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10 Dec 24. Defense bill for 2025 would delay F-35 deliveries. Congress is set to allow the military to buy 68 Lockheed Martin-made F-35s in 2025, under this year’s defense authorization bill — but would prevent the Pentagon from accepting 20 of those jets until it shows how it plans to fix several problems with the Joint Strike Fighter program. The proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2025, which lawmakers released Saturday would allow the Air Force to buy and accept delivery of 30 F-35As. The Marine Corps would get nine F-35Bs, which are the short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the jet, and the Navy and Marine Corps would get nine F-35Cs that can land on an aircraft carrier. The Pentagon’s original budget proposal for 2025, released in March, asked for 42 F-35As, 13 F-35Bs and 13 F-35Cs. Lawmakers have grown increasingly impatient with the F-35 program, as problems with its Technology Refresh 3 upgrades led to a delivery halt in July 2023 that stretched on for about a year, as newly built jets piled up at Lockheed’s factory in Fort Worth, Texas. The newest F-35s are now being delivered with an interim version of the TR-3 software and can fly combat training missions, but will not be able to fly in combat until 2025. The military is now withholding about $5 m per jet in payments to Lockheed until the new F-35s are combat-capable. A senior staff member for the House Armed Services Committee’s Republican majority told reporters in May that members have “grown frustrated” with the program for the last few years, and cited the delivery halt as a particular point of displeasure and cause for the delivery reduction. He also said the program needed to fix software and radar problems with the F-35. A Democratic staffer also told reporters in May that the F-35 program needs to sort out problems with the TR-3 upgrades — which include improved displays, computer memory and processing power — so work on a more expansive set of upgrades known as Block 4 can follow. Block 4 upgrades would include the ability to carry more weapons and better electronic warfare capabilities. The final 20 deliveries slated for 2025 would only be allowed when the defense secretary tells congressional defense committees how it plans to improve research, development, testing, evaluation, production and sustainment problems across multiple areas in the F-35 program, the NDAA said. And the defense secretary would be required to send Congress annual updates for five years, starting next April, on how the plans to fix the F-35′s problems are going.
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., the chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces, told Defense News on Saturday that the new F-35s are on their way to getting combat capabilities — but that “fencing off” these 20 jets will be necessary to help get the program back on track.
“I’ll give them credit, they have made progress,” Wittman said at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. “Now I will say, there is more that needs to be done, so I want to make sure they maintain the focus there. But I think they have turned the corner in how they have made a meaningful effort to address the [F-35] challenges … that were just mind-boggling.”
Wittman also said Lockheed Martin’s October decision to put a software engineering specialist, Chauncey McIntosh, in charge of the company’s F-35 operations demonstrates it knows it needs to do better on the jets’ software. The bill also contains an amendment Wittman proposed earlier this year, which would up the number of developmental test F-35s purchased from six to at least nine. Congress’ joint explanatory statement for the bill noted Lockheed Martin’s agreement to invest $350m of its own money to improve how the F-35 program operates, particularly the development, testing and fielding of new hardware and software capabilities. The statement also encouraged the program’s major subcontractors to consider similarly investing in their F-35 efforts. (Source: glstrade.com/Defense News)
09 Dec 24. US DEFSEC warns Trump against global retreat. Lloyd J. Austin probes isolationism ahead of the new presidency, but is this narrative an accurate representation of Trump’s ‘strongman’ political order?
Donald Trump speaking at an event in Maryland, 24 February 2024. Now President-elect, the forthcoming leader of the free world has a propensity for ‘strongman’ politics, where a global balance of power hinges on the notion of might is right. This is not necessarily an isolationist approach to foreign and defence policy. Credit: Shutterstock/Jonah Elkowitz.
US defence policy in an age of strategic competition hinges on solid alliances, observed the Secretary of State for Defense, Lloyd J. Austin, in a speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum on 7 December 2024.
