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…
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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,…
THE WATCH STAFF The latest in a series of cross-command experiments tapping into the potency of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to drive proactive decision-making proved another “leap forward” in integrated deterrence, according to theUnited States commander responsible for homeland defense of North America. The third Global Information Dominance Experiment (GIDE 3), held July 8-15, 2021, was a collaboration among U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and all 11 U.S. combatant commands, as well the U.S. Air Force’s Chief Architect Office and the U.S. Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). “By integrating more information from a global network…
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The United States and Western allies formally blamed the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in July 2021 for a massive hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software and asserted that criminal hackers associated with the Chinese government have carried out ransomware and other illicit cyber operations. The announcements were intended as a condemnation of activities a senior U.S. official described as part of a “pattern of irresponsible behavior in cyberspace.” They highlighted the ongoing threat from Chinese hackers even as the U.S. continues its efforts to curb ransomware attacks from Russia-based syndicates that have targeted critical infrastructure.…
REUTERS Germany inaugurated a new space command in July 2021, following the lead of other Western countries amid growing concern over Russian and Chinese military advances in space and a surge in satellite launches. In the past two years, France, the United Kingdom and the United States have established space commands — military bodies with responsibility for space operations — to address what they see as a threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia. Military sources see the PRC and Russia as capable of waging war in space and damaging even advanced adversaries. At its summit in…
THE WATCH STAFF The United States commander responsible for homeland defense of North America met with his counterparts in Mexico in July 2021 to foster security cooperation and discuss areas of mutual interest. U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command, met July 6-8, 2021, with Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Crescencio Sandoval Gonzales and Mexican Secretary of the Navy Adm. Jose Rafael Ojeda Duran in Mexico City . The defense leaders discussed air surveillance cooperation, border security, countering common threats, defense cooperation and the upcoming Mexico International Aerospace Fair,…
THE WATCH staff The United States Department of State has appointed career foreign service officer Karen Grissette to serve as consul general to Bermuda. She will lead a team whose mission is to protect U.S. citizens and deepen the economic and cultural ties between the U.S. and Bermuda. She assumed the post in July 2021. Grissette’s previous roles have included serving as public diplomacy advisor to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. In 2010, she received the U.S. State Department’s Swanee Hunt Award for Advancing Women’s Role in Policy Formulation, highlighting her efforts to promote the rights of women and girls. Another U.S.…