USS Beloit to be commissioned on Nov. 23
Navy says all aboard to USS Beloit
Navy Announces Commissioning Ceremony for the Future USS Beloit
The future USS Beloit (LCS 29) commissioning ceremony will be livestreamed at www.dvidshub.net/webcast/35146. The webcast will begin at 9:45 a.m. CST and the ceremony begins at 10 a.m. CST, Nov. 23.
Scheduled from Nov 23 2024 10:45 AM EST to Nov 23 2024 12:15 PM EST: WEBCAST: USS BELOIT (LCS 29) COMMISSIONING
The U.S. has long been preparing for a drone war with China in the Taiwan Strait, should conflict arise. The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command even declared that the U.S. would turn the strait into an ‘unmanned hellscape.’ Yet, China’s new generation of military equipment has already surpassed the U.S. in both cost and quantity.
The U.S. Threatens a Drone War in the Taiwan Strait— Seriously?
Previously:
Countering China with Chinese UAVs backfires, US military faces drone shortage
US Wants To Create ‘Hellscape’ of Drones If China Attacks Taiwan
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has escalated, the significance of drone warfare has increased, leading to substantial investments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by militaries worldwide.
Countering China with Chinese UAVs backfires, US military faces drone shortage
Previously:
US Wants To Create ‘Hellscape’ of Drones If China Attacks Taiwan
Part One: Americans Prospecting GenSan as EDCA Site
In a flash, May Kay Carlson proved she is part of the problem President Bongbong Marcos Jr. has created with China rather than any solution.
Related:
US envoy says China’s maritime claims a ‘cartoon’
Read More »IF advocates of the United States’ access to bases of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and US deployment of intermediate-range missiles prove the above headline unduly alarmist, this writer would be most thankful.
Related:
Out-Competing China and Constraining Russia
Forget Hardened Bases, Pacific Conflict Requires Agile Combat Employment, Commander Says
The Plan to Defend Guam from Missile Threats Is Years from Completion: More Investment Is Needed Now
Ground-Based Intermediate-Range Missiles in the Indo-Pacific
While one side of the split personality of PBBM worked out with China a deesclation scheme for the Ayungin Shoal Rotation and Resupply (RORE) missions to the unrealizable U.S. Forward Operating Base (US-FOB) BRP Sierra Madre frustrating its “assertive transparency” strategy, the other lobotomized side of BBM’s brain taken over by the Americans thought up the Sabina Shoal BRP Sierra Teresa Magbanua US-FOB as a new locus for tension to propagandize.
Sabina shoal new US tension spot
The United States has announced it will upgrade U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) to a joint force headquarters (JFHQ) with expanded operational responsibilities. The new command will report to the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). The revamped structure will assume the control of about 55,000 personnel stationed in Japan from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command some 6,200 kilometers away in Honolulu, Hawaii. The move is intended to streamline communications between the US and Japan, especially during a crisis involving China.
Japan-U.S. joint statement on war preparations forecasts doom
DARWIN, July 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. military is building infrastructure in northern Australia to help it project power into the South China Sea if a crisis with China erupts, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with U.S. and Australian defence officials show.
US military, seeking strategic advantages, builds up Australia’s northern bases amid China tensions
Related:
US military eyes Australia’s Indian Ocean toehold to deter China
SYDNEY – A remote Australian island close to an Indian Ocean chokepoint for Chinese oil shipments is on a list of possible locations for US military construction aimed at deterring China, with the US saying it “may or may not” support American forces.
Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish
Australian-based Marines ready to support Manila in sea-territory skirmish
“We were given a warning order to support the Philippines defense forces in resupplying of the Second Thomas Shoal,” Marine Rotational Force — Darwin commander Col. Brian Mulvihill told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday at an Outback training camp in the Northern Territory.
…
The Marines have been monitoring events at the shoal over a drone feed, Mulvihill said.
“We were ready to support the Philippine defense forces,” he said, noting that Marines across the Pacific are also ready to back the U.S. ally.
The rotational force can airlift food and water by pushing pallets out of helicopters, he added.
“We can control airspace and aircraft from many nations,” he said. “We provide a range of options if a host nation, through the embassy, requires assistance.”
…
Darwin is an excellent platform for launching forces into Southeast Asia, according to Grant Newsham, a retired Marine colonel and senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.
“It’s good to see Darwin and Northern Territory being used this way … rather than just as a training area for Marines, Air Force, and Australian and other forces,” he said by email Thursday.
The Marines can offer the Philippines fire support coordination. They can help with logistics and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and guard locations that support Philippine forces operating towards the disputed shoal, he said.
“Of course, Marines can deploy aboard Philippine resupply boats alongside [Philippine] personnel,” he said.
Marine engineers could repair the Sierra Madre at the shoal and Marine helicopters could resupply it, Newsham added.
“A U.S. amphibious ship or two with Marines and their aircraft and other hardware aboard deployed to Second Thomas Shoal would be a serious force — and also sending a clear message,” he said. “Deploying Marines in the Philippines with their aviation, long-range rockets, and other hardware has a political significance in itself.”
Related:
Japan Forum for Strategic Studies
South China Sea: Philippines says to solely run Second Thomas Shoal resupply missions
As the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing drew on, the claims about China grew more and more unhinged, writes Megan Russell.
Notes:
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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