10170 research outputs found
Sort by
CMSI Translations #12: Strengthen Command Capabilities to Win Future Naval Battles
Full text linkChairman Xi Jinping\u27s emphasis on strengthening command capabilities has indicated the direction of effort and injected a powerful impetus for all-level commanders to fulfill their main responsibilities, meet challenges from adversaries, and win future naval battles. Observing the emerging patterns of new combat capabilities in new domains and reviewing the year\u27s work to prepare for war, in the case of new combat platforms, commanders’ ability to strengthen their command capabilities is reflected in their dual responsibility for both the platform and the system. This includes the responsibilities to scientifically coordinate maneuver and firepower to address threats from individual ships and aircraft, to fulfill responsibilities for domain specific operational tasks, and to serve as a system hub for new combat power and shaping advantageous combat postures for the formations and systems. These responsibilities expand the meaning of command capabilities and place higher demands on commanders.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-translations/1011/thumbnail.jp
CMSI Note 16: Confirmed: ADM Yuan Huazhi Removed as the PLAN’s Political Commissar
Full text linkKey Takeaways:
• An authoritative source has confirmed what many had long suspected: Admiral Yuan Huazhi is no longer serving as the Political Commissar of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). As the chief political officer, the Political Commissar shares responsibility with the PLAN Commander for leading the service.
• While the details of ADM Yuan’s departure are unknown, it is very likely that he was a victim of the massive purge within China’s military that began in mid-2023. Unlike other senior PLA officers implicated in the purge, however, ADM Yuan’s status has not been publicly disclosed.
• ADM Yuan appears to have been replaced by VADM Leng Shaojie. In early January, Leng was identified as the Secretary of the PLAN Party Committee, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization that administers the PLAN. The Secretary of the Party Committee is a post historically held by the service’s Political Commissar.
• VADM Leng is a career PLA Army (PLAA) officer with no experience in the PLAN. The practice of transferring political officers between services is common in China’s military. Another recent PLAN Political Commissar (2014–17), ADM Miao Hua, was likewise transferred from the PLAA to PLAN. Miao is currently under investigation for alleged “serious disciplinary violations.”
• VADM Leng spent much of his career assigned to northeast China’s former Shenyang Military Region. Among his recent appointments, Leng served as the Political Commissar of the PLAA Headquarters Logistics Department (starting in 2018) and the Deputy Political Commissar of the Central Theater Command (2021).
• Although it is unclear when VADM Leng was transferred to the PLAN, PRC media sources show him in a Navy uniform as early as December 2024.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-notes/1015/thumbnail.jp
AI Enabled Autonomous Weapons and Human Control: Part III: Human Control and System Operators
Full text linkThis article is the third installment of a three-part series on AI-enabled weapons and human control. Artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping debates about military technology by challenging the role of human decision-making in the use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS). This article argues that effective governance of AI-enabled AWS requires moving beyond narrow conceptions of “meaningful human control” and instead recognizing a network of embedded human judgment throughout the weapon system’s lifecycle. This article focuses on the operator stage, examining the unique role of operators through guiding, observing, and terminating deployed AWS. Drawing on policy debates, doctrinal frameworks, and empirical examples, the article highlights the cognitive and practical limits of operators, including the speed of machine decision-making, the risk of automation bias, and the challenge of maintaining vigilance during long operations. Still, it shows that operators remain vital in embedding human judgment by authorizing updates, supervising system learning, and ensuring alignment with command intent. By placing operators within a broader network of actors, which also includes software designers and commanders, the series illustrates how human judgment can be integrated at multiple decision points. This lifecycle perspective emphasizes that military AI depends on distributed human involvement, providing a more realistic foundation for lawful and effective AWS governance
Episode 15: Sun Tzu’s Imperative – to Win Without Fighting; A Strategic Approach
No full textGuests Rebecca Patterson, Susan Bryant, Ken Gleiman, and Christian Trotti join host Dave Brown to discuss the subject of their recent book Winning Without Fighting: Irregular Warfare and Strategic Competition in the 21st Century.
