Newly commissioned officers congratulate each other and celebrate during the 141st Commencement Exercises of the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, on May 18, 2022.

Newly commissioned officers congratulate each other and celebrate during the 141st Commencement Exercises of the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, on May 18, 2022. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

The Naval Brief: Russian sea strikes; Coasties’ cyber grads; Deadly DE; and more...

Welcome to The Naval Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the sea services’ future. 

Cyber grads. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduated its first cybersecurity majors on May 18. "A handful" will go to the Coast Guard’s Cyber Command headquarters for their initial assignment before heading to the field after a couple of years, Adm. Karl Schultz told lawmakers during a budget hearing on May 12. ICYMI: the military service created a cyber mission specialist rating and cyber chief warrant officer specialty earlier this year so that enlisted members could pursue a career track in cyberspace operations. Defense Systems’ Lauren Williams has a bit more, here.

Sub-launched missiles? Russia fired long-range missiles at Lviv on Sunday, hitting Ukraine’s international military training center in strikes that were likely fired from one or more Kilo-class submarines in the Black Sea, Ukraine’s Air Command said in a Facebook post. A senior U.S. defense official confirmed the attack Monday, adding that the Pentagon could not yet independently confirm the missiles were submarine-launched. Bryan Clark, a former Navy submariner who is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, said the strike likely underscores that Russian stockpiles of missiles are dwindling. “They’ve sort of been holding them in reserve until now,”  Clark said. “This is mostly a reflection that they are running out of missiles.”

Sign up to get The Naval Brief every Thursday from Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One’s military services reporter. On this day in 1944, the destroyer escort England sank a Japanese submarine—the first of five it would sink that week.


From Defense One

Coast Guard Academy Graduates its First Cyber Majors // Lauren C. Williams

A "handful" of new cyber specialists will go to the service's Cyber Command headquarters for their initial assignment.

Russian Sub Fired Missiles at Lviv Training Center, Ukraine Says // Tara Copp

The use of such weapons could indicate munitions shortages, expert says.

Ending Production of This Warship Is a Mistake // Bryan McGrath

The Navy's new shipbuilding plan would replace all but three more LPD-17s with a vague plan to get started on a replacement class.