US Must Be Ready To Fight Back After Major Homeland Attack

PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – But we aren’t there now. Our homeland needs to be able to survive a ‘punch in the nose’ according to former NORAD and NORTHCOM chief. He urged the U.S. to become more resilient when it comes to protecting the homeland. America’s expansive global military commitments are placing tremendous pressure on that effort.

“We need to be able to take a punch in the nose, whether it’s a cyber attack or a conventional kinetic attack, and get back up and come out swinging,” retired Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, who led the two commands from 2020 to 2024, said.

He believes that “if any potential adversary looks at us and sees a nation so resilient that they believe they could never achieve their objectives without a large nuclear attack on us, then they’re most likely not to attack in the first place, because they know what comes back is a mutually assured destruction.”

“That is strategic stability by definition, and that’s where we need to put ourselves. Unfortunately, we’re not there from a resilience perspective.”

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories ending the week from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEFING – the PDB:    

NATIONAL SECURITY

Navy desperately needs new ships, aircraft and weapons as it prepares for the coming war with China. But instead of procuring them in the numbers it needs, the service has wasted — and continues to waste — money on ill-considered programs.

HOMELAND SECURITY

Georgia to send 316 members of the state’s National Guard to Washington, D.C., later this month in the latest indication that Trump’s law enforcement operation in the nation’s capital will continue.

DEFENSE POLITICS

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday aiming to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War — a long-telegraphed move aimed at projecting American military toughness around the globe.

Trump’s executive order calling for a National Center for Warrior Independence to house thousands of veterans in West Los Angeles has gained widespread support, including among his political opposition.

US POWER OVERSEAS

U.S. is deploying ten F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in the latest surge of military power in the Caribbean over the last month.

U.S. and allied naval forces wrapped two separate exercises, coinciding with a massive Chinese military parade in Beijing that prominently displayed anti-ship missiles and other advanced weaponry.

U.S. Marines spent the past several weeks honing the use of a new NMESIS mobile ground-based anti-ship missile system, launching the weapon for the first time from Okinawa, Japan.

Navy SEALs infiltrated North Korea in 2019 in a mission that fell apart, according to the New York Times. The investigation outlined extensive and massive planning that went into the move to plant a listening device inside North Korea and how the operation fell apart when SEALs came across a boat of civilians.

MIDDLE EAST THREATS

Orbital Sidekick hyperspectral sensors revealed new information on damage sustained by Iran’s Fordow nuclear fuel enrichment plant after U.S. armed forces bombed the site in June.

Iran says it will agree to a long-term deal that includes strict monitoring and limits on its domestic uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

Hamas released a video of two hostages being driven around Gaza City, in a move apparently aimed at swaying Israeli public opinion as the military ramps up its assault on the city.

Israel’s Ramon Airport near the Red Sea city of Eilat has resumed operations after being briefly shut when a drone launched from Yemen struck the arrivals hall.

At least four people have been killed and five others wounded in a shooting attack at a bus stop in Jerusalem.

Leftist Spain will increase pressure on Israel by banning Israel-bound ships and aircraft carrying weapons from calling at Spanish ports or entering Spanish airspace.

CHINA THREAT

Trump administration should expand America’s weapons arsenal, international partnerships and signaling to counter China’s rising influence globally and deter the People’s Liberation Army as its 2027 deadline for being ready to invade Taiwan approaches.

China’s growing military capabilities – including the largest navy, coast guard, and rocket force in the world – are driving smaller regional countries to counter that might with asymmetric capabilities while leveraging intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) technologies from commercial industry and foreign militaries.

While the autocratic triumvirate of Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Kim Jong-un of North Korea basked in the reflected glory of what’s believed to be China’s largest military parade ever, one important figure was absent: Narendra Modi of India.

China’s increasingly powerful military has bracketed Taiwan with exercises. Its air and naval forces launch daily incursions, and Beijing has erased the unofficial maritime border between them. Yet, many Americans are baffled by a Taiwanese public that is seemingly oblivious, resigned, or apathetic to these threats.

Pentagon-funded research aided Chinese military, House GOP report says. Over a recent two-year period, DOD funded hundreds of projects done in collaboration with universities in China and institutes linked to its defense industry, including many blacklisted by the U.S. government.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

Russia launched its largest aerial assault of the Ukraine war overnight, deploying more than 800 drones and striking a government building in Kyiv for the first time.

Trump ready for “phase two” of Russia sanctions over Ukraine conflict.

Denmark will become the first NATO country to host Ukrainian weapons production on its territory, with Fire Point, the manufacturer of Ukraine’s long-range Flamingo cruise missile, set to begin making solid rocket fuel near a Danish air base in December.

Confusion has emerged among allies over Trump administration plans to halt some security assistance funding to European countries along the border with Russia, with some Baltic defense leaders saying they have not received official notification.

Poland has announced a total of $2.04 billion in spending for defense equipment from Polish companies, ranging from rifles to radars, all in an effort to lessen Warsaw’s reliance on other nations.

NORTH KOREA THREAT

U.S., South Korea and Japan are slated to carry out the most advanced version of their trilateral air and naval drills this month in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Philippines inaugurated HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines’ new shipyard in Subic Bay with the backing of South Korean and U.S. investments.

Former UK Army tank commander argues that the new Challenger 3 main battle tank (MBT) must deliver technological overmatch ‘punch above its weight’ at a time when the UK will operate fewer tanks than its potential adversaries.

SPACE THREATS

China added a third trio of Yaogan-40 satellites to a group of remote sensing satellites in polar orbit, marking the country’s 52nd launch of the year.

Space Operations Command getting new name, new boss. SpOC is getting booted from the Space Force. The service is renaming its Space Operations Command, with its Star Trek-themed acronym, to Combat Forces Command to emphasize its warfighting mission.

US MILITARY

Army has an ambitious plan to field autonomous platforms across all its divisions in 2026. During a recent demonstration it put that plan to the test, handing over the first batch of systems to a group of soldiers for a trial run.

Future soldier “super goggles,” designed to give troops an AI-enabled view of the battlefield and voice command over drone swarms, may look more like the glasses you could see on patrons in a coffee shop.

Navy has awarded contracts to four major aerospace prime contractors — Anduril, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and General Atomics — for “conceptual designs” for a carrier-based autonomous armed combat drone.

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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