FRIDAY PDB – ‘Range of [US] options' ready for South China Sea aggression. American forces are ready to deal with increasing acts of aggression in the disputed South China Sea if ordered to carry them out jointly and after consultations with treaty ally the Philippines, a U.S. admiral said Thursday.
Connecting the dots on China's airspace violation. When China's air force and coast guard engaged recently in apparently provocative actions in the East and South China Seas, most Western media framed the events as evidence of Beijing's aggressive and potentially destabilizing behavior.
US at a loss to deter Chinese hackers. Officials from the National Security Agency and the State Department said they're still struggling to come up with a way to deter a powerful hacking group allegedly backed by the Chinese government and accused of slipping into U.S. critical infrastructure networks.
US falling dangerously behind China on GPS development. We aren't working quickly enough to replace its aging and vulnerable GPS system.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
NATIONAL SECURITY
I WOULD DISAGREE – AND SO MIGHT CHINA – US carrier drought in Western Pacific is telling but no security threat, expert says. The absence of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Indo-Pacific poses no immediate risk to regional security but exposes the U.S. Navy's inability to project a complete global presence.
Inside the frantic US efforts to contain a Mideast disaster. A bigger disaster may have been avoided, even as the region continues to teeter on the brink of wider war.
HOMELAND SECURITY
TRAITOR – Former Alabama Guard soldier pleads guilty to human smuggling. He admitted to driving migrants from the Mexican border into Texas while he was deployed to assist Customs and Border Protection.
POLITICS
Walz defends misstatements as “candid” words during CNN interview. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed criticism over his own past words in his first televised interview as VP nominee.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore regrets “honest mistake” on Bronze Star. The rising Democratic star, and potential future presidential candidate says he regrets not correcting it.
Army blasts Trump trip to Arlington cemetery for violating decorum. They also criticized the former president's campaign staff for allegedly abusing a cemetery worker earlier this week, but no further actions will be pursued after the involved employee declined to press charges.
I left the Democrat Party and will do all I can to return Donald Trump to the White House. I had the privilege of visiting Arlington Cemetery with President Trump and the Gold Star families of SSG Hoover and SGT Gee, two of the thirteen service members killed in the attack at Abbey Gate in Kabul three years ago.
BIDEN-HARRIS' AFGHAN DISASTER
When the US left Kabul, these Americans tried to help Afghans left behind. It still haunts them.
For many Afghanistan vets, chaotic withdrawal overshadows wartime service. Three years ago today, the last plane carrying U.S. troops took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, marking the official end of America's longest war.
US POWER OVERSEAS
Challenges of the Gaza humanitarian aid pier offer lessons for the US Army. Troops from the 7th Transportation Brigade had previously set up a pier during training and in exercises overseas but never had dealt with the wild combination of turbulent weather, security threats and personnel restrictions that surrounded the Gaza project.
Air Force wants to expand enlisted airmen exchanges with Australia. This, to improve cooperation between allies in case of a major war in the Pacific.
South Korea's Hanwha Ocean announces first win of a US Navy ship repair contract to overhaul a 40,000-ton logistics support ship. This, one month after gaining a green light from the service to do such work.
Slow-moving Typhoon Shanshan plows into Japan as US bases button up. Navy and Marine Corps bases in the path of a punishing typhoon secured ships and planes and stocked up on peanut butter Thursday.
Third airman found dead during ‘difficult summer' at Air Force base in South Korea. The Kunsan Air Base, 120 miles south of Seoul has had three deaths in a span of five weeks.
ISRAEL'S WAR AGAINST TERROR
Israel kills Palestinian terror commander in West Bank incursion.
IRAN THREAT
Houthi video shows the Yemeni terrorists planted bombs on tanker now threatening Red Sea oil spill. The Iran-backed terrorists boarded and placed explosives on a Greek-flagged tanker, setting off blasts. The vessel was abandoned earlier, after the Houthis repeatedly attacked it.
US Navy rescued two Iranian mariners in distress last Friday.
CHINA THREAT
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine F-16 jet crashes during Russian attack, killing pilot. This was one of the handful of warplanes that Ukraine has received from its Western partners.
Ukraine's F-16s doing a ‘good job,' Netherlands military chief says.
Ukraine FM calls out Patriot delays, pleads with allies to ‘finally deliver.' Amid a fresh round of Russian attacks on Ukrainian critical infrastructure, why is desperately needed equipment committed by military aid partners, including Patriot surface-to-air weapon systems, taking so long to arrive?
EU's top diplomat ramps up pressure on Ukraine's backers to permit strikes on targets inside Russia.
A former Russian defense official is detained in a fraud case, part of an ongoing military probe. This, the latest high-profile arrest in what appears to be a sweeping investigation into corruption in Russia's military leadership.
SPACE THREAT
Air Force greenlights baseline for new NRO-Space Force satellites to track ground targets.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Mexican military is attacked and roads blocked by cartels in the northern state of Sinaloa.
Drone sightings near bases, infrastructure throughout the country are unnerving German officials.
TO FACE CHINA – Japan's record $58.7 billion defense-spending request includes satellites, drone security. This, the third year of a planned military buildup.
US MILITARY
Marine commandant's new planning guidance emphasizes C2 investments. “My observations over the last year reinforce my belief that command and control, as well as our ability to share data, will play an outsized role in future conflict.”
Watch rolling airframe missiles soar across the sky in this 2020 footage.
Osprey crash investigations often blame the pilots and crew. Is that fair? The V-22 was a novel aircraft when it was conceived in the 1980s. Promising to give American service members an advantage on the battlefield. It could fly like a plane but rotate its propellers to take off like a helicopter. Military services jumped on it, especially the Marine Corps.
Army puts its ‘transforming in contact' concept to biggest test yet. It seemed like a long shot: soldiers using small drones with MacGyvered tech that cost less than $100 to serve as decoys to divert the attention of a highly capable enemy.
Army's blunt trauma tests on pigs, cadavers may aid body armor designs. When a soldier takes an enemy round to his or her body armor and lives to fight another day, it's a good-news story for the engineers who develop that protection.
Army launches cognitive screening to track new soldiers' brain health. This, to proactively monitor soldiers' brain health.
END of PDB
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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If this country doesn’t elect republicans we will be so far behind our enemies we will be vulnerable.
We LOSE satellites we LOSE GPS EFT, Phones, wire transfers etc worldwide