“This book presents a framework for an American grand strategy that extends beyond traditional military conflict, focusing on irregular warfare methods that enhance a nation’s influence and legitimacy while weakening adversaries. The authors argue for a comprehensive approach that includes military, economic, and informational statecraft to address a modern competitive landscape…” – Cambria Press
------------------------
Articles: Winning Without Fighting, Irregular Warfare and Strategic Competition in the 21st Century, Cambria Press, September 2024 A New Playbook for Irregular Warfare: How the United States Can Win Without Fighting, C. Trotti, IWI, 21 Jan 2025 A Grand Strategy Based on Resilience, E. Borghard, WOTR, 4 Jan 2021
------------------------
Guests:
Rebecca Patterson, Ph.D. is Professor of Practice of International Affairs and Associate Director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. She teaches courses on irregular warfare, strategy, policy, and military operations, UN peace operations, and the political economy of contemporary conflict. Dr. Patterson served as an economist in the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group and the Deputy Director of the Office of Peace Operations, Sanctions, and Counterterrorism at the State Department. She holds a PhD from The George Washington University, a B.S. from United States Military Academy, and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A retired U.S. Army officer with more than 22 years of experience, she served in overseas assignments in Thailand, Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Susan Bryant, Ph.D. is Executive Director of Strategic Education International, an educational non-profit that designs and delivers executive education programs for governments and private industry. She also teaches Grand Strategy and Military History at Georgetown University and Defense Policy Making at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and serves as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at NDU. Susan is a veteran of the United States Army having served 28 years on active duty, with more than 20 of them in strategic level assignments.
Jan K. Gleiman (Ken), Ph.D. is Professor of Practice at Arizona State University where he leads research and develops education programs for the Future Security Initiative while teaching in the School of Politics and Global Studies. He teaches courses on irregular warfare, strategy, policy, and military operations. Ken is also the Editor-in Chief of the new Small Wars Journal and online publication committed to advancing the discourse of irregular warfare and national security at the speed of relevance. Ken is a 27-year veteran of the United States Army (Colonel), and both a former Green Beret and Army Strategist.
Christian Trotti is a Master of Arts candidate, Graduate Teaching Assistant, and Graduate Research Assistant at Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. His research and published analysis focus primarily on defense strategy, military operations, force planning, irregular warfare, and technological and organizational innovation in national security. Trotti served as a Research Assistant for Winning Without Fighting: Irregular Warfare and Strategic Competition in the 21st Century .https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/the-trident/1014/thumbnail.jp
CMSI Translations #18: Combine Wisdom and Join Efforts, Training in a Sea of Mines, Pioneers of Breaking Obstacles
Full text linkThe sky is high, the lake is vast, and ghosts are lurking.
One day in early winter, in the riverside city of Wuhan, a speedboat zooms across the Great Mulan Lake. Its stern engine propellers spin, stirring up white waves... A realistic comprehensive exercise is in full swing, employing mine countermeasures combat divers. A mine countermeasures diver from a minesweeper unit (dadui) of the Northern Theater Command Navy, headquartered several thousand miles away, arrived at the training camp at the Naval University of Engineering (NUE). The divers collaborated closely with the university\u27s mine countermeasures teaching and research section to conduct focused research on the disposal methods for new-type smart-mines (xinxing zhineng shuilei).
“Mine warfare presents a significant operational challenge for the world\u27s navies. In recent years, advancements in artificial intelligence and other high-tech developments have rendered mines more intelligent and effective, allowing them to autonomously seek out targets and detonate on their own. This evolution further complicates and jeopardizes the mine-clearing efforts of combat divers.” Zhang Zhiqiang from NUE’s Mine Countermeasures Teaching and Research Section remarked that finding ways to enable mine countermeasures combat divers to swiftly and effectively identify and neutralize these intelligent mines is an urgent practical issue that requires immediate attention.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-translations/1017/thumbnail.jp
CMSI Note 15: PLAN Chief of Staff VADM Li Hanjun: Fast-Rising Star of Training and Education Extinguished
Full text linkKey Findings:
VADM Li Hanjun was a fast-rising star, terminated before he could make his full contribution and career achievements:
• VADM Li’s senior roles, including at the Dalian Naval Academy and as Commandant of the Naval Command College, suggest he was well known and respected across the fleet.
• Li has influenced a generation of current PLAN operational leaders. His relentless advocacy of high-intensity training in both service-specific and joint roles suggest he had outsized influence in shaping the trajectory of current PLAN training.
• The reasons for Vice Admiral Li’s removal remain opaque, but likely related to the downfall of Admiral Miao Hua, who would have been involved in Li’s selection and promotions through the flag ranks.
• VADM Li Hanjun’s defenestration comes just months after another leader with tremendous operational experience—VADM Li Pengcheng—was similarly removed as Deputy Commander of the Southern Theater Command, but their respective purges do not appear to have slowed the pace and scope of PLAN training around Taiwan, in the South China Sea, or in the Western Pacific.
• The removal of VADM Li Hanjun would suggest that Xi believes he can burn through a tremendous amount of talent to make the PLA into the force he envisions. If Xi continues to feel he can afford this price, then we must seriously consider the possibility that a degree of military leadership churn is “priced in” to his approach to building the world class forces he seeks.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cmsi-notes/1014/thumbnail.jp