Sponsored by Exensor
www.exensor.com
————————————————————————-
17 Aug 23. General Says Deterring Two ‘Near Peer’ Competitors Is Complex. U.S. Strategic Command is focusing on extended deterrence during a time when the country faces two near-peer rivals, said Air Force Gen. Anthony J. Cotton yesterday. The command continually assesses the threats and examines the command “for sizing and the right force posture to meet the challenges which we would face,” he said during U.S. Strategic Command’s Deterrence Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska.
Russia has long been a near-peer competitor to the United States, with around 5,900 nuclear weapons in manned bombers, intercontinental missiles and submarine-launched platforms.
China today has around 350-400 nuclear weapons, and Chinese leaders have announced a program to have more than 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030. Cotton said officials at U.S. Strategic Command take this development seriously. “What we assess and what we look at day-in and day-out is where are on their readiness? Where are they on the total number of forces?” he said.
In February, Cotton notified Congress that China’s ground-based systems — which include road-mobile and silo-based weapons — “actually exceed the numbers that we have. We’re not seeing any indication that they’re slowing down,” he said.
China is also developing a nuclear triad. Cotton said Chinese H-6N nuclear/conventional bombers “are air-to-air refuelable, and they’re practicing air-to-air refueling.”
China’s navy has nuclear-armed submarines that are “a full-fledged submarine leg” of the triad, the general said.
The Chinese also have a mix of mobile and fixed intercontinental missiles.
“That’s why, in my opening statement this morning , I said as commander of Strategic Command I am now dealing with two near-peer competitors,” he said.
Deterrence of two near-peers is a complicated process, Cotton said. Intelligence officials must look to different capabilities, different capacities and different personalities in the leaders of near-peer nations. Still, Americans need to understand that the United States must move forward. U.S. extended deterrence rests on having credible, survivable systems. This is why U.S. nuclear triad modernization is so crucial, the general said.
Cotton gave a quick rundown on this, saying he is very comfortable with the B-21 Raider bomber the Air Force is developing. “That sixth-generation airplane is, I think, in a really good place,” he said.
Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines — which will replace the Ohio-class boats — are scheduled to join the fleet in 2031. “I’d much rather say that by 2030, we would have the last Colombia … in the water, as opposed to a decade later than that,” he said.
On the Sentinel missile program — which will replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, Cotton was positive. “I’m optimistic that we’re going to … do well,” the general said. “The Minuteman III system, to be frank, is still an effective weapon system. As the former commander of Global Strike Command, the problem with any legacy system is the fact that the sustainment is so burdensome on the young airmen that have to maintain those weapons systems.”
Sentinel will be more efficient on sustainment. “That’s why I’m looking forward to the transition to more modernized open architecture systems,” he said. (Source: U.S. DoD)
17 Aug 23. OFAC Sanctions Entities Tied to Arms Deals Between North Korea and Russia. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on three entities tied to a sanctions evasion network attempting to support arms deals between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The entities are Limited Liability Company Verus (Verus), Defense Engineering Limited Liability Partnership (Defense Engineering), and Versor S.R.O. (Versor). OFAC designated Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev (Mkrtychev) on March 30, 2023, for attempting to facilitate arms deals between Russia and the DPRK. Through his negotiations with DPRK and Russian officials, he organized potential plans to transfer over two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions to Russia in exchange for a range of goods, including raw materials and commodities, to the DPRK. Mkrtychev is the President of Versor, the founder and owner of Verus, and the sole director of Defense Engineering. Mkrtychev has coordinated with DPRK procurement officials and used Versor to conduct negotiations with companies abroad. OFAC designated Versor, Verus, and Defense Engineering pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13551 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mkrtychev, an individual blocked pursuant to E.O. 13551. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designated three entities that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more the blocked entities are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the designated entities may themselves be exposed to designation. Furthermore, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for the designated entities could be subject to U.S. correspondent or payable-through account sanctions. Click here for further identifying information the designated entities and here for a related U.S. Department of State Press Statement. (Source: glstrade.com)
