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Financial Times
China has suspended regular communication channels with the U.S. military, as well as climate talks between the world’s two largest economies, in retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. The Chinese foreign ministry declaration came after the country’s military sent planes and warships to probe Taiwan’s defenses for a second day.
SpaceNews
As it prepares to start deploying a mesh network in low Earth orbit, the Space Development Agency is seeking proposals for a demonstration of laser communications between orbiting satellites and aircraft in flight. The agency issued a “special notice” asking vendors to submit proposals on how they would conduct a live demonstration of laser crosslinks between SDA’s Transport Layer satellites and a moving aircraft.
Defense One
“As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold, the military acquisition community—no less than professionals in any other military specialty—are studying it to gain new insight. There are at least four observations they might make,” writes retired Col. Dan Ward, a senior principal systems engineer at the MITRE Corporation.
Breaking Defense
Sometimes, the name of a piece of military technology is meant to inspire fear. The F-4 Phantom II. The MQ-9 Reaper. And now … the Angry Kitten Combat Pod. OK, so maybe it’s not the most terrifying name out there. But despite the humble moniker, the Air Force believes the electronic warfare system—which was built to simulate enemy threats, but was so capable that the Air Force is considering turning into an operational pod—could “dramatically shape” the future of electronic warfare.
Lawfire
A post on the Lawfire blog aims to give perspectives on some of the law applicable to the airstrike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, offering some quick “shortbursts” on a number of legal issues the strike suggests, such as: Who was he? Was he a lawful target under international law? Did law require the U.S. to get permission from the Taliban to conduct the strike?
Breaking Defense
A below-the-radar American military liaison role between Israel and Palestine is facing a major change, one advocates and experts worry could further set back relations between the two sides. On June 1, Axios reported that the Pentagon was looking to downgrade the role of the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority from a three-star general, which it has been since its creation in 2005, to a colonel-level position, as part of a congressionally mandated requirement to cut the number of general officer roles at DOD.
Defense News
Labor shortfalls rooted in the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic remain a millstone around the neck of the defense industry, forcing firms to juggle staff, hold job fairs, and find workarounds to keep operations running as smoothly as possible. In second-quarter earnings calls, executives repeatedly highlighted the challenges that staffing problems have presented, in some cases making it harder to finish crucial projects and requiring lowered earnings projections.
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The Washington Post
In the near future, “Top Gun” may get a reboot. Roughly one year from now, fighter pilots will begin flying with helmets outfitted with visors that can augment reality and place digital replicas of enemy fighter jets in their field of vision. For the first time, pilots will get to fly in the air and practice maneuvering against imitations of highly advanced aircraft made by countries such as China and Russia.
Military.com
The number of cases of monkeypox has climbed in the U.S. military to 40, 10 times the number it was less than four weeks ago. Defense Department spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz said Aug. 5 that the figure included 26 Active-duty personnel. On July 8, the DoD had just four patients diagnosed with the virus. The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency Aug. 4, a move that allows federal agencies to dedicate more money to fight the virus and accelerate vaccination efforts and treatment.
One More Thing
Task & Purpose
Staff noncommissioned officers. Love them or occasionally chafe at their discipline, they are what makes the military function. Sometimes that involves pushups. In June, Chief Master Sergeant Todd Popovic, command chief of the Air Force’s Special Warfare Training Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field, retired after 28 years of service. And he did so in a way befitting all senior enlisted leaders, by leading those in attendance at the ceremony in a round of pushups.
