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Ukrainians need it. Americans are running to give it to them. But the resolution to send a resistant unmanned drone to Kyiv forces is delayed due to a lingering fear: what will happen if the delicate technologies on board the plane end up in the hands of Russia?
A small but giant Pentagon workplace examines an electro-optical/infrared ball manufactured through Raytheon Technologies on the MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone. The technology, known as multispectral orientation formula (MSTS), provides real-time intelligence, guidance and tracking to your Operators. Biden’s management, first of all, feared that the drone and the tools it carries would generate too many educational and logistical problems for the Ukrainian military.
But the biggest fear now, according to 3 other people familiar with the discussions, is that Russia could capture one or more of the drones and borrow the technologies. There is also a fear that the platform itself will not be “surviving” in Ukraine. a grueling war, especially over Russia’s air defenses and the number of missiles and rockets that cross the skies of Ukraine.
The Gray Eagle, manufactured through General Atomics, was built as an upgrade to the MQ-1 Predator and can fly for more than 27 hours, 2500 nautical miles and bring Hellfire missiles. The drone has been used in U. S. operations in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.
The Defense Technology Security Administration, a Pentagon workplace tasked with ensuring that U. S. national security wishes are met. The U. S. Navy on foreign arms transfers is recently assessing the dangers of sending MSTS-equipped Gray Eagle drones to Ukraine. A senior U. S. defense official The U. S. said it was not safe. that the workplace would give the green light, and no recommendation has yet reached the workplaces of senior Pentagon officials.
The final decision on whether it’s sensible to send gray eagles to Ukraine rests with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, but it’s not expected to come for several weeks, three other people said.
Read the full story of your host and LEE HUDSON here.
Explosions shake Crimea: A series of large explosions at a Russian army airbase shook ukraine’s annexed Crimean peninsula, sending large mushrooms of black smoke into the sky and scattering bathers, writes our own CHRISTOPHER MILLER from Kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry showed the explosions at the Saki airfield, near the city of Novofedorivka, and claimed it was a twist of fate caused by the explosion of aviation munitions at the base, according to state news firm RIA Novosti. Moscow-appointed Crimean leader SERGEY AKSYONOV wrote on Telegram that one user had been killed, while Crimea’s fitness ministry said five people, in addition to a child, were injured by the blasts, Russia’s TASS news firm reported.
Ukraine has been timid in its reaction to the explosions. A Ukrainian government official said Kyiv “does not recognize any action on the territory of the Russian Federation, adding Crimea. “The New York Times quoted a senior army officer as saying Kyiv was the explosion. .
In a Facebook post, his Defense Ministry timidly denied its duty and warned of the risks of smoking near explosives.
“The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine identifies the cause of the fire, but once again recalls the fire protection regulations and the prohibition of smoking in unspecified places,” the ministry wrote. He also said Russia could use the blast as part of an “information war” to back Ukraine by presenting evidence to blame the country for the blasts.
MYKHAILO PODOLYAK, an adviser to Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, tweeted what came closest to an official confirmation: “The demilitarization of the Russian Federation, an integral component of global security. The long term of Crimea will be a pearl of the Black Sea. “, a national park with exclusive nature and a world spa. It is not a military base for terrorists. This is just the beginning.
A successful attack on an army target far from Russian lines, and in particular on the Crimean peninsula, a position of great importance to the Kremlin, would be deeply embarrassing to President VLADIMIR PUTIN and would likely be noted by Moscow as a first escalation. .
Ukraine has neither shown nor denied the explosions that have occurred at weapons depots and other strategic army facilities on the Russian mainland and in occupied Crimea.
The explosions in Crimea are linked to a drone strike last week at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the port city of Sevastopol. Russia claimed Ukraine was the attack, but Kyiv denied responsibility.
WAR GAME: USA USA AND TAIWAN CAN REPEL CHINESE INVASION: A war game run by the think tank at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D. C. , revealed that the U. S. The U. S. and Taiwan can repel a Chinese invasion of the island.