Austin, who now has just over a month left in government, emphasised that “America is weaker when it stands alone.” This was his advice to president-elect Donald Trump as the Biden administration prepares “to pass the baton” on 20 January 2025.
Fearing the rising tide of isolationism, largely based on Trump’s reversion to US troop deployments abroad, Austin warned that “there is no such thing as a safe retreat from today’s interwoven world.”
US isolationism is a foreign and self-defence policy that has its roots in the years after the country secured its independence from Great Britain in the late eighteenth-century, and could be said to have lasted until 1941 when the US entered World War II. It is a policy of non-interventionism and neutrality as the country sought to act solely on its own interests.
However; Trump’s second term appears to be guided by, perhaps, a more damaging conception of the international order than isolationism. His geopolitical model is based on his sympathy for so-called ‘strongman’ politics, wherein might is right. This model threatens ties with Nato, and foremost Ukraine, more than any notion of global retreat.
Selling out Ukraine
Russia continues to test Ukraine’s defences in Kursk and Eastern Ukraine. Marginal Russian gains are being made towards Pokrovsk and Kurakhove as the aggressor seeks to “level the frontline in Western Donetsk.”
These gains have come at the cost of up to 1,500 Russian losses per day in November, according to the UK government.
In the backdrop, Trump’s position is to sell out Ukraine in an effort to bring an end to the (nearly) three-year long war in Eastern Europe. This decision comes as part of the future US president’s vision to ‘end all wars’.
This policy direction is not akin to taking a backseat in global affairs and fixating on its own territorial interests. Rather, forcing Ukraine to the negotiating table on the backfoot will break with the Nato policy of supporting Ukraine come what may.
Future negotiations, which Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned for the first time in recent weeks, are becoming a reality. Ukraine is still on the backfoot in military terms, even if Russia’s global presence has taken a hit with the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria this past week.
However, the Ukrainian head of state is still working to secure the best for Ukraine before any prospective talks. Last week, he stated that “the peace [must be] just for all of us” during a trilateral discussion with Trump and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
On the contrary, Trump’s policy will inevitably cede Ukrainian territory to Russia as part of a balance-of-power system in which America and its adversaries split control. As a result, this will bring about a frozen conflict in the region that will inevitably thaw into armed conflict in the coming years.
Strangely, this would also send an alarming and inconsistent message to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), whose military aggression is challenging US values in the Indo-Pacific region.
Indo-Pacific focus
Trump’s Ukraine policy is inconsistent with his China policy, which will likely be in line with that of the Biden administration when it comes to defence and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.
“Allowing the PRC to ‘take’ the island [Taiwan] will make president Trump look weak on China.”
Fox Walker, GlobalData defence analyst
“Shielding Taiwanese democracy and human rights concerns may take a backseat in the second Trump administration.” However, “allowing the PRC to ‘take’ the island will make president Trump look weak on China in the eyes of many across the globe,” according to Fox Walker, GlobalData defence analyst, in a briefing on ‘Arms Transfers in the Second Trump Administration’ (8 November 2024).
This is especially true since China represents a more dangerous strategic peer to the US economically and militarily. Should the US fail to deter the PRC in the Indo-Pacific – where 60% of global shipping currently passes, and is anticipated to account for more than half of global GDP – then US strategic interests will be compromised.
“If his campaign promises are any guide,” Walker summarised, “the second Trump administration is likely to dramatically raise tensions with Nato allies and Ukraine, while providing support to those who show him favour or advance the strategic competition with China.” (Source: army-technology.com)
09 Dec 24. Adversarial Convergence Raises Alarm, Warns Socom General at Reagan Defense Forum. U.S. Army Gen. Bryan P. Fenton, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, highlighted the cooperation among adversarial nations and nonstate actors, and called for decisive action in the face of increasing complex global security threats at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California on Saturday.
