WEDNESDAY PDB – Do we have a new flashpoint for conflict with China? Philippine Coast Guard cutters, Chinese warship almost collide in South China Sea. A People's Liberation Army Navy corvette challenged two Philippine Coast Guard cutters during a patrol in the South China Sea.
MEANWHILE – Biden: US-Philippines ‘ironclad' partners amid China tension. Along with the Philippines president, Biden reiterated U.S. commitment to the Philippines' security and noted the “deep friendship” of the two nations. This, as concerns grow about the Chinese navy's harassment of Philippine vessels.
AND – Cope Thunder exercise is back in Philippines after 33 years. U.S. and Philippines air forces are reviving a combat training exercise after more than 30 years as both nations grapple with China's growing military might.
Refreshed US-Philippine relations revive fighter jet training paused 3 decades ago. For the first time in more than 30 years, American and Filipino fighter pilots are flying together again in drills that were once among the largest in the Indo-Pacific.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories.
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
NATIONAL SECURITY
EMBARRASSING – US Navy sends untraditional ships to support Sudan evacuation. Without a carrier strike group or amphibious readiness group currently operating in the Middle East, the Navy has dispatched two little-known ship classes to help the State Department evacuate people from Sudan.
SAD AND DISTRESSING – Short on amphib vessels for Turkey, Sudan, the Marines grapple with crisis response ethos. In the aftermath of a powerful February earthquake in Turkey, Marine Corps leaders publicly lamented its response to aid an ally.
US military is tracking another mysterious balloon. It has determined that the balloon poses no threat to aerial traffic or national security, but it's not clear what it is or whom it belongs to.
Cyber lessons from Ukraine: Prepare for prolonged conflict, not a knockout blow. Instead of fixating on the apocalyptic possibility of a “cyber–Pearl Harbor,” the U.S. should prepare for digital wars of attrition like the one ongoing in Ukraine.
CHINA THREAT
IT'S ABOUT TIME! – With lessons from Ukraine, US Special Forces reinvents itself for a fight with China. A recent exercise was Army SOCOM's first to explicitly name China as the adversary.
PROBABLY NOT – Is America postured for a fight in the Indo-Pacific? Team Biden promised 2023 would be “the most transformative year” for U.S. force posture in the Indo-Pacific region in a generation. Is it?
Never-before-seen Chinese military blimp caught on satellite images of remote desert base. The large military blimp has been spotted for the first time at a remote base in the desert of northwestern China.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Russia has suffered 100,000 casualties since December. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 433. The White House has estimated that 20,000 Russian soldiers have died in the past five months of fighting.
Nearly all promised combat vehicles are in Ukraine: NATO chief. “This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory.”
SEMPER FI – RIP BROTHER – Marine veteran killed while evacuating Ukrainian civilians from Bakhmut. “He was a man of action.”
NORTH KOREA THREAT
Washington Declaration shores up US security commitments to South Korea. The U.S. and the Republic of Korea (ROK) released a joint statement on Wednesday at the White House.
SPACE THREAT
US report shows China taking steps toward space dominance. An annual space threat assessment by the Center for Strategic and International Studies pointed to China, despite being relatively quiet on the space front recently, as the biggest competitor of the U.S. in developing space capabilities.
JUST DO IT! – National Guard leaders petition Biden, Harris for dedicated Guard Space Force. They warned that opposing the creation of a Space National Guard and instead transferring current Air National Guard space missions to a yet unestablished ‘Space Component' will create a 7–10-year gap in their capabilities.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Sudan's war might not stay in Sudan. A power struggle in the capital, Khartoum, could destabilize neighboring Chad and impact the entire Sahel region.
Japan scrambles jet after spotting suspected Chinese drone. The suspected Chinese drone was between the Japanese island of Yonaguni and Taiwan.
In war, Japan's coast guard would become arm of country's Defense Ministry. Japan has addressed a 69-year-old gap in its self-defense measures by giving the military control of the coast guard in wartime.
US MILITARY
Are ‘walking blood banks' coming to a field hospital near you? A panel at a recent Association of the U.S. Army event was all about the battle to move blood during the next conflict.
Alaska critics oppose Northern Edge, but this Navy commander says the military exercise is much needed. The Navy's massive training exercise brings together different branches of the military every two years for war games in the Gulf of Alaska.
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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Once & If Taiwan goes China would achieve what Japan tried in WW2 with the Phillppines, scary
Reopen Subic Bay Naval Base??