War on the Rocks
“America’s military posture, which is [made up] of forces, bases, and agreements, is a critical issue that needs a senior champion. China has a formidable arsenal of conventionally armed long-range missiles that are significantly more accurate than the ones that the Soviet Union had during the Cold War and plans to fire them in a first strike to destroy U.S. forces on the land and at sea. The Defense Department should ensure that American forces in the Indo-Pacific can survive this blow and generate combat power while under attack, which requires taking steps to increase the resiliency of U.S. military posture,” writes Stacie Pettyjohn, a senior fellow and director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security.
Defense One
The Marine Corps is the first U.S. military branch to report the granting of a religious exemption to the mandate that troops be vaccinated for COVID-19. Two Marines have received exemptions, officials said Jan. 13. In all, some 18,500 U.S. troops have requested such exemptions. The Air Force received the highest number of requests with 10,766, followed by the Marine Corps with 3,350, the Navy with 2,844, and the Army with 1,746. No other branch has reported an approved request, but others have provided data on disapproved accommodations.
Air Force Magazine
Defending against missile threats launched in, at, or through space has never been more challenging—or important. Learn more on Air Force Magazine’s Missile Warning & Defense page.
DVIDS
The Air National Guard’s 13th Command Chief Master Sgt. Maurice L. Williams speaks to retired Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth O. Wright on what it means to lead by example and to always do the right thing.
Breaking Defense
The Russian defense industry is already struggling with sanctions and export limits. An invasion of Ukraine could be disastrous for it—and, politically, might spell doom for Vladimir Putin's regime.
SpaceNews
The Space Development Agency, created in 2019 as a separate entity under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, will be transferred to the Space Force in October, the agency’s director confirmed Jan. 12. Under the planned realignment, mandated by Congress in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the SDA will be part of the Space Force but will not be merged under the large Space Force procurement bureaucracy, the Space Systems Command.
Space Policy Online
On the 15th anniversary of the Chinese anti-satellite test that cluttered Earth orbit with debris, a group of national security space experts is proposing that the United States unilaterally declare a moratorium on such testing. Narrowly tailored to limit only debris-generating kinetic-energy tests against space objects, the goal is to ensure the sustainability of Earth orbit, not arms control in space.
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Aviation Week
Supersonic aircraft developer Boom has received a three-year Air Force contract to expand studies of its Mach 1.7 Overture aircraft beyond that of an executive transport to include surveillance, reconnaissance, special forces deployment, and other military transport roles.
One More Thing
Military.com
The World War II thriller "Wolf Hound," which has been in the works for almost four years, is finally set for theatrical and home video release in the summer of 2022. The movie tells the story of Luftwaffe special operations unit KG-200, which repaired downed Allied planes and used them for Trojan horse missions deep behind enemy lines. Director Michael Chait makes his feature film debut with "Wolf Hound," but the veteran commercial director did some prep work in a series of short documentary films about historic aircraft and one about the Michigan Air National Guard.
