the Western Pacific conducting maritime security operations and cooperative maritime activities with allies and partner nations in the region, in response to national security requirements.

The Expeditionary Cutter Squadron will be capable of performing missions as part of the U.S. Joint Force. The squadron is currently operating in the U.S. Pacific Command area of operations to protect the homeland and maritime approaches, including Guam and the Pacific Islands.

For more than 20 years, the Coast Guard has provided forward-deployed capabilities to support U.S. Central Command and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command from Bahrain. The unit has successfully executed maritime security, maritime interdiction, and maritime domain awareness missions throughout the Middle East.

“Coast Guard forces have always adapted to meet urgent national needs,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, Commandant of the Coast Guard. “The Expeditionary Cutter Squadron enhances the Coast Guard’s ability to deploy our forces in support of Combatant Commanders and national security objectives. Our expeditionary cutter forces provide Combatant Commands with uniquely capable maritime assets, leveraging the Coast Guard’s military and law enforcement authorities to advance U.S. national security objectives in the Western Pacific and Western Hemisphere.”

Expeditionary Cutter Squadron forces will integrate with U.S. Combatant Commands to conduct exercises and maritime cooperative activities that enhance interoperability, strengthen strategic partnerships, and advance shared security objectives throughout the region.  The transition of the Expeditionary Cutter Squadron reflects the Coast Guard’s intent to provide agile, capable, and responsive maritime forces. These forces will rapidly support national security objectives across a range of operational theaters while leveraging the Service’s unique authorities.

This explains open-source images of the entire PATFORSWA force seen shipping past Singapore in March.

WarshipCam -Official, March 29 at 4:49 PM. All six Bahrain-based USCG Sentinel-class cutters eastbound in the Singapore Straits – USCGC Charles Moulthrope (WPC-1141), USCGC Robert Goldman (WPC-1142), USCGC Glen Harris (WPC-1144), USCGC Emlen Tunnell (WPC-1145), USCGC John Scheuerman (WPC-1146) & USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC-1147) – March 2026 SRC: X-@StraitsSights

As well as Tunnnell and Moulthrope popping up in the Philippines a couple of weeks ago exercising with the locals in the South China Sea and during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) in Thailand last week.

Philippine Coast Guard Teresa Magbanua-class multi-role response vessel BRP Melchora Aquino (MMRV 9702) and U.S. Coast Guard Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter USCGC Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141) sail in formation during part of the Maritime Cooperative Activity (MCA) in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, June 27, 2026. The U.S. Navy routinely operates with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and partners and allies through MCAs to continually develop, exercise, and enhance multi-domain tactical interoperability to uphold peace and security in the region. (Courtesy photo by U.S. Coast Guard)

The squadron is forward-deployed west of Guam, as noted by Janes:

“The cutters are approved to operate from Singapore and Subic Bay in the Philippines through September [2026], with command and logistics handled out of Singapore and vessels rotating through Subic Bay,” the spokesperson said. “These operations reflect a long-standing commitment to a free and open Pacific and support a region where all nations, large and small, can operate freely, safely, and lawfully at sea.”

Are they going to remain there or fall back to Guam?

Of note, the service already has three 154s currently based in Guam, replacing two aging Island-class WPBs. They have been conducting some seriously long-legged (like 5,380nm) patrols as of late.

So does this mean there will be nine 154s in Guam?

Likely not, but you could see these new-to-the-WestPac boats soon spread out across allied Operation Blue Pacific nation partners that have little-to-no maritime forces, such as the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu– most of which have very real problems with incroachng Chinese influence, smuggling and illegal fising.

Winning hearts and minds in the WestPac littoral via white hulls with racing stripes.

Flying Boat Blast from the Past (coming to an atoll near you?)

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Some 85 years ago, official period caption: “An air infantry mortar squadron loads a Navy Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina patrol bombing plane, 18 March 1941.”

Via the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, 80-G-2156

Now, fast forward to this week, and news comes that a Hong Kong company intends to operate the turboprop-powered Catalina IIs with Pan American World Airways’ “Winged Globe” logo.

From Flight Global:

Catalina Aircraft Trust, the Florida holder of the original Catalina amphibious flying boat’s type certificate, has taken another step toward bringing a modernised turboprop-powered variant of the aircraft to market.

The company has secured a letter of intent from Hong Kong-based Pan American Airways System covering purchases of up to 46 of the planned NGAA “Next Generation Amphibious Aircraft” Catalina II.

Catalina Aircraft is now evaluating engines, avionics and other systems needed to develop the aircraft, which founder and president Lawrence Reece notes will be the only Western-certificated transport-category flying boat.

