FRIDAY PDB – The Navy’s current efforts to test and develop unmanned and autonomous vessels are too vulnerable to espionage from China, Russia and other U.S. adversaries, warns retired Navy Capt. Jerry Hendrix.
That’s why Hendrix is advocating that the Navy create a new ultra-secret research development and test range for unmanned vessels on Lake Michigan, where there is no chance the experimental vessels could be captured and reverse-engineered by rivals.
Retired Navy officer calls for creating ‘Area 52’ amid China, Russia concerns. A secretive testing ground in the waters of Lake Michigan for unmanned ships and submersibles could be game changers in preparing for a war with China.
He suggests that the Navy create an “Area 52” to test and build unmanned ships and submersibles – an homage to the Air Force’s Area 51 in Nevada, where the U-2 spy plane and F-117 Stealth Fighter were secretly developed.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories from national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
POLITICIZATION IS KEY – US military’s recruiting woes are a national security crisis. America’s armed services are failing to meet their recruiting goals, with the Army, in particular, suffering the worst shortfalls in five decades. There are many reasons behind this, but one is very surprising: veterans themselves.
ABSOLUTE NONSENSE – THEY ARE MOSTLY STATE LAWS RESTRICTING TRANSGENDERS AND KIDS, AND SOME ABORTION – Most of the military not tracking number of families relocated due to anti-LGBTQ+ laws. In early 2022, state laws ‘targeting LGBTQ+ communities’ began to spread across the U.S., leading the military services to offer resources for families seeking support and even relocations to escape discrimination. STOP RELOCATING.
NATIONAL SECURITY
A growing rivalry in the Arctic? Talk about a cold war. As far as U.S. policy goes, the Arctic is synonymous with Alaska. And that’s a growing problem. Climate change, military competition and the search for natural resources are turning the frozen north into a hotbed of global rivalry. The U.S. must start thinking bigger or risk being left behind.
UNACCEPTABLE DELAYS – 4 of 5 last Marines ARG-MEU deployments were delayed: Official. Pending legislation in the Senate aims to force the Navy and Marine Corps to have 24 amphibs “operationally available” on any given day.
Coalition kill chain for the Pacific: Lessons from Ukraine. Russia’s war in Ukraine offers a critical case study on why—and how—to build a more robust kill chain that leverages partners’ and allies’ capabilities.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Bulletproof safe rooms in DoD schools: Lawmakers look to new tactics to protect kids. A bipartisan pair of lawmakers wants to install bulletproof safe rooms in the schools that serve military children to protect against school shootings.
Man arrested near Obamas’ home is Navy veteran. Federal authorities arrested Taylor Taranto, an Iraq War veteran and Jan. 6 participant, near President Obama’s house last Thursday.
GOOD – Texas National Guard soldier who shot migrant cleared of charges. A soldier with the Texas National Guard has been cleared of civilian criminal charges for shooting and wounding an illegal migrant while he was deployed along the border with Mexico.
CHINA THREAT
China’s message to the global south. A new propaganda push: “universal values” are a form of racism. Chinese officials praised countries of the “global south”, meaning Africa, Asia and Latin America, for challenging an international order crafted in 1945 by the winners of WWII—before, they claim, most modern states even existed.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
US to provide Ukraine cluster munitions in new military aid package. U.S. officials said they expect the military aid to Ukraine will be announced on Friday.
Ukraine calls for long-range weapons from US to fight Russian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Kyiv needed long-range weapons from the U.S. to fight invading Russian forces.
Belarus says Wagner chief who staged mutiny is in Russia. The mercenary leader who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin is in Russia and his troops are in their field camps, the leader of Belarus said Thursday, raising new questions about the deal that ended the extraordinary challenge to Vladimir Putin.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 499. At least seven people were killed, and dozens were injured after a Russian missile hit a residential building in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, just 43 miles from the border with Poland.
IRAN THREAT
LOL, LOL! – Iranian navy says they had court order to seize tanker Richmond Voyager. Officials in Tehran are claiming the warship that attempted to seize an oil tanker operating off the coast of Oman acted under a court order, according to Iranian state-controlled media.
SPACE THREAT
Space Command wants ‘sustained’ satellite maneuverability by 2028. A top U.S. space official says his command is constrained by current satellites’ fuel capacity.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Russian jets harass US drones over Syria for second time in 24 hours. The U.S. Air Force says Russian fighter jets flew dangerously close to U.S. drone aircraft over Syria again Thursday.
Terrorist group’s claim of US casualties in Somalia blast ‘not accurate,’ AFRICOM says. No U.S. troops were injured in an attack Thursday on a convoy in Somalia, where American forces have been supporting the central government’s battle against Islamic militants, according to U.S. Africa Command.
Navy holds first-of-its-kind command, control, communication exercise. The exercise provided the warfare centers with a “wealth of actionable data” ahead of the Pacific Fleet’s biannual Talisman Sabre exercise with Australia.
Air Force’s largest-ever mobility exercise to prove prowess in Pacific. It’s the first time that Air Mobility Command has brought its marquee biennial event overseas.
New Zealand’s military chief talks recruitment, drones and Ukraine. You fight with what you have, and the New Zealand Defense Force’s firepower is limited.
BIDEN’S AFGHAN DISASTER
TRAGIC – SURVIVES AFGHANISTAN WAR TO BE KILLED IN US – Afghanistan man who served as interpreter for US army shot dead in Virginia. A 31-year-old man of Afghanistan origin, who worked as an interpreter with the US Army before the Taliban takeover, was killed shortly after he finished up a late-night Lyft shift.
US MILITARY
MAKE ALL MARINES SNIPERS? – Doubts about scout snipers arose in infantry units, No. 2 Marine says. The Marine Corps’ controversial decision to scrap scout sniper platoons “came from the ground up.”
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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So they put it in the news. That’s how you keep a secret.
Gerald Ladd, you made a very good point. The proper way is to keep one’s enemy off balance and guessing what’s going to happen. The so-called Dems. have a habit of telling the world what they’re going to do next.
I am surprised they didn’t give the GPS co-ordinance.
That would be exactly where commercial air and sea routes are not.
No matter where the “secret” test area is, Biden will let China fly balloons with cameras and ways to transmit pictures back home fly over it.
Probably send fishing trawlers disguised as Wisconsin fishermen.
Makes sense & long overdue & need other Test Zone around or near Hawaii?
They can still spy from Canada
That won’t do any good if Biden continues to sell those secrets.