Axios
China will view further U.S. arms sales, official travel to Taiwan, or naval activity near the self-governing island as provocations that will further destabilize relations and prevent progress on other issues, Beijing's ambassador to the U.S. warned Aug. 16. Ambassador Qin Gang said that if Washington doesn’t "show restraint" in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, there will be "another round of tensions"—and no dialogue on issues such as climate change and nuclear security.
Military.com
The National Guard will offer child care to Guard members during weekend drills in six states under a pilot program starting in September. The pilot program will be run in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington, according to the memo. It will be open to Guard members with children ages 6 weeks to 12 years whose spouse, significant other, or another adult living in the house has to work during drill weekend.
Military Times
For the first time ever, the Defense Department has put out social media guidance governing its widespread official accounts, as platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are increasingly used to send out messages for both service members and the general public. At the same time, some mishandling of accounts―whether that was accidental use or inappropriate posting on an account affiliated with a command―has gotten the services and DOD in hot water.
Defense One
Two years ago, a pair of Navy information leaders decided to attack their own networks—and not just once or twice a year during scheduled exercises, but far more frequently, and unannounced. Now they’re trying to get the rest of the Navy—and the Pentagon—to follow suit. Their experiment showed that frequent, automated red-teaming reveals which vulnerabilities are the most dangerous, the easiest for an attacker to exploit with the highest impact.
Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
In Episode 89 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, “Hypersonic Strike: Insider Perspective,” John Baum engages with one of the industry teams involved in designing, building, and testing next-generation hypersonic strike technologies. Peer threats, particularly those posed by China, demand a new set of enhanced strike options. Hypersonic technology is a key factor in this equation. Defense leaders know this and have launched numerous programs, committed significant funding, and maintained a consistent focus to transition developmental technologies to the operational realm. This episode provides an inside perspective into what it’s like to be on this journey and to help better understand the technology, the people behind these efforts, and why it’s so important that hypersonics enter America’s operational arsenal as soon as possible.
FedScoop
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks will tour government and research facilities across four states, where she will be briefed on and observe advanced technology projects the Pentagon is increasingly prioritizing to prepare for future—and likely more digital—warfare.
Air Force Magazine
The Air Force is transitioning to more virtual training to give pilots an edge, saying some higher-end maneuvers cannot be replicated in real-time training. Learn more on Air Force Magazine’s Live, Virtual & Constructive Training page.
Breaking Defense
If the Air Force is not allowed to retire its oldest F-22s in fiscal 2023, the service may not have the resources it needs to develop and field new drones slated to complement the service’s sixth-generation fighter, the Air Force’s top acquisition official warned. The Air Force plans to field a piloted sixth-generation fighter and multiple uncrewed “collaborative combat aircraft” as part of its Next Generation Air Dominance family of systems that will ultimately replace the F-22 Raptor.
Defense News
Continuing resolutions keep funding at the previous year’s levels with limited exceptions. A divided Congress has frequently relied on the practice in recent years to evade a government shutdown while lawmakers negotiate appropriations for the next fiscal year, and it’s increasingly likely that a CR will be required for fiscal 2023, the law firm Alston & Bird said in a note to clients. While a CR keeps the lights on, its impacts can be detrimental to the Pentagon’s efforts to keep pace with rival nations in emerging technologies.
SpaceNews
Orion Space Solutions announced that it was selected by the Space Force to develop three small satellites for a demonstration of on-orbit services in geostationary Earth orbit. The $44.5 million contract is for the Tetra-5 mission, a project intended to help the Space Force figure out how to take advantage of commercial technologies to inspect objects in space, and to service geostationary satellites 22,000 miles above Earth that perform critical missions and are expensive to replace.
Breaking Defense
Nearly one year after the last U.S. military aircraft departed Kabul, the Pentagon’s top watchdog says approximately $7.1 billion in U.S.-funded planes, trucks, and weaponry, all provided to the Afghan military, has been seized by the Taliban. The breakdown includes $923 million in aircraft, $4.1 billion in ground vehicles, and $511.8 million in weapons, according to the inspector general for Operation Enduring Sentinel and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
One More Thing
Air Force Academy release
Two members of the Air Force men's gymnastics team—junior Garrett Braunton and sophomore Patrick Hoopes—will represent the Academy at the OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Tampa, Fla. The pair will compete in the men's Senior sessions, which will be at 7 p.m. Eastern Aug. 18 and Aug. 20. The opening day of competition will air live on the Olympic Channel, while the finals will be broadcast live on CNBC (both days of action will also be streamed on Peacock).
