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Today's PDB includes a variety of critical, global national security issues.
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READ TODAY'S PDB BELOW:
NATIONAL SECURITY
Russia's ‘Satan 2' missile changes little for US, scholars say. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday that the United States did not consider the weapon a threat to Washington or its allies. Defense policy and strategy scholars told The Washington Post that although the weapon sounds intimidating, the escalating threats Putin has made since his unprovoked Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine should be more concerning.
DANGEROUS GAMES – Biden administration's new shipbuilding plan is wholly inadequate. The myriad failures of this 30-year shipbuilding request are exacerbated by the Biden administration's decision to hide its anemic ship-construction plan and intention to accelerate ship retirements from Congress last year by only previewing fiscal 2022 decisions in its budget request.
HOMELAND SECURITY
MISTAKEN THREAT – Army Golden Knights demo at Nats Park causes brief Capitol evacuation. Capitol Police identified an aircraft that they said posed “a probable threat,” but it was actually carrying members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights.
CHINA THREAT
China looks to learn from Russian failures in Ukraine. With its ground troops forced to pull back in Ukraine and regroup, and its Black Sea flagship sunk, Russia's military failings are mounting.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS – NOT – China's Xi proposes ‘global security initiative', without giving details. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday proposed a “global security initiative” that upholds the principle of “indivisible security”, a concept also endorsed by Russia, although he gave no details of how it would be implemented.
Pentagon chief speaks for 1st time to Chinese counterpart. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday spoke with his Chinese counterpart for the first time since becoming Pentagon chief more than a year ago, breaking a communications impasse that American officials saw as increasingly dangerous amid concern that Beijing might provide military support for Russia's war in Ukraine.
RUSSIA THREAT
Russian offensive bears down on Donbas as West races to resupply Ukraine. Russian forces made incremental gains in their offensive in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, while the remaining defenders in Mariupol warned that time was running out and asked to be evacuated to a third country.
Why is Ukraine's Donbas region a target for Russian forces? Russia has launched a much-anticipated assault in the eastern region, marking the next phase of its war in Ukraine
ONE WAY TO DO IT – Ukraine's Air Force has added about 20 more operational aircraft after influx of spare parts, senior US defense official says. A day earlier, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Ukraine had received additional fighter aircraft to add to its numbers. But on Wednesday, the senior defense official walked that back, saying Ukraine had not received more aircraft but had in fact received aircraft parts to make more of its existing aircraft functional.
Russia tests new nuclear-capable missile. The ministry said the missile was launched Wednesday from the Plesetsk launch facility in northern Russia and that its practice warheads hit designated targets at the Kura firing range on the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.
A FRIEND IN NEED – Ohio Army National Guard providing Ukraine military with armored vehicles. Following a request from the Department of Defense, the guard will provide M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) to Ukraine, according to Governor DeWine.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
HERE WE GO AGAIN? Deep in Colombia, rebels and soldiers fight for the same prize: drugs. The country signed a historic peace deal more than five years ago. But a power vacuum is fueling the rise of new armed groups competing to control the drug trade.
WAGNER GROUP MERCENARIES – First Russian ‘adviser' confirmed killed in Mali blast, report. A Russian national operating alongside Malian soldiers was killed by a roadside bomb in Sahel state, marking the first confirmed death of what in Mali are officially described as Russian military instructors.
US MILITARY AND SPACE
ELON MUSK STRIKES AGAIN – SpaceX shut down a Russian electromagnetic warfare attack in Ukraine last month — and the Pentagon is taking notes. Russia's halting efforts to conduct electromagnetic warfare in Ukraine show how important it is to quickly respond, and immediately shut down, such attacks, Pentagon experts said Wednesday.
GOING DEEP – US Space Force space defense squadron tasked to focus on deep space. The U.S. Space Force stood up the 19th Space Defense Squadron this month in Dahlgren, Virginia, to focus on cislunar space domain awareness, Lt. Col. Matthew Lintker, the force's Space Delta 2, said.
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.