16 Aug 23. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that Former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the FBI Counterintelligence Division in New York, Charles McGonigal, 54, of New York City, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and to commit money laundering in connection with his 2021 agreement to provide services to Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch. According to court documents, on April 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska for having acted or purported to act on behalf of a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation and for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia affirmed the sanctions against Deripaska, finding, among other things, that OFAC’s determination that Deripaska had acted as an agent of Russian President Vladimir Putin was supported by the evidence. As an FBI official, McGonigal had helped investigate Deripaska and other Russian oligarchs. In 2018, while serving as SAC, McGonigal received a then-classified list of Russian oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin who would be considered for sanctions. In 2021, McGonigal conspired to provide services to Deripaska, in violation of the U.S. sanctions imposed on Deripaska in April 2018. Specifically, following his negotiations with an agent of Deripaska, McGonigal agreed to and did investigate a rival Russian oligarch in return for concealed payments from Deripaska. As part of their negotiations with Deripaska’s agent, McGonigal, and the agent attempted to conceal Deripaska’s involvement by, among other means, not directly naming Deripaska in electronic communications, using shell companies as counterparties in the contract that outlined the services to be performed, using a forged signature on that contract, and using the same shell companies to send and receive payment from Deripaska. McGonigal faces up to five years in prison for each count and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 14. (Source: glstrade.com)
17 Aug 23. DSCA Expanding Financing Options to FMS Customers. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has codified the “Bank Letter of Credit” (BLOC), a new policy expanding the use of third-party funds for U.S. allies and partner nations. This policy broadens the range of financing options available for the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program by allowing customers to use a letter of credit for their FMS cases.
BLOC follows the Credit Assured Payment Schedules (CAPS) policy, codified in January 2023, and is part of a broader effort by the United States to furnish greater financing options to its allies and partner nations.
Under the new BLOC policy, DSCA provides for three ways a letter of credit may be used:
- To replace national funds held in the FMS Trust Fund to make routine payments,
- To supplement national funds on one or more Letters of Offer and Acceptance, and
- To secure payment schedules under the CAPS term of sale.
BLOC eligibility and requirements may be found in Chapter 9 of the Security Assistance Management Manual.
To aid in implementing this policy, DSCA is compiling a non-exclusive database of eligible banks interested in participating in BLOC. Inclusion of an eligible bank in the DSCA database does not constitute an endorsement by DSCA, the Department of Defense (DoD), or the U.S. government. The list of banks will be provided to allies and partner nations upon request as a convenience to assist in their efforts to select a financial institution from which they could secure a letter of credit.
Consistent with DoD policy, an eligible bank is either a U.S. bank with a minimum “A” credit rating or a foreign bank located in the United States with a license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, that also has a minimum “A” credit rating. Final determination of eligibility is at the discretion of DSCA’s Financial Policy and Regional Execution Division under the Office of Business Operations. (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/DCSA)
16 Aug 23. President Biden Continues National Emergency With Respect to Export Control Regulations -(88 Fed. Reg. 55549) – In accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), President Biden has continued for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13222 of August 17, 2001, as amended by Executive Order 13637 of March 8, 2013. In Executive Order 13222, the President declared a national emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States related to the expiration of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (50 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). Because the implementation of certain sanctions authorities, including sections 11A, 11B, and 11C of such Export Administration Act of 1979, consistent with section 1766(b) of Public Law 115-232, the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 note), is to be carried out under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the national emergency declared on August 17, 2001, must continue in effect beyond August 17, 2023. Click here for President Biden’s Message to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate on this continuation. (Source: glstrade.com)
16 Aug 23. Commission on PPBE Reform Issues Interim Report. The Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform is pleased to release its Interim Report, which reflects the Commission’s commitment to ensuring the Department of Defense (DoD) PPBE processes maintain the United States military’s ability to deter and, if necessary, win any fight against any adversary.
