CMS Weekly: 01.07.2025

Welcome to the CMS Weekly LinkedIn Edition, a concise roundup of this week’s key maritime and defense insights. For the full CMS Weekly, with in-depth articles and expert analysis, subscribe here.

Featured Publications

Unmanned Surface Vessels Can Support Troops on the Beach

George Galdorisi in The MOC

MARFORPAC used USVs during Valiant Shield 2018 to resupply the landing force. The exercise coordinator used a catamaran hull 12-foot MANTAS USV to provide rapid ship-to-shore logistics sustainment.? While this small, autonomously-operated USV carried only 120 pounds of cargo, the proof-of-concept worked and demonstrated that unmanned surface vessels could effectively resupply troops ashore.?

What a NATO-Skeptic U.S. means for NATO Maritime Security

Nicholas Weising in The MOC

A touch-and-go relationship between the United States and NATO will force the European states to refocus on seapower to maintain power projection. America’s military and nuclear commitments to NATO have largely been successful in deterring Russian aggression against Europe since the Cold War. However, Moscow has turned to gray zone activities to press its interests in Europe below the threshold of armed conflict, including at sea.

Kelly/Waltz SHIPS Act Seeks to Elevate the Value and Numbers of U.S. Commercial Ships

Steven Wills in The MOC

By bringing maritime leadership closer to the President, securing greater funding, and setting a goal for increasing the U.S. seagoing commercial fleet from 80 to 250 vessels, the SHIPS for America Act is the radical change the United States needs to regain control of shipping as both a commercial and national security imperative.

External Publications

Houthi Attack Risk Complicates Navy’s Calculus On Retrieving Downed Fighter Jet, Analysts Say

Steven Wills Quoted by Alison Bath in Stars and Stripes

"There would perhaps be sensitive material onboard … worth recovery, but it depends on the condition of the aircraft and where it went down in the Red Sea,” said Steven Wills, a naval analyst with the Center for Maritime Strategy at the Navy League of the United States.

Despite its Troubled Development, the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship is Vital

Steven Wills in Defense Opinion

The Navy can learn from the LCS debacle of the last two decades, but at the same time the ships are vital given tensions with China and the Navy can use them across multiple missions thanks to the service’s own redoubtable sailors.

Maritime Nation ???

A Conversation with the Commander of Fleet Forces Command

We are approaching three years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Admiral James Foggo sits down with Admiral Daryl Caudle, commander of United States Fleet Forces, to discuss the state of the fleet and where conflict is heading in 2025.

Watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the CMS website.

All Episodes

Guest Appearances

CAVASSHIPS Podcast

In this edition of the CavasShips Podcast with Christopher Cavas and Chris Servello , they discuss US Navy policies and programs with three leading commentators and analysts – Bryan Clark , Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute ; Bryan McGrath of the Ferrybridge Group, and Steven Wills , a PhD in Cold War naval history and Navalist at the Center for Maritime Strategy. ?