Sponsored by Exensor
www.exensor.com
————————————————————————-
12 Jan 23. Republicans eye Pentagon savings after McCarthy spending agreement. House Republican leaders say they won’t cut tens of billions of dollars from future defense budgets as part of plans to constrain government spending. But that doesn’t mean all military budget trims are off the table. At issue are $130bn in spending reductions that Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., agreed to last week in order to muster the votes he needed to become House speaker. The rightmost flank of his caucus agreed to allow him to take the leadership post after a protracted 15-vote battle.
McCarthy showed the Republican conference a slideshow Tuesday that reiterated his vow to cap discretionary spending levels for next year to fiscal 2022 levels, though a slide specifically singled out “non-defense discretionary spending.”
Immediately after, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters that Republicans “haven’t talked about reducing defense spending.”
Their comments were meant to assuage concerns from Republican defense hawks that the agreement could force Congress back into sequestration — automatic spending cuts enacted last decade that also reduced the Pentagon budget top line.
But Republicans who lead the House Armed Services Committee are already eyeing possible Pentagon savings through platform divestments and bureaucracy reductions while they plan for drastic reductions in nonmilitary spending. Some proposals could put them on the same page as many of their Democratic counterparts.
House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., who argued last year in favor of a 3% to 5% annual defense spending increase above the rate of inflation, said he’s “not worried” McCarthy’s spending deal would necessitate defense cuts — even as he considers opportunities for savings in the Pentagon budget.
The defense budget accounts for approximately half of all discretionary spending.
“We’re going to start meeting right away about what I see as threats and challenges that we’ve got to meet — and what I’m planning to do — because we intend to do some cutting,” Rogers said in a hallway interview on Tuesday. “There’s some legacy systems and fat. There’s a lot that can be taken out.”
“I’m going to talk about that first, see where that leaves us and then talk about the threats,” he added. “And they’ve assured me they want to make sure we meet our challenges on threats. But we can’t continue to ignore the debt that we’ve got and the deficit spending.”
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, also said Wednesday he wants military leaders to improve missile systems and drone technology while cutting back on costly legacy platforms that have limited applicability in future fights.
“Large platforms still have a place, but they’re not as invulnerable as they used to be,” Smith said at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. “The lessons that we’re learning from the fight in Ukraine need to be applied, and we’re grinding our way in that direction.”
“I’m disappointed in the last two years that we haven’t been able to mothball more existing weapons systems — cruisers, B-1s, F-22s and a whole bunch of other things,” he added. “But the incoming chairman of the committee [Rogers] and I are of one mind on this; we’ve got to be able to make sure that we’re spending money where we need to spend it for the modern fight.”
Lawmakers on the Armed Services committees blocked the Air Force’s plan to retire 33 Block 20 F-22s when Congress passed the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act last month. Those F-22s are now mainly used for training purposes because they are no longer capable in combat.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., also called for “tough choices on legacy platforms” at the Defense News conference last year, noting that “Congress has also created hurdles to divestment.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, who served as the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee’s military personnel panel last year, thinks a defense spending increase is still possible, even as he floated other potential savings measures at the Pentagon.
“There’s no world in which any budget resolution that cuts defense passes the House,” Gallagher told Defense News. “If there is, that budget resolution would be dead upon arrival.”
Gallagher suggested the Pentagon achieve savings by “reducing the size of the bureaucracy” and “downsizing the joint staff” as well as the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He also suggested “reducing the size of the largest branch of the military — which is [Defense Department] civilians.”
“It’s very complicated, but that might be an option too where we can find some meaningful savings,” he said.
Democrats are less optimistic that McCarthy can enact his spending agreement without defense cuts. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, told Defense News that McCarthy’s agreement would require the spending panel to look at “defense cuts as well” and that it could cut the funding for veterans.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, who sat on the Armed Services Committee last year, read a group of 11 other Democratic defense hawks in a letter to McCarthy on Tuesday asking him not to cut defense spending.
And Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who chaired the Armed Services Committee’s intelligence and special operations panel last year, told Defense News in an interview that the defense budget could go down.
“You don’t need to take a meat cleaver to the defense budget; you should take a scalpel to it,” he said. “There’s always, I think, some legacy platforms that could be retired.”
Gallego also suggested finding efficiencies “between reservists and active duty” while working with “allied partners for them to pick up certain roles and responsibilities in other areas so that we can shift our focus to [the areas of responsibility for Indo-Pacific Command or European Command] instead of being all over the world with the expenses and logistics that go with it, too.”
(Source: Defense News)
12 Jan 23. U.S., Partners Find Success in Mission to Defeat ISIS.
Last year, U.S. Central Command conducted 313 operations in Iraq and Syria as part of the mission to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS.
More than 95% of those operations were in partnership with either the Iraqi Security Force or the Syrian Democratic Forces.
As a result, nearly 700 ISIS fighters were killed and another 374 were detained. No U.S. service members were killed as part of the efforts.
“This really speaks to the professionalism of our men and women in uniform and also the enduring commitment of the United States—from the strategic all the way down to the tactical level—to completing this fight,” said Dana Stroul, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.