The Interim Report includes research requirements that Congress identified in Section 1004 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, 10 potential recommendations requiring additional DoD and Congressional stakeholder feedback to inform the Commission’s Final Report, and 13 actions that Congress and DoD can act on now to improve the PPBE process.
The Honorable Robert Hale, Commission Chair, highlighted key elements from the detailed report: “The Commission has concluded that, while the current PPBE process has significant strengths, it can be improved. Most needed are improvements that foster innovation and better alignment of strategies to budgets.”
Based on extensive research and interviews, and the expertise of its Commissioners and staff, the Interim Report is structured around five lines of effort. The five focus areas include: improving PPBE-related relationships between the DoD and Congress; enabling PPBE processes to implement innovation and adaptability at the speed of relevance; aligning budgets to strategy; digitizing PPBE business systems and employing data analytics; and improving the capability of the PPBE programming and budgeting workforce. The Commission agreed that these goals are most critical to achieving impactful PPBE reform.
The Honorable Ellen Lord, Commission Vice Chair, emphasized that the warfighter is the key focus of the Commission’s work: “The DoD needs a resourcing structure that is innovative and adaptable enough to field cutting edge capabilities to the warfighter quickly while maintaining congressional oversight. Our Interim Report reflects these priorities, and we are confident we will have additional recommendations for meaningful reform in our Final Report.”
The Commission is moving forward with additional stakeholder engagement and research to inform its Final Report, due March 2024.
You can read the Interim Report here: https://ppbereform.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Interim-Report-Fact-Sheet.pdf
A two-page summary of the Interim Report is here: https://ppbereform.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Interim-Report-Fact-Sheet.pdf (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/ Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform)
16 Aug 23. US B-2 Spirits Deploy to Keflavik AB for BTF 23-4. Over 150 Airmen and three B-2 Spirits from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, arrived at Keflavik Air Base, Iceland Aug. 13. Their purpose is to engage in Bomber Task Force missions, a vital component of U.S. European Command’s collaborative training efforts with allies, partners and U.S. joint forces.
Around the globe, U.S. Strategic Command routinely orchestrates BTF operations to not only showcase the United States’ commitment to collective defense but also to seamlessly integrate with operations conducted by America’s geographic combatant commands. This BTF initiative was designed to bolster USEUCOM’s overarching security mandates across the European continent while also affording aircrews the opportunity to acclimate themselves to the intricacies of joint and coalition operations in foreign locations.
“Each bomber task force mission underscores the prowess of our armed forces in navigating today’s intricate and unpredictable global security terrain, with a focus on fostering stability, security and freedom across Europe,” said Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa and NATO Allied Command. “In resolute unity, the U.S. upholds our nation’s commitment to foster peace and stability in Europe, unwaveringly collaborating with allies and partners to thwart challenges against the sovereignty of nations across the region.”
Leading the expeditionary bomber crew on their deployment is Lt. Col. Andrew Kousgaard, the commander of 393rd Bomb Squadron. He underscored the essence of dynamic force employment, describing it as a strategy that combines strategic unpredictability with operational adaptability. Lt. Col Kousgaard affirmed, “The B-2 bomber is arguably the most strategically significant airplane in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s inflexible; dynamically deploying the bombers forward is a unique and important capability.”
The presence of the B-2 at Keflavik AB serves as a tangible link between U.S. Air Force personnel and their counterparts in the theater of operations. This connection facilitates collaborative training, ultimately increasing interoperability and underscoring the unwavering dedication of the United States to the region.
Elaborating on the importance of joint training exercises with allies, Kousgaard highlighted his unit’s role in enhancing collective military capabilities and increasing the probability of successfully accomplishing shared objectives. He emphasized, “There is simply no substitute for the hands-on integration with our allies and partners that we’re able to accomplish during a BTF deployment like this one.”
Beyond bolstering combat readiness, the BTF initiative enables Airmen to engage in a wide spectrum of military operations, encompassing everything from combat missions to humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.
