A congressional bipartisan commission will examine President Joe Biden’s 2022 National Defense Strategy and craft recommendations for its implementation, Congress announced Jan. 11. The bipartisan leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services committees named eight commissioners who will develop a report to Congress over the next year on “the assumptions, objectives, defense investments, force posture and structure, operational concepts, and military risks” of the National Defense Strategy.
Russia’s top military officer was put in charge of troops fighting in Ukraine on Jan. 11, a move that appears to reflect the Kremlin’s dissatisfaction with the current leadership and flaws in the military’s performance. Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was named the new commander of the unified group of forces in Ukraine.
“Victory in a future conflict is going to go to the side with decision superiority—who knows better what’s going on in the battle and who can react to it quicker. This is exactly why defense leaders are prioritizing Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). However, to turn that theory into reality, the U.S. must develop a new set of capabilities in space, especially when it comes to sensors and a transport layer,” writes Tim Ryan, a senior resident fellow for space studies at the Mitchell Institute.
The Navy is considering the possibility of introducing air-launched hypersonic weapons into the fleet, although that thinking isn’t as far along as its plans for deploying sea-launched variants, according to the service’s top official. During a meeting with reporters at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium, DefenseScoop asked Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro if the sea service was considering acquiring air-launched variants of hypersonics—particularly cruise missiles—for its carrier air wings.
Immediately following the glitzy rollout of the B-21 Raider at Northrop Grumman's secure facility at Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., the hot takes started piling up. “It's just an updated B-2 Spirit” and “B-2 2.0, big deal” quickly became par for the course on social media. I received a ton of inquiries from people genuinely asking if this is the great leap forward it was billed as or if the B-21 appeared to be just a ‘rehashed Spirit.’ The answer to those types of questions is, well, complicated, but not in a bad way.
The prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Japan signed a historic defense agreement Jan. 11 at the Tower of London detailing an “unwavering commitment” to the security of the Indo-Pacific, as the two partner nations look to face down Chinese threats across the region. The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) means London and Tokyo are in a position to “plan and deliver larger scale, more complex military exercises and deployments,” focused on the Indo-Pacific, according to the U.K. government, while also “rapidly” accelerating defense and security cooperation.
The U.S. announced Sunday that it’s giving $9 million in new military aid to help Somalia's ongoing campaign against al-Shabab militants. It's the first such direct military support since U.S. forces returned to Somalia and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced an “all-out war” against the militants. The U.S. embassy in Mogadishu handed over military equipment to the government Jan. 8. According to a tweet from the embassy, the weapons and vehicles will support the campaign by the Somali National Army to liberate communities from al-Shabab control.
To meet their goal of being AI-ready by 2025, the U.S. Air Force and Space Force must invest to train and retain a skilled workforce and develop a strong digital infrastructure, according to the services’ outgoing chief of data and AI operations. Maj. Gen. John Olson, who also serves as the mobility assistant to the Chief of Space Operations and the lead for Joint All-Domain Command and Control for the Air Force and Space Force, will transition out of the CDAO role Jan. 14.
Flag-waving admirers lined the sidewalk outside the National World War II Museum in New Orleans on Jan. 11 to greet the oldest living survivor of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor as he marked his upcoming 105th birthday. “It feels great,” Joseph Eskenazi of Redondo Beach, Calif., told reporters after posing for pictures with his great-grandson, who is about to turn 5, his 21-month-old great-granddaughter and six other World War II veterans, all in their 90s.