THE WATCH STAFF A U.S. Navy warship has visited the Bahamas for the first time since the onset of the COVD-19 pandemic. The Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Porter’s scheduled stop in Nassau April 3-7, 2022, was hailed as a “wonderful illustration” of the partnership between the countries by Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts of the U.S. Embassy. “We have to remember that some country will patrol the ocean, will make a show of force and will hold other countries accountable for their behavior. I thank God it is the U.S. doing it and that we have the tools, like USS Porter,…
The Watch
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Australia’s government in March 2022 launched Space Command, a new defense agency tasked with securing the country’s place in an “already contested” cosmos. Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the command would be modest in its early stages. He gave no detailed staffing or budget figures. In a speech to the Australian Air Force, he said space “will undoubtedly become a domain that takes on greater military significance in this century.” “Space is becoming more congested and is already contested, particularly as the boundaries between competition and conflict become increasingly blurred through grey-zone activities,” the minister said. Dutton positioned…
U.S. STRATEGIC COMMAND Within the past 20 years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has demonstrated an interest in the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean, but is its claim to the northernmost sea legitimate? The Arctic Council’s answer is a resounding “no.” The Arctic Council is an organization comprised of the eight nations whose borders touch the Arctic Ocean: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. The council’s decisions revolve around environmental action, scientific programs and assessment, and emergency preparedness, and they provide recommendations to other world organizations. Council members have claims to territory within…
THE WATCH STAFF Britain is making defense of the Arctic a priority of its future military strategy, which also urges its fellow NATO nations to have a more energetic presence in the High North. Ben Wallace, the U.K. defense secretary, announced the March 29, 2022, publication of his country’s revised strategy, “Defence Contribution in the High North,” during a visit to Norway for the large-scale Cold Response military exercise. “The U.K. Armed Forces will be doing more with our close Arctic allies and partners, as part of NATO, bilaterally, and through other multilateral groupings such as the Joint Expeditionary Force,”…
THE WATCH STAFF In a first for a U.S. Navy vessel, the nuclear attack submarine USS Delaware was commissioned while underwater in 2020 as COVID-19 spread across the land. Since then, the submarine has been in training — until Saturday, April 2, 2022. That’s when, in a public ceremony delayed two years by the pandemic, U.S. President Joe Biden commissioned the USS Delaware, saying it would enhance national security. The commander in chief told a crowd of invited guests and dignitaries assembled on a restricted dock in Wilmington, Delaware, that the latest Navy vessel to carry the state’s name “is…
THE WATCH STAFF The U.S. Army will experiment with drone swarms that act in concert to overwhelm potential enemies. The tests will be carried out at an aviation-focused Army exercise leading up to Project Convergence in the second half of 2022, the director of the service’s Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team (FVLCFT) told Defense News in an April 5, 2022, story. The aviation exercise, Edge 22, will take place at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in May. Edge is a prelude to Project Convergence, the Army’s contribution to military-wide Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) that will link data…
LT. GEN. MARTIN SCHELLEIS February 24, 2022, was a key date for European and transatlantic security policy. With the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin not only violated international law, but also put the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its solidarity to the test. The war in Ukrainian territory is taking place directly on NATO’s eastern flank. In addition to providing a broad range of support to Ukraine, NATO allies also must stand together and increase deterrence against Russian aggression. What role does the Federal Republic of Germany — a powerful economy in the heart of Europe…
REUTERS North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will continue to develop “formidable striking capabilities” that cannot be bartered or sold for anything, state media reported March 28, 2022. Kim was meeting with officials, scientists, technicians and workers who contributed to a missile launch March 24, which North Korea said was its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), state news agency KCNA reported. “Only when one is equipped with the formidable striking capabilities, overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped by anyone, one can prevent a war, guarantee the security of the country and contain and put under control…
THE WATCH STAFF Canada plans to update its aging fleet of fighter aircraft by buying the F-35A Lightning II — the most advanced U.S. warplane. Minister of Public Services and Procurement Filomena Tassi and Defence Minister Anita Anand announced March 28, 2022, that Lockheed Martin Corp. had been selected as the preferred bidder to supply 88 fighters to replace Canada’s CF-18s and F-18s — a big step toward the U.S. company winning the multibillion-dollar contract. (A formation of F-35A Lightning II’s during a readiness exercise March 25, 2022, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.) Ottawa said it hopes to award…
THE WATCH STAFF The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge recently completed a Caribbean tour in which the British royal couple visited Belize and Jamaica before a final stop in the Bahamas. Prince William and his wife, Kate Middleton, made the trip to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. The tour came as Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica reconsider their relationships with the British monarchy, and after Barbados dropped the queen as its head of state and became a republic, Reuters reported March 27, 2022. William, second in line to the British throne, acknowledged the changing nature of the Caribbean nation’s ties…