Bomber Task Force Europe provides U.S. and NATO leaders with strategic options to assure, deter and defend against adversary aggression against the alliance, throughout Europe, and around the globe. Regular and routine deployments of U.S. strategic bombers provide our critical touchpoints to train and operate alongside allies and partners while bolstering our collective response to any global conflict. (Source: https://www.defense-aerospace.com/USAF)
15 Aug 23. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks Statement on the Release of the Commission on Planning, rogramming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform Interim Report.
Attributable to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks:
The Department of Defense must meet the urgency of today’s threats and tomorrow’s challenges with innovation in all portfolios — including how we build and execute our budget. This is critical not only to maintain the trust of the American taxpayer, but also to ensure that DoD can rapidly transition, integrate, and deliver cutting-edge capabilities to the warfighter at speed and scale.
It’s no secret that DoD’s resource allocation process was born in the industrial age, and the Department has undertaken significant reforms to improve it. The recommendations made in the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform’s Interim Report released today will further these efforts. I am directing the Department to adopt all actions that can be implemented now, as recommended by the Commission and within its purview. We look forward to working with Congress on all other proposed recommendations included in this interim report.
The PPBE Reform Commission’s work is immensely important to assisting Congress and DoD in the nation’s efforts to stay ahead of the pacing challenge, ensuring our agility in fielding combat credible forces at speed and scale. I stand ready to provide continued DoD cooperation with the Commission and to receive its final report in March 2024. (Source: U.S. DoD)
15 Aug 23. Capitol Hill commission urges overhaul of Pentagon budget planning. A congressionally mandated commission on Tuesday took its first shot at convincing the Pentagon and Congress to reform its budget planning process. The Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution Reform released an interim report detailing 13 improvements that could be implemented now and another 10 suggestions that require additional stakeholder feedback before the final report is due in March.
The Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution, or PPBE, process is the Pentagon’s multiyear system for aligning strategy with funding, which culminates in the president’s annual defense budget request to Congress. In the fiscal 2022 defense policy bill, Congress created a bipartisan commission to review the PPBE process.
“We’re looking at a number of improvements,” Commission Chairman Bob Hale, a former Pentagon comptroller, told reporters at a Defense Writers Group roundtable on Tuesday. “Can we make PPBE better able to foster innovation — because we know how important that is to national security — and to adapt more quickly to changing requirements?”
The recommendations for immediate implementation include:
- Improved Pentagon information sharing with Congress
- Consolidating budget line items
- Bolstering the Pentagon’s budget management workforce
- Modernizing information systems
- Streamlining disparate budget data sets within Pentagon budget offices
The commission is still seeking feedback from the Defense Department and Capitol Hill on its pending recommendations, which include:
- Making congressional appropriations available for two years, instead of one
- More flexibility for the Pentagon to reprogram certain funds
- Allowing new initiatives to begin even when Congress only passes short-term funding bills instead of a full budget
As part of its research, the commission has conducted 560 interviews so far with Pentagon and congressional staffers and compared the Pentagon’s PPBE system with the budget process in other federal agencies. It has also compared the U.S. defense budget process with equivalent systems in China and Russia as well as other allied countries with parliamentary systems.
“We want to make sure that we have stakeholder engagement so that when that final report comes out, it’s not a surprise to anyone and it is actionable,” said commission vice chairwoman Ellen Lord, who previously served as the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. “There are some things in our interim report that can be acted on now. And we think there are many potential recommendations that will begin a dialogue.”
Immediate recommendations
To improve information sharing with Congress, the interim report recommends the Pentagon comptroller provide an annual midyear briefing to lawmakers to coincide with the yearly reprogramming request the Defense Department typically submits on June 30.
It also recommends moving from paper to electronic documents via classified and unclassified “enclaves” that would “include the electronic transmission of budget justification books that makes them searchable, sortable and able to be updated electronically.”
Hale noted Congress receives “an avalanche of information” when the president submits the defense budget request, but that the Pentagon is slower to provide updates later in the year “and sometimes it’s not consistent with information [lawmakers have] gotten before.”