“In the first 3 weeks after invading Taiwan, China sank two multimillion-dollar U. S. aircraft carriers, attacked U. S. bases in Japan and Guam, and destroyed many complex U. S. fighter jets,” Warren Strobel of the Wall Street Journal wrote of the seven. “The hour of the game war”. China’s scenario was, on the contrary, worse. He landed troops on Taiwan and seized the southern third of the island, but his amphibious fleet was decimated by relentless attacks via American and Japanese missiles and submarines, and he was unable to resupply his own forces. The capital, Taipei, was in Taiwanese hands, and Beijing lacked long-range ballistic missiles to counter the still-heavy U. S. air and sea power.
“Probably the most important thing [to carry out] is, through maximum assumptions, that the United States and Taiwan can carry out a successful defense of the island. It’s different from many people’s impressions,” said MARK CANCIAN, CSIS senior advisor who participated in the exercise. .
But this victory (if you can call it that) comes at a huge cost, Strobel noted: “Taiwan’s economy would be shattered and the U. S. military would be destroyed. The U. S. would be so bruised that it would take years to rebuild, with repercussions for U. S. global power. “
IT’S THE WAIT THAT’S KILLING YOU: In his recent Global Insider newsletter, our colleague RYAN HEATH has a juicy article in which he resorts to the absence of a U. S. ambassador. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security in Italy amid rumors that the position is for Speaker NANCY PELOSI.
One query worth asking is: how long is Pelosi, or designated for the task, willing to wait?Because the waiting time reaches epic levels.
According to new knowledge received through our own NAHAL TOOSI, the average time it takes for a Biden candidate to be ambassador to run in the Senate is 145. 6 days. That’s infinitely greater than in the era of DONALD TRUMP, when it took 145. 7 days on average.
Compared to other recent presidents beyond, the wait time is strangely long. The data, compiled and analyzed through the Public Service Partnership, shows that for RONALD REAGAN, it is 43. 3 days; for GEORGE H. W. BUSH 56. 7 days; for BILL CLINTON, 83. 4 days; for GEORGE W. BUSH 63. 1 days; and for BARACK OBAMA it rose to 121. 1 days.
It’s simple to blame senators for much of this. But Biden’s management has also taken its time to name other people and has yet to nominate in several cases beyond Italy, according to the American Foreign Service Association.
Publicly, this is the kind of thing that foreign officials are willing to comment on; privately, in conversations with NatSec Daily, they roll their eyes and shake their heads in awe at the inefficiency of the American system.
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RUSSIA LAUNCHES IRAN SATELLITE: U. S. officials are involved in an Iranian satellite that Russia unveiled today, the BBC reported. The spacecraft would possibly allow Moscow to monitor troop movements in Ukraine, but Iran says the satellite will only be used for non-military purposes. an unnamed source told The Washington Post.
Moscow has informed Tehran that it plans to use Khayyam, the newly introduced satellite, for several months for army surveillance operations in its confrontation with Ukraine.
Iran questioned reports that it would not have access to the spacecraft, stressing that Tehran would have it from “day one. “
Biden’s management has not yet commented on the launch.
The launch comes a day after Russia “temporarily” suspended on-site inspections of legal nuclear weapons services in the New START agreement. “When on-site inspections disappear for some reason, a channel of interaction of the regime is lost, which has predictive skill consequences. As a result, the effect of the continued lack of on-site inspections under New START goes beyond the ability of either party to determine compliance with this agreement,” said SARAH BIDGOOD, Director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.
THE HOUSE SHOULD NOT USE TIKTOK: The Office of the Administrative Director (CAO) of the House of Representatives today sent a warning in the space not to download TikTok.
The mobile app “TikTok” through the CAO Cyber Security Bureau was thought to pose a major threat to users due to its lack of transparency in the way it protects visitor data, its requirement for excessive permissions, and potential related security threats. with its use. In addition, the user base deserves to be aware that this application is known to store the location of users’ data, images and other personally identifiable data (PII) on servers located in China and that are prospectively exploited for advertising and personal purposes,” the newsletter reads. Seen through NatSec Daily. ” [We]t propose downloading or using this app because of those security and privacy concerns. “
The CAO clarified, claiming that TikTok can get a Wi-Fi network name, device and SIM card serial number, GPS information and more.
The warning comes more than two years after the U. S. military said it was a long time. The U. S. bans TikTok on phones.
