The Watch

THE WATCH staff Despite a recent flight test that did not meet all of its objectives, the U.S. Air Force remains optimistic that it will begin production of its new hypersonic missile by the end of fiscal year 2022. The Air Force is investigating why a rocket motor failed to ignite after the successful release of the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) from a B-52H Stratofortress on July 28, 2021, over Point Mugu Sea Range near Southern California. (Pictured: A B-52H of the 419th Flight Test Squadron undergoes preflight procedures at Edwards Air Force Base, California, before an ARRW test…

THE WATCH staff U.S. warplanes have made history on a highway. Four A-10 Thunderbolt IIs touched down August 5, 2021, on a closed portion of Michigan State Highway M-32 as part of a training event called Thunder LZ. “This is believed to be the first time in history that modern Air Force aircraft have intentionally landed on a civilian roadway on U.S. soil,” Col. James Rossi said in a statement from the Michigan Air National Guard (MI ANG), according to The Detroit News newspaper. Two MI ANG pilots from the 127th Wing operated alongside two pilots from the U.S. Air Force’s…

THE WATCH staff The United States Coast Guard marked its 231st birthday on August 4, 2021, and celebrated the next day when it conducted the largest illegal drug offload in the service’s history. Cocaine and marijuana worth more than an estimated U.S. $1.4 billion were seized over the course of three months, the Coast Guard said. In a Coast Guard photo, the drug bundles filled most of the helicopter pad on the 418-foot-long USCGC James, whose home port is Charleston, South Carolina. “We can’t think of a better way to commemorate that birthday … than with the Cutter James crew…

REUTERS The White House is signaling to critical infrastructure companies in the United States that they must improve their cyber defenses because additional potential regulation is on the horizon. U.S. President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum in late July 2021 that launched a new public-private initiative that creates performance controls for cybersecurity at America’s most critical companies, including water treatment and electrical power plants. The recommendations are voluntary, but the administration hopes it will cause companies to improve their cybersecurity ahead of other policy efforts, a senior administration official said. The announcement comes after multiple high-profile cyberattacks this…

REUTERS A counterterrorism organization formed by some of the biggest U.S. tech companies, including Facebook and Microsoft, is significantly expanding the types of extremist content shared between firms in a key database, aiming to crack down on material from white supremacists and far-right militias. Until now, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism’s (GIFCT) database has focused on videos and images from terrorist groups on a United Nations list and has largely consisted of content from Islamist extremist organizations such as Islamic State, al-Qaida and the Taliban. Over the next few months, the group will add attacker manifestos — often shared by…

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…