Fenton detailed how partnerships between Russia, Iran, North Korea and China are reshaping the international security landscape — specifically with regard to the present conflict in Ukraine. Fenton explained how these alliances provide adversaries with a dangerous synergy. “This is not just Russia fighting Ukraine,” Fenton said. “It’s Russia, backed by Iranian drones, North Korean personnel and indirect Chinese contributions.”
The general cited Iran’s transfer of “material solutions” — like its Shahed 136 drones and Fath 360 ballistic missiles — to Russia as a prime example. The Fath 360 missiles, which can strike targets up to 75 miles away, enhance Russia’s ability to sustain its war effort while preserving its long-range arsenal.
Fenton’s example echoed similar concerns voiced by the Defense Department in recent months. In October, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed that Iran has trained Russian personnel to operate its munitions, solidifying the growing military ties between the two nations.
“The concerning aspect of this,” Ryder said, “is the developing relationship between Russia and Iran. It’s reasonable to expect that this missile delivery will not be a one-time event.” He continued, noting that Russia’s partnerships with nations like Iran and North Korea often involve exchanges of intelligence and technology, further deepening their strategic alignment.
North Korea’s increasing role in the conflict adds another dimension to this adversarial convergence. During a Nov. 4 press briefing, Ryder reported that more than 12,000 North Korean troops deployed to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, to train in combat tactics alongside Russian forces. These troops replaced Russian personnel depleted by heavy casualties in Ukraine.
Fenton expanded on the implications of these alliances, stressing that the convergence of state and nonstate actors represents a fundamental shift in the character of warfare. He noted that Ukraine’s innovative use of drones and artificial intelligence to counter these threats represents a “revolutionary” approach worth emulating. The general urged the department to scale similar technologies, emphasizing the need for affordable and scalable solutions.
“We need tools that impose costs on adversaries without draining our resources,” Fenton said, pointing to Ukraine’s production of millions of drones as a model for how smaller systems can effectively challenge larger forces.
Fenton also called for stronger collaboration between the military and private industry. He praised Socom’s ability to quickly adapt to battlefield needs through partnerships with defense companies but emphasized the need to expand these efforts across the department. “Our modernization priorities must be clear, and we need to bring industry closer to the problem,” he said.
Despite these challenges, the general expressed optimism in America’s ability to counter these emerging threats through its own global partnerships. He highlighted multinational military exercises like the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, which integrates allied forces to enhance readiness and interoperability. “Our allies bring unique capabilities that, combined with ours, create a powerful force multiplier,” he noted.
In his closing remarks, Fenton urged policymakers to adopt a whole-of-nation approach to security. He emphasized the importance of innovation, bipartisan support and public understanding of the threats posed by adversarial blocs. “We’re in a decisive decade,” he said. “The convergence of threats demands a convergence of our own capabilities.” (Source: U.S. DoD)
06 Dec 24. Defense Innovation Unit ‘Moving at the Speed of Relevance.’ Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III got a tour today of the Defense Innovation Unit in Mountain View, California, where cutting-edge technology is bringing critical solutions at rapid speed to the warfighters and allied partners.
DIU is “moving at the speed of relevance,” Austin told the DIU workers.
“The things that you’re working on are making a difference, not just to the United States military, but to the entire world,” he said.
Allies and partners around the world want to tap into DIU’s work and create similar organizations, he said, citing trips he’s made to the United Kingdom, France, Australia and India, where DIU is mentioned.
DIU officials who hosted Austin’s visit, said that they don’t work on a set of traditional requirements that go into programs of record and often take time. Instead, they look for reasonably priced solutions to pressing problems that the services bring to them that need immediate attention.
Once the problems are received, DIU looks for commercial or technology companies that may have solutions. One of the good things is where DIUs are located. They are located here in Mountain View, Boston and Austin, Texas, places where many high-tech startups and workers are located.
A few of the many projects DIU is working on are: deep-fake detection of audio, video and imagery; advanced semiconductors; quantum sensors; counter-unmanned systems; battery supply chain resilience; autonomy and artificial intelligence. (Source: U.S. DoD)
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