Another recommendation calls on the Pentagon and Congress to collaborate to consolidate budget line items and accounts “where appropriate,” noting the current structure sometimes makes it “difficult for [the Defense Department] to manage defense programs and for Congress to clearly track and understand them.”
Additionally, it recommends standardizing the department’s detailed budget justification books in a common format while creating training courses for the staff who produce them.
The report also recommends improving recruiting and retention in the comptroller’s office while familiarizing them with private sector practices and improving analytic capabilities to reduce personnel workload. This pairs with another possible recommendation, pending feedback, that would call for increased staff levels in the comptroller’s office and the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Office, or CAPE.
Another immediate recommendation would modernize and streamline Defense Department information, allowing for better budget analysis. That includes accelerating consolidation of the data sets used by the comptroller’s office and CAPE, which “have historically used separate databases and separate tracking systems,” resulting in duplicative entries in different formats.
Notably, the fiscal 2024 defense policy bill the House narrowly passed 219-210 in July includes a provision that would abolish CAPE and direct the defense secretary to move its functions elsewhere — without specifying exactly where.
“If they just abolished CAPE and didn’t provide those functions, it would be a disaster,” Hale told Defense News. “The commission report says both CAPE and the program budget organization within the comptroller provided strong support to the PPBE. I think the commission agrees with that.”
Possible recommendations
The commission is also considering some more significant changes to the PBBE process. These possible recommendations are contingent on stakeholder feedback.
Notably, the interim report says the commission “feels strongly that changes should be made” to provide congressional funds beyond a one-year basis.
One potential recommendation suggests a “two-year minimum availability for all appropriations accounts, which would reduce use-it-or-lose it pressure and allow for reprogramming of expiring funds, particularly [operation and maintenance], reducing lost buying power due to expiration and cancellation.”
The report notes other agencies like NASA and the Department of Homeland Security run on two-year appropriations for some accounts and activities.
Other possible recommendations would have the Pentagon streamline its procedures to reprogram funds while allowing reprogramming under certain dollar thresholds for some accounts without advance congressional approval.
Finally, the commission is looking at how to help the Pentagon cope with Congress constantly forcing it to operate on short-term funding bills past the end of the fiscal year, which inhibit the Defense Department’s ability to launch new initiatives.
Hale said one potential recommendation “would be to allow new starts under a [continuing resolution] but with the provisio that all four defense committees had acted on the budget, passed a bill and none of them had prohibited that new start.” (Source: Defense News)
15 Aug 23. Tech Official Says Manufacturing Advances Are Key to National Security. Advances in manufacturing capabilities are critical to the Defense Department’s overall national security strategy, a senior Pentagon technology official said today.
Steven G. Wax, acting deputy chief technology officer for science and technology, underscored the role of manufacturing in providing the U.S. military with capabilities to deter conflict or persevere in conflict if deterrence fails.
In an address before the America Makes Members Meeting Exchange, Wax said each of the 14 critical technology areas outlined in the National Defense Science an Technology Strategy depends heavily on the DOD’s ability to leverage cutting-edge manufacturing processes from the industrial base.
Those critical technologies include biotechnology, microelectronics, hypersonics and renewable energy generation and storage, among others.
“Not one of these critical technologies will succeed without advances in manufacturing,” he said. “Very simply, if you cannot make it, you cannot have it.”
Wax specifically highlighted the role of additive manufacturing, commonly called 3D printing, in enabling the industrial base to produce these critical, cutting-edge capabilities affordably.
“Additive manufacturing, particularly, touches many of these critical technology areas including advanced materials, hypersonics, space technology, renewable energy generation and storage, directed energy, and microelectronics,” he said.
Achieving the manufacturing advances needed to field these technologies, he said, is dependent on the close coordination and cooperation between the public and private sectors.
DOD launched America Makes in 2012 to bring together members of industry, academia, government and workforce with economic development organizations in order to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing in defense-related manufacturing and to advance the United States’ global manufacturing competitiveness.