PANEL SHOWS $21 MILLION PRICE TAG ON RENAME BASES: Renaming Army bases honoring Confederate leaders will cost more than $21 million, and the commission will oversee estimates of the process, writes our own CONNOR O’BRIEN.
The Names Commission described the prices related to the conversion of calls in the nine services and the conversion of the call or any other asset affiliated with the Confederation that it cataloged in the bases of some. millions, followed by Fort Benning in Georgia with $4. 9 million.
The estimated charges are part of a report the panel submitted to Congress on Monday that deals in particular with the renaming of the nine military bases designated by the Confederacy under its responsibility: Forts APHill, Benning, Bragg, Gordon, Hood, Lee, Pickett, Polk. and Rucker.
The commission, created by Congress in the fiscal year 2021 defense bill, must send lawmakers its final report by Oct. 1 and does so in three parts. A momentary part of the report will address the assets of West Point and the Naval School, while a third report will deal with the remaining issues.
FIRST IN DAILY NATSEC: HOME PLAINTIFFS WANT CLARITY ON ABORTION ACCESS: Two House Democrats wrote to Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN asking him to explain the Pentagon’s abortion policies.
“Few military services are able to offer abortions directly to service members and dependents on their medical services at the base,” wrote Reps. SETH MOULTON (D-Mass. ) and VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-Texas), both members of the House. Armed Services Commission. ” Since Dobbs’ resolution annulled Roe v. Wade, 26 states have banned or will most likely ban abortion. As a result, nearly a fraction of a million military workers stationed in the country are only in danger of wasting access to abortion in the states where their military facilities are located.
Lawmakers are also concerned that troops seeking exposed abortions will have to leave the state, seeking permission from an impressive person to obtain a license. refuses,” they wrote.
As a result, Moulton and Escobar need Austin to answer some questions about how the Defense Department will grant access to abortion services, adding travel policies if the state bans abortions or efforts to recruit more qualified medical personnel.
“The Department of Defense will need to have a plan in place to protect the military’s personal health care resolutions without delay, and Congress wants absolute clarity on the department’s strategy for responding to the Dobbs resolution before it negatively impacts our military’s readiness,” Moulton said. NatSec Daily in a statement.
PELOSI: XI JINPING AN ‘AMORTIZED ABUSE’: Pelosi, who has just returned from Taiwan, used her appearance today on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to criticize Chinese leader XI JINPING.
“I think he’s in a fragile place. It is – their disorders with their economy. He acts like a frightened tyrant and it is his – before the assembly that – where he will have to be re-elected,” he said in an interview with MIKA BRZEZINSKI and JOE SCARBOROUGH.
He referred to the upcoming 20th Chinese Party Congress, a political conclave for the local Communist Party that takes place every five years. For much of the year, Xi is heading for a rare third term, positioning himself as China’s leader. for life. But economic hardship at home, the resurgence of Covid-19 and Pelosi’s scale in have tarnished the expected coronation.
Now she calls it names directly, and that would possibly not be taken lightly in Beijing.
— FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY: KARIM FARISHTA is now Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Pentagon in the Office of Legislative Affairs. He was previously Director of Strategic Alliances at the Asian American Foundation and is an alumnus of the Biden campaign. (m/ t our own ANDREW DESIDERIO)
— ROSE GOTTEMOELLER, Foreign Affairs: “The arguments for a new arms race”
— WANG WEN, The New York Times: “Why don’t the Chinese look to America anymore?”
– TOM MILLER, Brookings Institution: “Capability, Capability, and Risk in the Maintenance of Air Force Weapons Systems”
— The Wilson Center, nine a. m. : “Perspective on Energy Security and U. S. -Japan Cooperation. “UU. “
— United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, 1:00 p. m. : “Stories about the Zone Free of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East: Ancient Narratives, Drivers and Themes”.
— Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, 2:30 p. m. : “Nuclear Deterrence and Missile Defense”
Transition to a new concert related to defense or foreign policy?Email me at [email protected] to be included in the next edition of the newsletter.
And thanks to my editor, John Yearwood, who is by no means a “scared bully. “Maybe just a “shy crackpot. “