TUESDAY PDB – The race for strategic partners in the Western Pacific has been heating up for a while between the U.S. and China.
The most recent point of competition is Vietnam, where both the U.S. and China fought wars in the past 50 years.
US aircraft carrier makes Vietnam port call. The USS Ronald Reagan, along with the guided missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Robert Smalls, arrived in Da Nang on Sunday for the visit.
China offers closer military cooperation with Vietnam. China is willing to work with Vietnam to strengthen high-level communication and cooperation between their militaries, China's Defense Minister said on Tuesday as he met his Vietnamese counterpart.
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:
TITANIC SUB SEARCH
Navy won't use large recovery system for Titan submersible wreckage. The Titan was determined to have imploded a week ago, and the passengers killed instantly. No debris big enough to justify use of the system.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Judge in Trump docs case denies special counsel's request to keep list of 84 witnesses under wraps. In a separate order, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon scheduled a July 14 hearing to discuss how classified materials will be handled in the case.
CNN obtains the tape of Trump's 2021 conversation about classified documents. Audio recording of a 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, have President Donald Trump discussing holding secret documents he did not declassify.
NCIS: Don't turn on that smartwatch you randomly received in the mail. Someone's been randomly sending sailors and soldiers smartwatches that could pose cybersecurity risks.
HOMELAND SECURITY
DEMOCRATS HAD GONE OFF THE RAILS NUTS WHEN TRUMP USED FEDS TO QUELL BLM RIOTS – SO FEDS WERE WARY – Planned in plain sight: Senate report finds intel agencies failed in the lead-up to Jan. 6. The FBI and DHS downplayed the potential for violence even as rioters openly planned to attack the Capitol online, Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee found.
DOD refusing to investigate balloon spotted flying over Montana. It said there was a ‘low probability' the balloon was conducting surveillance.
CHINA THREAT
It's time to bring back conventional deterrence patrols. After decades of war in the Middle East, the joint force is retooling to pierce the bubble of China's formidable anti-access, area-denial defenses.
AI companies risk US national security by working with China. Time to choose sides. US should have no illusions about what China will do with advanced technologies like generative AI.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Wagner mercenary leader issues 1st audio statement since mutiny. Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday released the first audio statement since an aborted armed rebellion he staged on Saturday, defending the move as a reaction to an attack on his force that killed some of his 30 fighters.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 489. Speaking on state television, Vladimir Putin thanked Russian security forces and citizens for opposing the Wagner Group mutiny and Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko for mediating with Prigozhin. Putin said he would honor his promise to allow Wagner soldiers to move to Belarus if they wanted, sign a contract with Russia's defense ministry or return to their families.
Belarusian dictator Lukashenko's unlikely cameo as mediator with Wagner. Staving off open conflict between Russia and the Wagner Group will burnish Lukashenko's credentials but inviting Prigozhin to his country could be a challenge for the longtime dictator.
MAYBE – MAYBE NOT – After Wagner uprising, UK sees ‘cracks emerging' in Russian support for Ukraine war. “We and our allies are asking [questions] about what situations may evolve as a direct repercussion of this very public attack on Putin's authority by one of his protegees and closest allies,” said UK's Foreign Secretary.
What happened in Russia — and what happens next? Our columnists weigh in. A remarkable series of events in Russia kept the world on edge this weekend.
SPACE THREAT
Stop debating over space weapons and prepare for conflict: Space Force general. A policy paper essentially lays out an implementation plan for what Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman has dubbed “responsible counterspace campaigning.”
New UK military ‘cell' to partner with US SPACECOM on space domain awareness. The UK Joint Task Force-Space Defense Commercial Operations Cell (JCO) will extend the time the SPACECOM can keep tabs on satellites, especially those owned by adversaries, and dangerous space debris.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Russian fighter aircraft hold combat drills over Baltic Sea. Air exercises come amid a growing number of intercepts between NATO and Russian military planes over the Baltic and Black Sea.
AS TRUMP WANTED – Can NATO finally make the 2 percent of GDP on defense stick? The Vilnius summit will test whether Europe's wealthiest countries can get serious about defense.
Honduran armed forces seize control of prisons to stamp out gangs. The government cracked down on organized crime within the Central American country's prison system after an attack in a women's penal center left 46 people dead last week.
BIDEN'S AFGHAN DISASTER
LIKELY MORE – Over 1,000 Afghan civilians killed since Taliban takeover: UN. Report says there have been 3,774 civilian casualties, including 1,095 civilian deaths in violence since August 2021.
US MILITARY
How this unit could shape the future of infantry battalions for decades. Marine infantry battalions will now be manned with 880 Marines and sailors, down from 965 a few years ago.
Marine Corps transition continues with new drones at Kaneohe base in Hawaii. Marines in Kaneohe are now officially cleared to operate their new drones as the service reorganizes its forces for Pacific operations.
Air Force tankers to perform flyovers nationwide to mark 100 years of military in-flight refueling. It will perform dozens of commemorative flyovers across the U.S. on Tuesday.
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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