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09 Aug 18. Space Force to Become Sixth Branch of Armed Forces. The Defense Department will establish a sixth branch of the armed forces, the U.S. Department of the Space Force, by 2020, Vice President Mike Pence announced today. In a speech at the Pentagon, the vice president also announced plans to establish a new combatant command — U.S. Space Command — as well as a Space Operations Force and a new joint organization called the Space Development Agency. The announcement follows a seven-week review by DoD, directed by President Donald J. Trump, of “the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces.”
A report outlining the results of the study will be released later today. “In his inaugural address to the nation, President Trump declared that the United States stands ‘at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space,’” Pence said.
Space Force
Just as advances in aviation technology drove the emergence of air as a new battlefield in the 20th century, advances in space technology have made it clear that space is the new battlefield for the 21st century, the vice president said. The U.S. will meet the emerging threats on this new battlefield, he said, and carry on the cause of liberty and peace into the next great frontier.
“The time has come to establish the United States Space Force,” Pence said.
The new branch will be separate from, but equal to, the five other branches, he said. “To be clear: the Space Force will not be built from scratch, because the men and women who run and protect our nation’s space programs today are already the best in the world,” the vice president said.
“Across this department and our intelligence agencies, there are literally tens of thousands of military personnel, civilians and contractors operating and supporting our space systems — and together, they are the eyes and ears of America’s warfighters around the globe,” Pence said.
Peace Through Strength
Actions by U.S. adversaries make it clear that space is already a warfighting domain, the vice president said.
“For many years, nations from Russia and China to North Korea and Iran have pursued weapons to jam, blind and disable our navigation and communications satellites via electronic attacks from the ground,” Pence said. “But recently, our adversaries have been working to bring new weapons of war into space itself.”
In 2007, China launched a missile that tracked and destroyed one of its own satellites, the vice president said. And Russia is working on an airborne laser to disrupt space-based systems, he added.
“Both nations are also investing heavily in what are known as hypersonic missiles designed to fly up to 5 miles per second at such low altitudes that they could potentially evade detection by our missile defense radars,” Pence said. “In fact, China claimed to have made its first successful test of a hypersonic vehicle just last week.”
In every domain, America will always seek peace, the vice president said. “But history proves that peace only comes through strength,” he added. “And in the realm of outer space, the United States Space Force will be that strength.”
Action Steps
The report to be released today represents a critical step toward establishing the Space Force, he said. It identifies several actions that DoD will take as the nation evolves its space capabilities, “and they are built on the lessons of the past,” Pence said.
First, the report calls for the creation of the U.S. Space Command, a new unified combatant command for space. “This new command … will establish unified command and control for our Space Force operations, ensure integration across the military, and develop the space warfighting doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures of the future,” he said.
Second, the report calls for the establishment of a Space Operations Force — an elite group of joint warfighters, specializing in the domain of space, who will form the backbone of the nation’s newest armed service. This force will draw from across the military to provide space expertise in times of crisis and conflict, Pence said.
“Third, the report calls for a new joint organization — the Space Development Agency — that will ensure the men and women of the Space Force have the cutting-edge warfighting capabilities that they need and deserve,” he said.
Finally, the report calls for clear lines of responsibility and accountability to manage the process of establishing and growing the Space Force, including the appointment of an assistant secretary of defense for space, the vice president said.
“Creating a new branch of the military is not a simple process,” Pence noted. “It will require collaboration, diligence and, above all, leadership. As challenges arise and deadlines approach, there must be someone in charge who can execute, hold others accountable, and be responsible for the results.”