Since its inception, America Makes has undertaken a portfolio of 58 DOD projects aimed at supporting mission-essential systems and improving the supply chain and process readiness of the military services.
“America Makes is a vital partner to the DOD strategic development and implementation of additive manufacturing across the department,” he said.
He added that America Makes’ value has extended beyond DOD and has become a vital partner in the government’s approach toward accelerating the adoption of additive technology.
“I’m proud of how far we’ve come in the past 11 years, and I’m looking forward to successful collaborations to come,” he said. (Source: U.S. DoD)
15 Aug 23. Advisor to Chairman Says Holds on Military Confirmations Hurt Total Force. Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramón “CZ” Colón-López said he faces a daily reminder of the risks posed by the ongoing delay of Senate confirmations for military nominees.
Each morning when he walks the halls of the Pentagon before receiving his daily briefing alongside the Joint Chiefs chairman, Colón-López passes the portraits of the nation’s most senior uniformed leaders entrusted with advising the president and secretary of defense on pressing matters of national security.
He said the ritual has long given him confidence that the nation’s fighting force is in good hands.
Now, the empty frames that once held the portraits of the commandant of the Marine Corps, chief of staff of the Army, and chief of naval operations signify empty seats at the table where critical decisions are made.
“For the first time in my tenure — in four years — I’m now walking past a wall that is empty of pictures,” Colón-López said.
“That is not right,” he said. “We owe our people better. We need those leaders appointed so that they can take care of their services.”
As many as 301 general and flag officer nominations have been delayed in the Senate as a result of the blanket hold put in place in February by Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Three service leaders are among those awaiting Senate confirmation. Marine Corps Gen. Eric M. Smith last month took over as acting commandant of the Marine Corps. This month, Army Gen. Randy A. George took over as acting chief of staff of the Army, and Navy Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti became acting chief of naval operations.
It’s the first time in decades that any one of the branches has been led by an acting service chief — and the first time in history that three have operated without confirmed leadership at the same time.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark A. Milley, the nation’s top uniformed military adviser to the president, is slated to retire next month with no guarantee of a confirmed replacement.
There has only been one other instance in history of a gap in having a confirmed chairman. That was in 1993 when Army Gen. John Shalikashvili assumed the chairmanship following Army Gen. Colin Powell’s tenure.
Shalikashvili’s assumption was delayed for less than a month due to the timing of his replacement as NATO’s supreme allied commander of Europe.
Colón-López, who advises Milley on matters involving the health of the force and joint development for enlisted personnel, said negative impacts to the service members will grow if the holds continue.
“Our people, from the most junior to the most senior, are very aware of what’s going on,” Colón-López said. “They’re seeing it. They’re feeling it. And they’re wondering why.”
“Decisions are going to be stalled,” he said. “Families are going to be put in hardship because of uncertainty.”
Most immediately, Pentagon officials have warned that the delayed appointments at the senior officer ranks will delay new assignments throughout the ranks. The cascading delays put families with school age children at a disadvantage if forced to move in the middle of a school year.
Colón-López said thrusting the military in the middle of a political fight could also erode the drive within the ranks and among potential recruits required to serve the country as members of the nation’s fighting force.
Last month, in a brief phone call with Tuberville, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III underscored the risks to national security posed by the ongoing blanket hold.
During the conversation, which took place at the secretary’s request, Austin explained the impact the lawmaker’s holds are having on military readiness and uncertainty within the force.
Austin expressed those same concerns earlier this week when Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday retired.
“Smooth and swift” leadership transitions are “central to the defense of the United States and to the full strength of the most lethal fighting force in history,” he said.
“This is unprecedented,” he said. “It is unnecessary. And it is unsafe.
“This sweeping hold is undermining America’s military readiness,” he said. “It’s hindering our ability to retain our very best officers. And it’s upending the lives of far too many American military families. Our troops deserve better. Our military families deserve better. Our allies and partners deserve better. And our national security deserves better.”
