FRIDAY PDB – Game of Drones: The dangerous rise of military and surveillance warcraft. From drones that can soar through the stratosphere, to rotor drones that hover a few feet above the ground and underwater drones that glide 50 feet underwater, drones have transformed our lives and modern warfare. Will they eventually destroy us?
Beware of Pentagon techno-enthusiasm. A massive new drone effort, while laudable in its quest for simpler weapons, does not come without strings attached.
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE – The Pentagon’s Replicator drone effort to counter China is the right call. Concerns about this initiative are rooted in bureaucratic tradition and an aversion to change — and that viewpoint couldn’t be more wrong.
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:
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
GOP defense bill bars Pentagon from enacting Biden’s climate orders. The House NDAA bars the Defense Department from implementing Biden’s climate orders, but many of its activities that reduce emissions may continue anyway.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Hicks takes direct oversight of Pentagon’s UAP (UFO) office; new reporting website to be launched. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks describes the near-term vision for the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
CHINA THREAT
China lashes out over stepped-up US military aid to Taiwan. Team Biden has approved the first-ever U.S. military transfer to Taiwan under a program generally reserved for assistance to sovereign, independent states.
US vice chair of Armed Services Committee promises ‘resolute reaction’ if Taiwan is attacked. A congressional delegation visiting Taiwan said that Washington would act if the island was attacked by China and promised to resolve the $19-billion backlog in its defense purchases from the U.S.
US, Indonesia and 5 other nations hold war drills amid China concerns. This year’s Super Garuda Shield exercises began Thursday with about 5,000 personnel.
India and Malaysia protest China’s land claim in a newly published map ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi. Malaysia joined India in protesting a new Chinese map that lays claim to India’s territory and Malaysia’s maritime areas near Borneo island.
USAF ‘not as ready as we need to be’ for China challenge. The U.S. could find itself in a near-peer conflict with an adversary like China and Russia “tomorrow,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said, and the department is “not as [ready] as we could be, by a significant margin.”
US Air Force plans to bring some mothballed Indo-Pacific bases back to life. The Air Force plans to increase the number of bases it can operate from in the region to disperse forces in wartime.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 555. A new Ukrainian-made long-range weapon has successfully reached a target 435 miles away, Ukraine’s President said without providing details of the attack or when it was carried out.
With a village recaptured, Ukraine takes the next step in its counteroffensive. After penetrating Russian defenses to retake the village of Robotyne, Ukrainian forces have pushed the fight a few miles east, but obstacles lie ahead.
Ukraine pierces main Russian defensive line. After three months of grinding advances in its Western-backed counteroffensive, Kyiv has accelerated its thrust along its main line of attack.
Ukrainians complete training on US Abrams tanks as Kyiv makes battlefield gains. Ten of 31 promised U.S. tanks are expected to arrive in the country by mid-September.
Ukraine Defense Ministry asks for ‘ammunition, not advice’ in new video. This, in a new video Thursday, following recent criticism from U.S. officials over Kyiv’s strategy amid a slow-moving counteroffensive.
Ultra-nationalist military blogger arrested in Moscow. A Russian military blogger who has written critically of Russia’s conduct in Ukraine was arrested Thursday.
IRAN THREAT
IRAN DOESN’T FEAR BIDEN – Pentagon: No ‘drop’ in Iran threat to ships, as F-35s and Harriers keep flying over the Gulf. In July, the U.S. dispatched some of its most advanced airpower into the region with a squadron of F-35s to respond to Iranian actions in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
North Korea says it simulated nuclear attacks on South Korea. North Korea has been increasing its protests of ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.
US Army engineers float South Korean tanks during ‘wet gap’ drill near DMZ. U.S. and South Korean combat engineers demonstrated their bridge-building prowess Thursday by moving an armored column across open water just 15 miles from the border with North Korea.
SPACE THREAT
Norms plus counterspace weapons: RAND recommends holistic strategy to deter space attack. “The prospects for complete success in deterrence of hostile attacks on space assets, particularly reversible, nondestructive attacks, are limited.”
HOMELAND SECURITY
Democrat governor activates Massachusetts National Guard to help with Biden migrant crisis. Guard desperately needed to handle the flood of illegal migrants.
DESERVED? OR OVERKILL? – Proud Boy Joe Biggs sentenced to 17 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case. Joe Biggs, a Proud Boys leader who the government says “served as an instigator and leader” during the attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison. The government sought 33 years for Biggs, an Army veteran who sustained a head injury in Iraq and then was a correspondent for the conspiracy website Infowars.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
AFRICOM keeps tabs on situation in Gabon amid latest ouster of African leader. U.S. Africa Command said it is monitoring an apparent coup in Gabon, a country that has played a key role in the American military’s network of crisis response outposts on the continent.
NATO to test 5G capabilities in Latvia with virtual reality, drones. NATO has signed an agreement with Latvia that will allow member nations to assess new capabilities at the Baltic country’s 5G military test bed.
Japan’s new defense budget, seeks hypersonics, frigates, F-35s. Japan’s Defense Ministry has requested another record defense budget, with a host of high-tech weapons systems.
BIDEN’S AFGHAN DISASTER
THEY DESERVE THE MEDAL, BIDEN DESERVES IMPEACHMENT – Soldiers, Marines from Kabul evac awarded Presidential Unit Citation. Two years ago, the fall of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, to the Taliban sparked one of the largest, most chaotic, humanitarian operations in U.S. military history.
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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