Ultimately, Congress must establish the new department, the vice president said. “Next February, in the president’s budget, we will call on the Congress to marshal the resources we need to stand up the Space Force, and before the end of next year, our administration will work with the congress to enact the statutory authority for the space force in the National Defense Authorization Act,” he said.(Source: US DoD)
08 Aug 18. How should one grade Trump’s export reform policy? An increase in defense exports will be key for judging the effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s efforts to make the arms sales process more efficient, but that shouldn’t be the only measure of success, said a panel of U.S. government officials, arms control advocates and industry on Aug. 8. Last month, the president signed off on an implementation plan for the new Conventional Arms Transfer policy, which is aimed at cutting down the red tape associated with the foreign military sales process. To do that, the U.S. government must move to a more proactive posture, working with Congress and industry to make sure that its export processes are as efficient as possible, said Amb. Tina Kaidanow, the State Department’s acting assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“What all this really ultimately means and what the imitative makes clear is that under this administration, there will be no more active advocate for U.S. sales than the U.S. government itself,” she said.
One of the most important metrics, and one that Trump himself will be watching, is whether arms sales continue to grow, said Alex Gray, special assistant to the president for the defense industrial base at the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.
“He would like to see sales that meet the requirements that are laid out in this policy, that are evaluated with all the criteria that the State Department and the interagency deem appropriate. And he would like to see an increase in our defense exports,” he said during the panel discussion at CSIS. “He has been a vigorous advocate of doing that.”
The president may be able to claim a short term victory this year, as the United States is poised to beat its record for government-to-government arms sales. Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, told Defense News in July. He said that the the U.S. has signed $46.9bn worth of sales in the first half of fiscal year 2018 — putting it near FY2015’s record of $47bn. In FY17, the State Department approved $41.9bn in sales. Others on the panel said the measure of success needs to be more nuanced than simply looking at the sales statistics. While boosting the number and value of FMS cases is crucial, the State and Defense departments see that as secondary in importance is making sure that U.S. allies and partners have the technologies they need to be interoperable with the United States, said Laura Cressey, the State Department’s deputy director for regional security and arms transfers.
“We want to make sure that our partners and allies are more capable and able to work with us when we need them to, to be more able to effectively defend themselves,” she said. “It’s hard to quantify that, and that can be very squishy […] but it’s something that we do need to do.”
Cressey also repeated at multiple points during the panel that the State Department wants to continue engaging with industry and other stakeholders to ensure it is making progress. Last week, for example, was the first meeting of an interagency working group looking at offset policies around the globe.
“In our first meeting, we said one of the first things we wanted to do is reach back out to industry and through the [industry advocacy] associations to find out what is the perception of offsets, what is the perception out there of what the US government should be doing as its offset policy?” she said. “What are the countries out there where offset policies are perceived to be really incredibly onerous, such that our companies cannot effectively compete?”
It’s hard to judge whether an new export policy is successful after just a couple months, said Jeff Abramson, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association. But it’s important to evaluate the right metrics, and that should include looking at how foreign nations are using those new weapons and whether U.S. efforts to decrease civilian casualties — for instance — are working. Abramson argued that the current administration may be over-prioritizing the economic benefits of selling American-made weapons at the expense of human rights considerations.
“We have this sort of belief that if we’re partnered with a country, we’re going to have control over what they do, but oftentimes, that isn’t the case,” he said. “I would argue that the Saudis have not been good actors, however much influence we try to have on them, as they are reacting to the situation in Yemen.”
Dak Hardwick, assistant vice president for international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association, ultimately took an optimistic view of the new arms transfer policies.
“Where does all of this lead, ultimately? This is a very competitive market,” he said. Foreign countries are looking to take market share away from American companies, but they’re also trying to decrease American influence.
“The race we are actually running is a race for global influence,” he said. “The question that we have […] is who is going to make the rules for global influence over the next 50 years? And as an industry, as a country and as a government, we feel like the United States is poised to continue to set the standard to make the rules for the next 50 years.” (Source: Defense News)
06 Aug 18. Trump brings back Iran sanctions after exiting nuclear deal. The Trump administration announced Monday it is reactivating economic sanctions on Iran that were lifted as part of the landmark multinational nuclear accord — a tough move that may nonetheless leave the U.S. more isolated. The action follows up on President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision in May to withdraw from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated by the Obama administration to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for a freeze on its nuclear program. European nations, Russia and China had urged Trump to stay in the pact. And on Monday, the European Union moved to thwart America’s reimposition of Iran sanctions, announcing a “blocking statute” to shield EU operators to recover damages and ban EU persons from complying with the sanctions. A statement by EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said it would also work to keep “effective financial channels” open with Iran.