During a conference call Wednesday, Stroul told journalists the mission to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria remains a key priority of the national defense strategy, and it’s one senior leaders in Washington follow closely. She also said that, despite successes, ISIS remains a threat, and there is still more work to be done.
One advantage the U.S. has against ISIS is the relationships it has, not just with Iraq and the Syrian Democratic Forces, but also with partners around the world. Stroul said a recent trip to Finland to discuss the state of the fight against ISIS, demonstrated this.
“What was striking to me is the enduring commitment not only of the United States, but` of our European partners, as well as New Zealand, Australia and others,” she said. “Our partners across the world recognize the importance of this mission, recognize that ISIS still remains a threat, and are committed to this coalition.”
Also of value are the advancements made by Iraq since the U.S. transitioned a year ago to an advise, assist, enable and intelligence-sharing mission there, said Army Maj. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. He said the U.S. continues to retain a presence in Iraq, at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
“In Iraq, things continue to improve in terms of their ability to demonstrate and actually execute independent operations as they’re building capabilities, capacity and competence towards gaining an independent ability to conduct enduring operations, sustainable, enduring operations against ISIS,” he said.
The general said much has changed in Iraq since the last time he was in the country in 2005. Baghdad, he said, is “alive and awake and illuminated at night,” and the Iraqi military is engaged in operations that are part of the “Defeat ISIS” mission in Iraq, as well as providing security for the Arabian Gulf Cup soccer tournament being held Jan. 6-19 in Iraq for the first time in 44 years.
“So, progress and continued room to grow and build the capacity and capability, but very capable force,” he said.
Stroul said the U.S. also remains committed to the D-ISIS mission in Syria, in partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces.
“Not only are U.S. forces continuing to prosecute unilateral operations against ISIS, but we maintain a robust pace of partnered operations with the SDF, who are the only combat-credible, capable and committed partner present in northeast Syria today willing to join us in this fight,” she said.
Of importance are the number of ISIS detainees—as many as 10,000—who are in the custody of Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria.
“We know that ISIS continues to have its eyes on these detainees and sees them as the path to reconstituting and resurging across the Middle East, which is why we must stay the course continue to work with the coalition in supporting the SDF to maintain custody of these detainees in a secure and humane manner.” (Source: US DoD)
12 Jan 23. Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).
Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP):
Yesterday the Director of National Intelligence delivered to Congress the Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (now Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)) as required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.
Analyzing and understanding the potential threats posed by UAP is an ongoing collaborative effort involving many departments and agencies, and the Department thanks the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) for leading a collaborative effort to produce this report, as well as the other contributing departments and agencies.
The safety of our service personnel, our bases and installations, and the protection of U.S. operations security on land, in the skies, seas, and space are paramount. We take reports of incursions into our designated space, land, sea, or airspaces seriously and examine each one.
The All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is leading DOD’s efforts, in coordination with ODNI and other government agencies, to document, analyze, and when possible resolve UAP reports using a rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach. You can find the unclassified version of the ODNI UAP report on dni.gov. (Source: US DoD)
12 Jan 23. US-Japan: Bolstering US military presence in Japan will sustain, possibly elevate, regional tensions. US Defense Secretary stated on 11 January that the US will station an upgraded Marine Corps unit in Okinawa, Japan. Comprising nearly 2,000 servicemembers, the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment will include ‘advanced intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities’ as well as offensive anti-ship Naval Strike Missiles (NSM). Officials alluded to the unit’s impact in deterring perceived Chinese aggression vis-à-vis Taiwan, and in mitigating contestation of international and territorial waters. The two countries will also pursue greater cyber security cooperation, as part of Japan’s efforts to bolster its cyber defence capabilities as per its latest National Security Strategy (NSS), which also includes pledging over USD 300 billion in defence spending – the largest since WWII. Beijing will likely protest the announcement diplomatically and possibly militarily, for example, by sustaining more frequent and possibly larger-scale intrusions near disputed territories with Japan. (Source: Sibylline)
09 Jan 23. OFAC Sanctions Suppliers of Iranian UAVs Used to Target Ukraine’s Civilian Infrastructure. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated six executives and board members of U.S. designated Qods Aviation Industries (QAI), a key Iranian defense manufacturer responsible for the design and production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Iran has transferred these UAVs for use in Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine. OFAC has also updated QAI’s entry on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) to include its new alias, Light Airplanes Design and Manufacturing Industries. Finally, OFAC has designated the director of Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), the key organization responsible for overseeing Iran’s ballistic missile programs. OFAC acted pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, “Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and Their Supporters.” It follows the December 9, 2022, November 15, 2022 and September 8, 2022 designations of individuals and entities involved in the production and transfer of Iranian Shahed- and Mohajer-series UAVs, which Moscow is using in attacks targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. OFAC sanctions generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons. In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the individuals or entities designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions. Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for any of the individuals or entities designated today pursuant to E.O. 13382 could be subject to U.S. sanctions. Click here for further identifying information on the designated individuals and entities.
(Source: glstrade.com)
————————————————————————-
Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Homeland Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need. A CNIM Group Company
————————————————————————-