FRIDAY PDB – Implicit in all these defense deals is the rapidly growing need to counter Chinese aggression.
US, India cement partnership with slew of new defense deals. The new deals, totaling billions, span a number of key industries — including semiconductors, aerospace and artificial intelligence.
US, India establish INDUS-X to strengthen defense tech collaboration. U.S. and Indian defense officials announced the creation of a joint technology accelerator aimed at increasing collaboration and interoperability between the two nations.
MEANWHILE, INDIA'S OTHER ADVERSARY – Pakistan unveils increased defense budget, IMF decries spending plan. The Pakistani government has requested a nearly 16% increase to its defense budget, despite a standoff with the International Monetary Fund over economic stagflation.
AND – White House mum on jailed Defense News correspondent. Senior White House officials said press freedom would be among the topics discussed this week by Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in private meetings, but would not commit to specifically intervening in the case of defense journalist jailed in India on spy charges.
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
Coast Guard says missing submersible imploded near Titanic wreckage. The U.S. Coast Guard says a missing submersible imploded near the wreckage of the Titanic, killing all five people on board.
PENTAGON WOKE WATCH
GOP lawmakers target diversity training, COVID rules in defense bill. Republican House lawmakers on Wednesday turned the annual defense authorization bill debate into a referendum on a host of controversial social issues, attaching limits on diversity training, transgender rights and covid vaccines to the sweeping military policy measure.
WORTHWHILE FIGHT – Spending plan for vets programs gets Senate support, but fights loom. Senate appropriators on Thursday advanced plans for $320 billion in Veterans Affairs spending in fiscal 2024, setting up a showdown with their House counterparts — not on budget levels, but on left wing social issue fights attached to veterans programs.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Randomly received a smartwatch? Don't turn it on, investigators warn. Smartwatches capable of automatically connecting to cellphones and Wi-Fi and gaining access to user data are being shipped to members of the U.S. military seemingly at random, raising cybersecurity concerns.
HOMELAND DEFENSE
NORAD boss: Future of homeland defense will look ‘vastly different.' The U.S. must focus on detecting and tracking potential air and missile threats to the homeland even before they launch, said the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command.
CHINA THREAT
US supercarrier Nimitz reports ‘very professional' interactions despite US-Chinese tensions. Even as Beijing rejects a mil-to-mil hotline, a carrier's Pacific deployment sees no untoward run-ins.
GRAY ZONE WARFARE – USS Jackson: Pursuing peace, but primed for battle. The littoral combat ship Jackson is en route to the Indo-Pacific, where it is scheduled to do peacekeeping and humanitarian work but is available to help perform maritime security and engage in surface warfare if the need arises.
Coast Guard cutter transits Taiwan Strait after Blinken's China visit. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Stratton conducted a “routine Taiwan Strait transit” on June 20.
Taiwan military aid granted by once-reluctant appropriators. House Republicans have allocated $500 million in Taiwan Foreign Military Financing – a program that allows other countries to purchase U.S. military equipment using grants or loans – in their FY24 State Department spending bill.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine intensifies pressure in long-shot push for NATO membership. Ukrainian officials are pounding the drumbeat for full NATO membership, putting unrelenting pressure on the U.S. and allies to give in and view as precedent their success in receiving F-16 fighter jets, Western tanks and other heavy artillery over Western caution.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Reading between the lines of Germany's new National Security Strategy. Germany has its very first National Security Strategy.
US troops will no longer learn Pashto, an Afghan national language. Another sign the Global War on Terrorism is winding down.
US MILITARY
Top Marine pushes back on critics' ‘lack of trust' in Corps' overhaul. “None of this is fabricated by one or two people,” Gen. David Berger said about the sweeping changes to the Marine Corps.
Kendall: Air Force studying ‘military applications' for ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence. At the moment, “generative” AI systems have “limited utility” for the US military, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said, but could help with some tasks if applied “in an ethical way.”
How an old Army admin systems mangled the names of fallen Latino soldiers. The Army's new personnel system can correctly render Latino names, but that won't undo decades of damage.
Navy receives Triton drone with enhanced surveillance abilities ahead of schedule. The Navy has acquired a fourth MQ-4C Triton long-range, high-altitude drone with enhanced intelligence gathering abilities from Northrop Grumman ahead of schedule.
How soon is too soon? ‘Six Days in Fallujah' out 18 years after battle. A controversial first-person shooter based on an actual battle and featuring real-life Marines in the game is now available to play on PC.
Top Marine nominee unlikely to get confirmed before predecessor retires. Gen. Eric Smith should take charge of the Marine Corps either way on July 10.
Ex-airman asked 93 women to marry him to get more benefits, feds say. A former airman was indicted and accused by federal officials of wire fraud after contacting nearly 100 women in an alleged scheme to get more military benefits.
NATIONAL GUARD
National Guard closes end-strength gap, but recruitment woes persist. The National Guard is still thousands of troops short of meeting its end-strength personnel requirements for this fiscal year.
Sir, this is a Wendy's: CSM says recruiting hurt by fast food industry. The National Guard claims to be facing stiff competition in recruitment from the private sector.
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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