Crowley’s Post

In 2022, Hawaii’s defense economy generated more than $8.8 billion through military procurement spending, which included $3.2 billion in federal contracts that helped to sustain more than 68,754 jobs statewide. Learn more about the Hawai‘i Defense Alliance at hawaiidefensealliance.org

DF-21D: China's Ultimate Weapon to Sink U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers The DF-21D missile, part of China's strategic anti-area/access denial (A2/AD) arsenal, represents a pivotal component of Beijing's military posture against US naval power in the Indo-Pacific. Stemming from a long history of prioritizing innovative defense mechanisms, the DF-21D is designed to thwart US military influence near China's borders, particularly concerning

19 MAR 2024: #Taiwan #MinistryofNationalDefense (MND) tracks 15 #PLA military aircraft and 10 #Chinese naval vessels IVO the southwest corner of #Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). #Beijing has been increasing their use of alleged “Gray Zone Tactics” around #Taiwan. Such tactics push beyond steady state deterrence and assurance type operations with the objective of securing an advantage without direct use of force. https://lnkd.in/ewJd4hwi

It's a Fly By! 🌤️ ⚓ 🛫 INDIAN OCEAN (July 28, 2023) Aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy fly in formation over the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), in support of Talisman Sabre 23, in the Indian Ocean, July 28, 2023. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region. Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States, advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key Allies and enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns. 📸: MC2 Caroline H. Lui

National Defense Industrial Association - (NDIA) released its U.S. Defense Industrial Base 2024 Vital Signs... In Pillar 3 on Foreign Military Sales, it states "the U.S. must also focus on updating the policy, legal, regulatory, and technology security framework governing U.S. defense trade." #Preach

China Is Determined to Sink U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers in a War Beijing’s three existing carriers do not hold a flame to Washington’s eleven, making the need for carrier-killing missiles - that can sink U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, in theory -  much more important. Why does China seem obsessed with sinking U.S. Navy aircraft carriers? As tensions between China and America continue to ramp up, all eyes are on the South China...

The United States Army sees great potential in using its Abrams main battle tanks in a Pacific war scenario, mainly if the need arises to land tanks in Taiwan to liberate it from Chinese occupation. Betting on the ongoing development of new hovercraft and the Army’s watercraft for amphibious transport, the Commanding General of the US Army Pacific, General Charles Flynn, believes that Main Battle Tanks (MBT) as a part of a “combined force” presence will enhance “deterrence” against China. The current consensus among military planners is that a war in the Pacific is primarily a naval and air war, with a vast long-range missilery component. However, the US Navy and the US Air Force faced tremendous logistical challenges in keeping their forward forces consistently supplied throughout the war. EurAsian Times https://lnkd.in/d8_HKc9v

It appears that while the focus of the Defense Department is the resumption of great power confrontation in Europe and Asia, they are doing little to provide for the rapid resupply of these areas in case of conflict. 1️⃣ The Afloat Prepositioning Fleet, composed of ships supporting the Marines, Army and Air Force, are being slashed, if not outright eliminated. The Air Force is maintaining only two ships worldwide. The Marines have gone from being able to support three brigades afloat down to barely one split between the Indian Ocean and western Pacific. Finally the Army is looking at ending their program by next year by withdrawing their afloat brigade and stores. 2️⃣ The surge sealift ships of the Ready Reserve Force are shrinking in number and capacity faster than used ships can be bought and added to the fleet. The average age of the fleet is 45 years old and the 53 ships are below their required 85% readiness status. 3️⃣ Finally, the US merchant marine is being kept afloat through the Tanker and Maritime Security programs that keeps 10 and 60 ships, respectively, in the US registry. These, along with a handful of ships in the closed cabotage Jone Act trade, would be needed to flow the necessary sustainment in time of war. Underpinning all of this is a dwindling merchant mariner pool and maritime industry infrastructure.

China is on track to have the biggest air force globally, potentially overtaking the United States, according to a top US military leader. Navy Adm. John Aquilino, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command, sees China's military advancement as the most significant threat since World War II. “What we all have to understand is we haven’t faced a threat like this since World War 2. The largest military, and again as Senator Wicker said, the world’s largest Navy, soon to be the world’s largest Air Force. So, the magnitude, scope and scale of this security challenge cannot be understated,” Aquilion said in a testimony on Capitol Hill on March 21. “Combined, the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) and PLAN Aviation constitute the largest aviation force in the Indo Pacific. Over half of the PLA’s operational fighter force is 4th and 5th generation, enabling longer-range A2/AD and counter-air operations across the western Pacific Ocean. The PLA is also developing a stealth bomber that can cover the Second Island Chain and the Western Pacific,” he wrote in a March 18 statement. #China #military #usa #army #airforce

Casablanca-Class: The U.S. Navy Built 50 'Baby' Aircraft Carriers in a Just 1 Year In 1942, industrialist Henry Kaiser proposed mass-producing small escort carriers for the U.S. Navy to aid in World War II, using assembly-line techniques to launch one nearly every week. Despite initial skepticism, President Roosevelt's support led to the production of fifty Casablanca-class carriers, crucial for anti-submarine warfare and air defense in the Atlantic and Pacific