He envisions demand for up to 600 Catalina IIs of several configurations.

More here.

Of course, with Hong Kong officially part of Red China, whether they want to be or not, the prospect that these 46 shiny new flying boats could be used to shuttle around small detachments of PLAN naval infantry around the Nine-Dash Line is real.

Azov Tsushima

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The Battle of the Sea of Azov 2026 by Ivan Aivazovsky

According to the ISW, Ukrainian forces have struck no less than 90 Russian commercial shipping vessels (mostly coastal tankers but also a smattering of tugs, cargo ships, ferries, and floating dredgers) in the shallow Sea of Azov at the top of the Black Sea during the week between July 6th to 13th as part of their intensified campaign to isolate occupied Crimea.

Ninety.

As detailed by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) Commander Major Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, the forces involved included the 9th Kairos Battalion of “Magyar’s Birds” of the 414th Separate Unmanned Strike Aviation System Brigade, along with elements of the 412th “Nemesis,” 413th “RAID,” and 427th “Rarog” USAS Brigades.

The release from USF included a 4-minute-long sizzle reel (below), with the Ukrainians seen specifically targeting the wheelhouses of the Russian vessels, going for mobility/mission kills, rather than aiming to sink the ships outright. That makes a UAV with a small 10-pound warhead super effective. This speaks to preserving the important ecological diversity of the region and its local fisheries, which include significant sturgeon (caviar) farming operations.

Some 35 vessels were hit in the first 96 hours of the offensive alone.

Update from Sal, make that 136 strikes through the 15th:

 

It is brutal and systematic, with seemingly zero air defense provided.

Meanwhile, Russia’s efforts to field AAA in any sort are probably exemplified by this recent clip of a new soldier with a mobile air defense team being introduced to a ground-mounted Yak B .51 caliber 4-barreled rotary machine gun (normally mounted on the Mi-24 Hind gunship). It is a gas-operated gun that fires at 4,000 rounds per minute and normally has a 10-ton gunship to absorb the recoil…

SOCOM’s Black Arrow in the Quiver

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From yesterday’s DOD/DOW contract announcements, emphasis mine:

Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, is being awarded a $27,202,497 fixed-price incentive (firm-target) contract modification (H9240826CE001P0001), for the procurement of All Up Rounds for the AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile program, in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Fiscal 2025 procurement funds in the amount of $548,665; and fiscal 2026 procurement funds in the amount of $23,653,832, will be obligated at time of award. The total award amount is $24,202,497. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 26, 2029. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. USSOCOM, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.

Meet the AGM-190A Small Cruise Missile

In the interest of “quantity has a quality all its own,” the AGM-190 Black Arrow SCM is almost as basic as it gets.

It weighs right at or under 200 pounds.

The above means the warhead is probably around 50 pounds, but you have to add all the kinetic energy behind it as a bonus factor. That’s more than enough to flatten a medium-sized building, sink or at least disable a patrol boat, obliterate a small bunker, destroy a SAM or radar installation in the open, get a ground kill on any size aircraft not in a hardened shelter, end any armored vehicle, et al.

It has a published 400nm range when air-launched at altitude (which means it probably goes further) using Pratt & Whitney’s proven 150-pound-thrust TJ150-7 one-stage turbojet, which is used in several target decoys (the MALD) and UAVs. 

It can be used as either pylon ordnance dropped from things such as an MQ-9 Reaper UAV, used in a roll-on/roll-off palletized Dragon Cart-style system from the back of a C/KC/AC/MC-130, and so on. It can reportedly also be launched from HIMARS, though with a shorter range.

While the actual cost-per-unit is not advertised, it is believed the Black Arrow runs somewhere in the $150-$300K (still pennies on the dollar compared to a $3M TLAM or $1M JASSM), a figure that can be whittled down through large buys.

It is known the Pentagon wants somewhere around 10,000 of these little gems, with 3,000 to start, but if you even try to apply those quantities to the $27 million award, you are looking at more like $2,500-$9,000 a pop, which is too insane to be true especally when you see P&W selling commercial TJ-150 powerpacks for $79,999 apiece, so this week’s buy is probably for a lot fewer missiles. Like for maybe the first block of 100 or 200.

AFSOC debuted the Black Arrow as Havoc Spear quietly last month during SOF Week, describing it as “a low-cost, mission adaptable, modular-design cruise missile that can be rapidly produced.”

Could prove very interesting.

A model AGM-190A small cruise missile stands on display inside Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters at Hurlburt Field, Florida, May 14, 2026.(U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Brandon DeBlanc)

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