PAUL’S DAILY BRIEF (PDB) Monday – The melting fortress: The U.S., Canada, and the race against time in the Arctic. Moscow has been prioritizing the melting Arctic as critical to its national security, opening or refurbishing over 50 military bases across the region.
Russia also controls nearly 53 percent of the Arctic Ocean’s coastline. Washington, meanwhile, only maintains six bases and five of them are outside of the Arctic Circle in southern Alaska.
As of 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard had only five icebreakers or ice-capable patrol ships, while Moscow has 57 such vessels. It will be years before the American icebreaking fleet is large enough to effectively support large-scale US operations.
In the future, Russia may try to expand its control over other Arctic waters closer to the U.S. and directly threaten the homeland and to U.S. operations in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. The Navy’s top Arctic commander fears that Moscow may try to create its own “‘nine-dashed line’ around the North Pole.”
The U.S., meanwhile, has largely entrusted Arctic security to its allies and partners in the region.
The problem: One of those key partners, Canada, is by its own admission woefully unprepared to face the Arctic challenge. Unless the US works quickly to help fill that gap, it means American interests in the Arctic are going to be at great risk.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
NATIONAL SECURITY
Stopping Putin in Ukraine could also arrest a slide toward World War III. With Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea allying, the West must ensure Putin’s aggression in Ukraine fails.
Is the US military learning enough from Ukraine? Relatively few analysts at the services’ doctrine organizations are working full-time to glean lessons from the war.
Is Australia worried about US submarine production for its promised subs? Over to you, SECDEF.
HOMELAND SECURITY
Lawmakers demand answers over reports of faulty Navy ship welding. Faulty welds may have been knowingly made to US subs and aircraft carriers under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.
Military bases assessing damage after Hurricane Helene’s brutal winds, storm surge hit Southeast.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
POLITICS
Trump and Zelenskyy meet in New York as election holds high stakes for US support for Ukraine.
Stolen valor and the 2024 election. The legal term is used to describe people who claim military awards they did not earn in an effort to gain money, property or other tangible benefits.
US POWER OVERSEAS
SECDEF Austin orders carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) to remain in Middle East.
After 10 years, US-led coalition task force to fight ISIS in Iraq to end by 2026.
US has a whole new deal with Iraq and won’t talk about it. U.S. officials could not say how many troops currently in Iraq would leave the country under a new bilateral security agreement.
US forces killed over 3 dozen ISIS, Hurras al-Din commanders in Syria in two strikes.
Wyoming Air Guard exercise ‘Cheyenne Samurai’ tests rapid response in Pacific. Delivering 15,000 pounds of cargo, the multi-role mission crossed 15 time zones, each way, stopping only for fuel and aircrew changes.
ISRAEL WAR AGAINST TERROR
GOOD RIDDANCE! – Hezbollah confirms founder and leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in Israeli airstrike.
Austin believes casualties in all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah could ‘equal or exceed’ those in Gaza. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Friday of “devastating” consequences.
CHINA THREAT
Satellite images show Chinese nuclear attack submarine sank during construction.
Coast Guard to send 3 more cutters to Guam, doubling its fleet there to six cutters. But has no plans to escort Philippine coast guard ships as they struggle to maintain territorial claims in the South China Sea.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Putin revises his nuclear doctrine, but have his red lines shifted?
Photo: Russian aircraft intercepted by US F-16 in Russian-style camo. Here’s why. When a Russian warplane ventured near Alaska earlier this month, it faced a familiar — if perhaps unexpected — sight.
The case for giving Ukraine long-range striking power in Russia. Ukraine’s innovative drones are damaging forces and war-supporting industry across western and southern Russia. The U.S. will now provide Ukraine the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), an unpowered glide bomb with a range of over 60 miles. But more is needed.
Blow For Vladimir Putin As Ukrainian Drones Destroy Record Amount Of Russian Ammunition.
Russia downs over 100 Ukrainian drones in one of the largest barrages of the war.
China, at UN, warns against ‘expansion of the battlefield’ in the Ukraine war. This, three days before the brutal communist regime turns 75.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
SPACE THREAT
Space Development Agency studying options for satellite tow services for the hundreds of satellites planned for use in low Earth orbit to track missiles and support targeting missions. Each is built to last about five years.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
European militaries rush to catch up on space traffic mapping. The boom in space activity of the past few years has made Earth’s orbit more crowded and dynamic.
AIR FORCE
How do you make sure a stealth aircraft can’t be seen? Meet the ‘RAZR.’
CCA drones could cost less than $1,200 per pound — but can they get sensors to match? Collaborative Combat Aircraft — the autonomous “wingmen” drones the Air Force is pursuing to pair with manned fighters — can truly provide “affordable mass” because their per-pound cost could be two-thirds or even less than a crewed fighter.
Plans to axe special operations surveillance planes come under the microscope. While ditching the U-28As and King Air surveillance birds will free up resources to help field its new OA-1K Sky Warden light attack aircraft, the latter is not a replacement for the former.
ARMY
Army awards big contract for Coyote interceptors amid growing demand for counter-drone weapons.
Army hits recruiting target for the first time in two years.
MARINES
Marines to get most significant marksmanship overhaul in 100 years. The complex new shooting assessment program requires Marines to be fast, mobile and accurate.
How the Marine Corps is retaining a lot of its first-term Marines. The Marine Corps retained more first-term Marines in a single year than it has in more than a decade.
Marines surpass enlisted recruitment goal by 1, officers over a dozen in sharp drop from 2023.
WATCH – Heavy lift drones and Marine Museum sneak peek.
TITAN SUB DISASTER
Titan implosion testimony paints a picture of reckless greed and explorer passion. The accident killed five people while diving to the wreck of the Titanic.
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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