Colón-López echoed Austin’s concerns.
“In the military hierarchy, everybody answers to somebody,” Colon-Lopez said. “Just to put this into context, imagine if the top leadership is gutted, and that guidance is not coming from the president to the secretary to the services to be able to execute the mission via the combatant commands? What happens when you don’t have proper guidance coming from the top?
“That’s setting up an organization for failure,” he said. “That is giving an advantage to the enemy. That is the impact that not having Joint Chiefs and a chairman confirmed has on the total force. The youngest person may not see it, but they will feel it.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
15 Aug 23. New DSCA policy enables commercial financing for Foreign Military Sales. While expected to stimulate demand for US military products and encourage investment in vital industries, this shift could potentially diminish the US’ diplomatic leverage traditionally tied to FMS transactions. The Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced a new policy on 9 August that will allow US allies and partners to use a bank letter of credit as a financing option under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.
Nations will be able to use commercial financing to complete a number of functions previously conducted using national funds, replacing national funds held in the FMS Trust to conduct routine payments and supplementing national funds in letters of Offer and Acceptance. Purchasing countries can also use the bank letters of credit to secure payment schedules under the Credit Assured Payment Schedules (CAPS) policy codified in January 2023.
US allies and partner nations purchase an average of $45bn in military products and services every year, with FMS sales increasing by 49% between 2021 and 2022, according to the US Department of State, who oversee the FMS programme.
Customers of FMS may obtain loans from a US bank with a minimum “A” credit rating or from a foreign bank operating in the United States with a licence from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
While the congressional notifications is required on sales of major defence equipment that have a value greater $14m, or $25m for sales to Nato allies, 95% of FMS purchases are evaluated and approved by the State Department within 48 hours.
In the past month alone, the State Department has gvien approval for Foreign Military sales of AMRAAM missiles to Germany, amphibious assault vehicles to Romania, and MLRS upgrades for Finland.
Brandon Daniels, CEO of Exiger, a major of supply-chain risk management service to the US government, credits the policy as a positive step in allowing private markets to alleviate timing issues for funding. “It is allowing the United States to essentially provide financing options and have private sector capital placed on sales and innovation build.”
“Most people would finance these because it is essentially backed by sovereign government finances.”
Asked whether the expansion of private financing, at a time when supply-chains are taught and contractors have extensive back-orders, could drive inflation for military costs, Daniels points out that the increased demand signal should lead to an expansion of the defence-industrial base before inflationary pressures manifest.
“The timelines for major weapons systems and military technology and critical infrastructure and technology to be created and to be produced allow for us to ramp up supply chains,” said Daniels.
“Actually the more demand we have, the better planning we can do. One of the things that’s really tough for the Pentagon, that’s really tough for foreign governments and their defence industrial base, is the fact that we’re just one buyer,” continued Daniels, who goes on to explain that without international demand there is a reluctance to develop crucial industries. “Today, in free markets – the EU, US, UK, Australia – they don’t want to artificially prop up things like lithium reserve mining, and extraction and production. They don’t want to artificially create plants for near neodymium iron, boron magnets or samarium-cobalt magnets that are needed in military applications for fuel couplings or, navigation, or even for sealing the door on an F-35.”
“But if you have, today, a lot of security demand, that you need to open up,” such as the increasing demand and scheduling demand highlighted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “these private markets allow you to do it, and then they allow us to actually invest in the downstream supply chains more effectively.”
While the addition of commercial financing to the options available to FMS customers will broaden out the demand for US military equipment, the additional options brought through private funding may have a weakening effect on benefits to US Foreign policy that the FMS program brings.
The structure of FMS transactions have historically allowed the US to maintain a degree of political and diplomatic leverage over purchasing countries. The terms of sales, including financing arrangements, can be used as tools of foreign policy, allowing the US to incentivise purchasing countries toward a desired effect. With the advent of commercial financing, these avenues for leverage may have to be found elsewhere. (Source: army-technology.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
————————————————————————-