Morning Recon

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MORNING RECON: The Navy's New Torpedo; F-35's Long Awaited European Arrival; MC-130J's Cruise Missile Hits Target
By: Real Clear Defense News - 12-17-21
Re: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#ca...XlPBMmHdgVPXvh

Morning Recon

Good Thursday morning and welcome to MORNING RECON. On this day in 2003, Operation Warrior Sweep involved a deployment of about 1,000 soldiers of the Afghan National Army, together with U.S.-led coalition troops, in the Zormat Valley region and the 3,260 meter-high peaks of the Ayubkhel Valley in the southern Paktia province in Afghanistan.The operation was in response to intelligence reports that some Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives were active in the area. It marked the first major combat operation for the Afghan troops.

RealClearDefense Today's Exclusive Stories:

A Strategy to Counter Chinese Influence Operations by Connor Fiddler
FBI's Dire Cyber Warning by Max Dorman

Today's Top Stories

NATIONAL

Experts Dial Back Expectations of New Nuclear Arms Race
By Jon Harper, National Defense Magazine: “Pentagon officials and other observers are sounding the alarm about the accelerating pace of China’s expansion of its nuclear capabilities. Will Washington respond by changing its plans for its atomic arsenal? Not necessarily, experts say.”

Troubled CBP Gets $3.7 Billion Infrastructure Boost While Coast Guard Gets Peanuts
By Craig Hooper, Forbes:

“The Coast Guard’s failure to get equivalent funding suggests the maritime law enforcement agencies needs a new strategy to help an eager Congress do more for America’s always-underfunded maritime service.”

Navy To Pick New Torpedo in March - By Justin Katz, Breaking Defense:

“The Navy is planning to award a contract in March 2022 for a new lightweight torpedo, a major milestone for the first new torpedo the service will field in over two decades.”

Air Force Museum to showcase an SR-71
By Kristen Spicker, Springfield News-Sun:

“The U.S. military is using cyberattacks to undermine ISIS’s ability to control its forces in Syria, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday.”

MC-130J Commando II Hits Target With Palletized Cruise Missile
By Joseph Trevithick, The War Zone: “Rapid Dragon is intended to offer a way to quickly turn cargo planes into launch platforms for cruise missiles and potentially other payloads.”

Army's Project Convergence - A Decades Long MDO Experiment
By Stew Magnuson, National Defense Magazine: "The U.S. Navy has taken delivery of the first AN/SPY-6 radar array for the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Jack Lucas, which was designed and built specifically to accommodate the upgraded air and missile defense radar."

DARPA’s Blackjack and PredaSAR Satellites to Test Interoperability
By Sandra Erwin, Space News: "Neither Blackjack nor PredaSAR has yet deployed any satellites. DARPA plans to launch as many as 12 satellites in 2022."

Read more Top Stories at RealClearDefense.com

INTERNATIONAL

U.S., EUROPE:

F-35A Lightning II Makes Long-Awaited European Arrival
By Jennifer Svan, Stars and Stripes: “The first U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II jets to be based in Europe arrived at their new home in England on Wednesday, six years after plans to base two squadrons of the aircraft at RAF Lakenheath were announced.”

CHINA, RUSSIA:

Here Are the Hypersonic Weapons Russia and China Have in Service
By Jane Doe, The Diplomat: “Currently, only two nations possess operational hypersonic weapons, China and Russia.”

IRAN:

Iran’s Drive to Modernize Navy Faces Latest in String of Setbacks
By H I Sutton, USNI News: “Iran’s drive for naval modernization and self-sufficiency has had another recent setback the when Iranian Navy’s newest frigate capsized in its dry dock.”

Read more International Stories at RealClearDefense.com including Iran More Than Doubles Revolutionary Guard’s Budget in FY22 Bill

COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

A World Without Trust
By Jacquelyn Schneider, Foreign Affairs: “When sounding the alarm over cyberthreats, policymakers and analysts have typically employed a vocabulary of conflict and catastrophe.”

FBI Warns of New Type of Cyber-Enabled Fraud - Missing Persons Scams
By Max Dorman, RealClearDefense: “There is a new type of cyber-enabled fraud that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning the public about – missing persons scams using social media. Scammers use information posted about missing persons on social media websites to target and exploit the victim’s family and friends network."

Morality, Duty, and Military Ethics:

The Case of Lieutenant Colonel Scheller
By Thomas R. Beall, Proceedings: “To his credit, Scheller has publicly embraced responsibility for his actions, accepting removal from command and the judgment of a court martial.”

More than Math:

Toward a Better Strategy for Advanced Analytics

By James Blue, Anthony Smith & Colleen McCue: "If, like the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, you plan to use AI when dropping 1,000-pound bombs, you should be sure you are using it correctly. This is why the Department of Defense has been working to incorporate critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethics into AI and machine learning."

A Strategy to Counter Chinese Influence Operations

By Connor Fiddler, RealClearDefense: “Only recently has the U.S. government started to dedicate more resources to countering FIO. However, the response has been insufficient.”

Why Finland Needs the F-35: Fear of Russian Aggression
By Sarah White, 1945: "The sale to Finland is also an indicator of the direction from which the U.S. and its allies believe the most imminent danger is coming."

Read more Commentary and Analysis at RealClearDefense.com

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