“We deeply regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the US, due to the latter’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” the statement issued in Brussels said.
Trump argued the JCPOA was a “horrible, one-sided deal” that left Tehran with the resources to fuel conflict in the Middle East. The administration has touted the reimposition of actions as a means to cut off Tehran’s ability to fund terrorism and weapons proliferation.
“Since the deal was reached, Iran’s aggression has only increased. The regime has used the windfall of newly accessible funds it received under the JCPOA to build nuclear-capable missiles, fund terrorism, and fuel conflict across the Middle East and beyond,” Trump said in a statement Monday.
In spite of EU opposition, Trump said he wants to get tougher still, with “a more comprehensive deal that addresses the full range of the regime’s malign activities, including its ballistic missile program and its support for terrorism.”
The first wave of sanctions will go into effect at midnight for Iran’s automotive sector and on its precious medals trade, with the next wave of sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector due in November.
“The United States is fully committed to enforcing all of our sanctions, and we will work closely with nations conducting business with Iran to ensure complete compliance,” Trump said. “Individuals or entities that fail to wind down activities with Iran risk severe consequences.”
Meanwhile, there have been some mixed messages from the administration. Trump said last week that he would meet with Iran’s president with “no preconditions” — only to be contradicted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who listed a number of preconditions to such a meeting.
On Saturday, Trump said any meeting with the Iranian regime is “up to them.”
“Iran, and it’s economy, is going very bad, and fast! I will meet, or not meet, it doesn’t matter — it is up to them!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Officials with the State and Treasury departments have been traveling to 20 countries to coordinate with governments, according to the administration. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu represented a global minority in support of Trump’s move, calling on European countries to fall in line. “This is an important moment for Israel, for the United States, for the region, and for the entire world,” Netanyahu said Monday, as quoted by the Times of Israel. From Capitol Hill, a number of Republican lawmakers voiced support for the White House, including Sen. Jim Inhofe, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Three months ago, President Trump stood up against Iran’s malign behavior by pulling out of flawed Iran Deal,” Inhofe, R-Okla., said in a statement. “Today, he continues his leadership by reimposing strong sanctions that will show Iran that their support for terrorism and expansion of their ballistic missile capabilities are unacceptable.”
Maine Democratic Rep. Shellie Pingree, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said on Twitter: “None of us wants a nuclear Iran. President Trump should not have ripped up a functioning agreement. This misguided decision again risks putting Iran back on the nuclear weapons development track and further distances us from our allies.” (Source: Defense News)
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Lincad is a leading expert in the design and manufacture of batteries, chargers and associated products for a range of applications across a number of different sectors. With a heritage spanning more than three decades in the defence and security sectors, Lincad has particular expertise in the development of reliable, ruggedised products with high environmental, thermal and electromagnetic performance. With a dedicated team of engineers and production staff, all product is designed and manufactured in-house at Lincad’s facility in Ash Vale, Surrey. Lincad is ISO 9001 and TickITplus accredited and works closely with its customers to satisfy their power management requirements.
Lincad is also a member of the Joint Supply Chain Accreditation Register (JOSCAR), the accreditation system for the aerospace, defence and security sectors, and is certified with Cyber Essentials, the government-backed, industry supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber attacks. The majority of Lincad’s products contain high energy density lithium-ion technology, but the most suitable technology for each customer requirement is employed, based on Lincad’s extensive knowledge of available electrochemistries. Lincad offers full life cycle product support services that include repairs and upgrades from point of introduction into service, through to disposal at the end of a product’s life. From product inception, through to delivery and in-service product support, Lincad offers the high quality service that customers expect from a recognised British supplier.
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