THE WATCH STAFF In the words of an experienced U.S. Marine Corps. pilot, landing on a carrier in an F-35B Lightning II is “surprisingly easy.” “It’s simply pushing the stick forward to go down,” Lt. Col. Robert Guyette told the Stars and Stripes newspaper of the historic landing that “felt identical” to others he had carried out in the short-takeoff, vertical-landing F-35B. What wasn’t identical: The October 3, 2021, touchdown was the first aboard a Japanese carrier, the JS Izumo, by a fixed-wing aircraft since World War II. (Pictured: A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II conducts a vertical landing…
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REUTERS The Pentagon sharply increased its estimate of China’s projected nuclear arsenal, saying that Beijing could have 700 warheads by 2027 and possibly 1,000 by 2030. While the numbers would still be significantly smaller than the current United States nuclear stockpile, they represent a significant change from 2020, when the Pentagon warned the Chinese arsenal would top 400 by the end of the decade. Washington has repeatedly called on China to join it and Russia in a new arms-control treaty. In its annual report to Congress on China’s military, the Pentagon on November 3, 2021, reiterated concern about increasing pressure…
THE WATCH STAFF The United States recently bolstered maritime security in the Bahamas by delivering a radar system to its partner in the Caribbean region. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), officially delivered the Maritime Surveillance System (MSS) to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and the Bahamian government. “This maritime domain awareness capability will dramatically expand the Royal Bahamas Defence Force’s ability to detect, localize and track vessels in the waters surrounding their nation,” VanHerck said during the handover ceremony at the Coral Harbour base on New Providence island, according to a news…
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The U.S. Air Force recently flew a B-1B strategic bomber over key maritime chokepoints in the Middle East with allies including Israel amid ongoing tensions with Iran. The B-1B Lancer flew October 30, 2021, over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes. It also flew over the Red Sea, its narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Egypt’s Suez Canal. (Pictured: Egyptian Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons form off the wing of a U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer as part of a presence patrol above Egypt on…
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Poland’s ruling party leader presented plans for a homeland defense bill on October 26, 2021, aimed at “radically” strengthening the military as the country faces migration pressure from its eastern neighbor Belarus. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the deputy prime minister who is undisputedly the most powerful politician in Poland, said the bill is needed because of a deteriorating international situation. Examples he gave included neighboring “Russia’s imperial ambitions” and the hybrid warfare being waged by Belarus against Poland and other European Union nations using migrants. “If we want to avoid the worst, that is war, we have to act…
REUTERS The United States and Mexico in October 2021 discussed a new joint security plan to fight drug cartels as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mexico’s president during a visit to strengthen ties between the countries. The Biden administration is increasingly reliant on its southern neighbor to stem the flow of Latin American migrants heading to the United States. Overhauling an earlier security plan, known as the Merida Initiative, is expected to take months as the two sides work out how best to work together. The United States has channeled about U.S. $3.3 billion since 2007 to…
THE WATCH STAFF In yet another example of how the Arctic is changing, the region’s “Last Ice” developed a massive hole. The hole, known as a polynya, was north of Ellesmere Island, Canada’s northern-most island, and just west of Greenland. The area, known as Last Ice, is considered to have the oldest and thickest Arctic ice. Researchers at the University of Toronto-Mississauga in Canada discovered that the polynya formed May 14, 2020, according to an October 19, 2021, story in the USA Today newspaper. The polynya expanded to about 62 miles long and 18 miles wide before eventually closing May…
THE WATCH STAFF In a joint effort, the militaries of the United States and United Kingdom have successfully demonstrated machine-learning algorithms. The cooperation between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the U.K.’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) showcased the countries’ ability to collaborate on deploying artificial intelligence (AI) in support of war fighters, according to an October 20, 2021, story in the Air Force Times newspaper. The joint effort is part of a four-year Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (AAIC) Partnership Agreement signed in December 2020, according to the Air Force Times. The AFRL is the lead agency…
THE WATCH STAFF In March 2020, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson retweeted a story from a conspiracy site with links to Russian disinformation operations that suggested a link between a U.S. Army research facility and the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The retweet was quickly debunked, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — through state media and government officials — continued to spread disinformation about Fort Detrick in Maryland, according to an October 5, 2021, study by the Alliance for Securing Democracy. The CCP campaign was so pervasive that the most common Google search for the facility in 2020 was “Fort…
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A new Pentagon plan calls for incorporating the realities of a hotter, harsher Earth at every level in the U.S. military, from making worsening climate extremes a mandatory part of strategic planning to training troops how to secure their water supplies and treat heat injury. The Pentagon — whose jets, aircraft carriers, truck convoys, bases and office buildings cumulatively burn more oil than most countries — was among the federal agencies that U.S. President Joe Biden ordered to overhaul their climate-resilience plans when he took office in January 2021. “These are essential steps, not just to meet…