The Watch

THE WATCH staff Building on the success of its first site survey, U.S. Special Operations Command North (SOCNORTH) recently sent another team to Alaska’s North Slope Borough (NSB). The team for the July 2021 visit was drawn from SOCNORTH (two members), the Air Force’s 621st Contingency Response Wing (two members), a Soldier from the 10th Special Forces Group — which recently implemented a new Winter Warfare Course — and a representative from the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. During their visit, team members focused on planning and logistics for next year’s Arctic Edge 22, a biennial, large-scale, joint training exercise. The team…

THE WATCH staff As the threats to the homeland become more diverse, the United States is broadening its approach to national defense. President Joe Biden, senior military leaders and Department of Defense (DOD) publications have called this principle “strategic competition,” especially in regard to the rapidly changing Arctic region and to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Biden, in February 2021 at the virtual Munich Security Conference, said of the PRC: “We must prepare together for a long-term strategic competition.” The DOD, in its fiscal year 2022 budget, said its strategic approach addresses “threats such as climate change, COVID-19 and…

THE WATCH STAFF The skies above Camp Growl, Queensland, roared with the sound of history in mid-July 2021 as the United States Army conducted the first-ever launch of a Patriot surface-to-air missile in Australia, part of an ongoing demonstration of U.S. forces’ ability to rapidly deploy throughout the Indo-Pacific to counter threats and defend assets. Operating in conjunction with Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel, U.S. Soldiers from the 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, destroyed two drones with Patriot missiles, pictured, as part of Talisman Sabre 21, a biennial exercise that involved more than…

THE WATCH STAFF Rare-earth elements (REEs) are 17 similar metals that are critical for many defense systems, including lasers, magnets for motors and laser-guided missiles. They are also key cogs in domestic supply chains because they are used in everything from fluorescent lighting to illuminated computer screens and cancer drugs. Yet the People’s Republic of China (PRC) dominates the global marketplace for REEs because it can separate and purify the raw materials, which creates a supply chain vulnerability the U.S. has vowed to eliminate. To that end, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced a project in mid-July 2021…

THE WATCH STAFF The United States and its allies and partners are fortifying their cyber defenses to detect, deter and counter malicious actors, whether they are ransomware attackers linked to the Russian government or hackers tied to the Chinese Communist Party. Viewed as a national security threat, the breaching of computer networks and systems by state and nonstate hackers has elevated concern among like-minded democracies. The unified and robust response follows costly and disruptive cyber assaults on governments, companies, critical infrastructure, research institutions and other entities worldwide. In a communique issued after their mid-June 2021 summit in Brussels, the heads…

THE WATCH STAFF Defense forces from Mexico and the United States have been honing their communication and air-intercept skills to protect their homelands by tracking simulated suspicious aircraft as they cross national boundaries. Mexico’s National Defense Forces (SEDENA) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s (NORAD’s) Continental U.S. Region and First Air Force, Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) participated July 14-15, 2021, in Amalgam Eagle 21, a live-fly exercise. Both countries conducted flights along the U.S.-Mexico border to detect and intercept simulated threats. “The Amalgam Eagle exercise is critical in maintaining air sovereignty across our shared border,” said U.S. Air Force…

NICK ADDE/SEAPOWER MAGAZINE The ramifications of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing are readily apparent to nations whose economies depend on fishing, but the practice also affects the United States’ national security, a panel of experts said August 4 at Sea-Air-Space 2021. The discussion was part of the global maritime exposition sponsored by the Navy League of the United States in National Harbor, Maryland. Whitley Saumweber, who directs the Stephenson Ocean Security Project, described a situation in which 90% of the world’s fish stocks are overfished while demand continues to increase. “This combines with increasing global competition, particularly from China,…

REUTERS United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he is committed to having a constructive relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and working on common challenges as he laid out his vision for ties with Beijing in a July 2021 visit to Singapore. The U.S. has put countering the PRC at the heart of its national security policy for years, and President Joe Biden’s administration has called rivalry with Beijing “the biggest geopolitical test” of this century. While Austin’s speech in Singapore touched on PRC actions the U.S. describes as destabilizing, from Taiwan to the South China Sea,…

THE WATCH STAFF A United States Coast Guard cutter that was damaged by fire in 2020 is back at sea on a monthslong Arctic mission, conducting seafloor mapping and exchanges with maritime allies and partners. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy will transit through the Northwest Passage in September 2021 on a Canadian Arctic route that connects the North Pacific to the North Atlantic, The Seattle Times newspaper reported. The cutter also will travel through the Panama Canal in a circumnavigation of North America. “Healy’s deployment provides opportunities to deepen the Coast Guard’s cooperation and commitment with our Arctic allies…

THE WATCH STAFF As warming trends and rising near-peer competition reinforce the strategic importance of the Arctic, United States military leaders are accelerating efforts to secure communication dominance in the polar region, including through innovative space-based collaboration with a NATO ally. The U.S. Air Force, in partnership with Norway’s Ministry of Defence and Space Norway, will send communications payloads aboard two satellites scheduled to begin orbiting over an area north of the Arctic Circle in late 2022, according to Space Norway. The Norwegian government agency has contracted Northrop Grumman to design and manufacture the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) system,…