The Biden admin moves in different directions then the Trump admin ….
The CIA Director sit-down with top Russian National Security official….
CIA Director Bill Burns is leading a delegation of senior US officials in Moscow for a two-day series of meetings with Russian officials, a US embassy spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The United States’ “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing pact is a World War II relic that needs updating to better keep tabs on China, the chairman of a key house subcommittee on intelligence told Defense One.
Arizona Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego, chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on special operations and intelligence, has added language in this year’s defense bill that opens the door for the decades-old pact’s first expansion.
The provision would require the director of national intelligence and the Defense Department to report on the current status and shortcomings of intelligence sharing between the “Five Eyes” nations: the U.S., Australia, the U.K., New Zealand, and Canada, and what benefits and risks there would be to adding Japan, Korea, India, and Germany to the trusted group….
China/Russia joint military excercises aimed at Taiwan….
China and Russia last week conducted their first-ever joint naval patrol in the western Pacific following a combined exercise in the Sea of Japan, highlighting the deepening defense cooperation between America’s preeminent competitors. While U.S. military planners have long hoped and often assumed that any conflicts with China and Russia might come one at a time, that assumption is increasingly questionable and even dangerous.
If the Biden administration is to develop an effective 2022 National Defense Strategy and build the U.S. defense capacity and capability that American interests require, the administration must jettison outdated assumptions and recognize that the United States could confront Chinese and Russian military forces simultaneously.
Anyone skeptical of this claim should consider Joint Sea 2021, an annual combined naval exercise that China and Russia conducted on October 14-17. The Russians contributed an Udaloy-class antisubmarine destroyer, two Steregushchy-class corvettes, two coastal-type minesweepers, a Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarine, and a missile boat. China sent a Type 055 large destroyer, which reportedly served as the command ship, plus a Type 052D destroyer, two Type 054A frigates, a diesel submarine, and a supply ship. A naval aviation contingent comprising 12 Chinese and Russian fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters also participated. The exercise apparently marked the first time a Chinese heavy destroyer and anti-submarine warfare aircraft have participated in an exercise abroad….
The B-52 Bomber lives on after almost 60 years in service….
In seven years or so, if everything goes according to plan, the U.S. Air Force should get what looks like a new bomber. A Boeing B-52 with new engines, new radios, new jammers, a new radar and fresh structural components. Even its profile might be new if the Air Force opts to remove redundant sensor pods.
The youngest B-52 left Boeing’s Wichita factory in 1962, meaning the 76 B-52Hs that remain in service are, technically, at least 59 years old. They’ll be at least 66 years old in 2028, the year Boeing and engine-maker Rolls-Royce plan to redeliver the first bomber with new F130 engines replacing the 1960s-vintage TF33s.
The Air Force finally announced the long-expected engine contract last week. Once the F130s are underwing, very little of a B-52 will be in its original state.
The bombers are flying examples of the Ship of Theseus paradox. Take a 2,000-year-old ship and gradually replace every plank. How old is the ship?…