District of Columbia | November 9, 2021
Pentagon: China’s navy is now world’s largest with 460 warships by 2030
District of Columbia | November 9, 2021
China‘s navy is now the world’s largest maritime military force and will deploy 460 warships by the end of the decade, according to the Pentagon‘s latest annual report on Chinese military power.
The current warship arsenal for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) includes 355 naval platforms, including major surface ships, submarines, aircraft carriers, amphibious warships and mine warfare craft.
By contrast, the U.S. Navy currently has 296 warships, but that arsenal includes 11 aircraft carriers capable of projecting power at long distances. Other Navy ships include 115 cruisers and destroyers, 68 submarines, 31 amphibious warfare ships and 59 small surface combatants and combat logistics ships…. (Excerpts from the Washington Times)
District of Columbia | November 8, 2021
Biden crusade against ‘domestic extremism’ spurs thousands of FBI probes, fears of a police state
District of Columbia | November 8, 2021
The FBI has 2,700 open investigations of domestic extremism, more than double the usual number of cases, counterterrorism officials say, underscoring the Biden administration’s accelerated pursuit of what it calls “domestic violent extremists.”.. (Excerpts from the Washington Times)
District of Columbia | November 5, 2021
VP Harris to chair first National Space Council meeting Dec. 1
District of Columbia | November 5, 2021
In her first official outing as chair of the National Space Council, Vice President Kamala Harris is today visiting NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to highlight the critical role US space capabilities play in combatting climate change. In her remarks, Harris will (briefly, anyway) touch upon the importance of space and the climate crisis to national security, White House officials told Breaking Defense. Harris further will announce that the fist meeting of the council will take place Dec. 1, and will present the first imagery returns from NASA’s recently launched Landsat 9 Earth observation mission, a White House official said. The Pentagon earlier this month released a new climate change strategy, which laid out five lines of effort explaining how the Pentagon can incorporate climate change into its future planning and operations. Those efforts include enhancing cooperation with partner nations and other US agencies that can increase knowledge about climate change, contribute to resiliency, and reduce costs…. (Excerpts from Breaking Defense)
District of Columbia, Montana | November 3, 2021
Sen. Hawley Introduces Bill to Help Taiwan Arm Itself Against Potential China Invasion
District of Columbia, Montana | November 3, 2021
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Tuesday introduced legislation that seeks to bolster Taiwan’s ability to defend itself in the event that the self-ruled island were attacked by China.
“Taiwan is in grave danger, but the future is not yet written,” wrote Hawley in a press release introducing the Arm Taiwan Act of 2021. The bill (pdf), Hawley said, would strengthen Taiwan’s defenses against a Chinese invasion by allocating $3 billion annually for a new Taiwan Security Assistance Initiative to ramp up the island’s deployment of asymmetric defense capabilities… (Excerpts from the Epoch Times)
District of Columbia | October 26, 2021
China launches suspected anti-satellite weapon into space
District of Columbia | October 26, 2021
China has launched a new satellite that analysts say can be used as a weapon capable of grabbing and crushing American satellites. The Shijian-21 satellite was sent aloft on Sunday atop a rocket booster from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, ostensibly for cleaning “space debris.” The satellite reportedly is “tasked with demonstrating technologies to alleviate and neutralize space debris.” The robotic satellite launch followed a suspected recent test of a new hypersonic missile that Chinese officials said was a peaceful space experiment. The commander of the U.S. Space Command, Air Force Gen. James Dickinson told Congress in April that spacecraft like the Shijian-21 is part of an effort by China to seek “space superiority through space and space-attack systems.”… (Excerpts from the Washington Times)
District of Columbia | October 22, 2021
Intel Assessment: ‘High’ Chance Of International Conflict Over Water By 2040
District of Columbia | October 22, 2021
There’s no shortage of near-future fiction in which a lack of water is the source of all mankind’s woes — and, apparently, fire-guitars. But while screenwriters may take artistic license, increasing tensions over water availability is a very real security concern for US analysts and will only get worse if the world fails to address climate change, according to a new intelligence report. “[A]s temperatures rise and more extreme effects manifest, there is a growing risk of conflict over water and migration, particularly after 2030, and an increasing chance that countries will unilaterally test and deploy large-scale geoengineering — creating a new area of geopolitical disputes,” reads a National Intelligence Estimate on climate change, published today by the Director of National Intelligence…. (Excerpts from Breaking Defense)