A LOOK AT CHINA’S ISLAND WEAPONS: This year’s Pentagon report to Congress on the state of China’s military build-up is being released today. Our sources say it’s chock full of new details about the communist nation’s expansive ambitions and expanding defense budget. But in particular it will detail the extent of China’s militarization in the South China Sea. Not just the island-building, but all the runways, radars, missiles and aircraft it has placed on them. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Abraham Denmark briefs Pentagon reporters at 2:30 p.m.
Meanwhile White House spokesman Josh Earnest says we shouldn’t read too much into the destroyer William P. Lawrence sailing near those man-made islands, Nicole Duran reports. “It is not intended as a proactive act. It merely is a demonstration of a principle that the president has laid out. The United States will fly, operate, sail anywhere that international law allows.”
IT’S NOT JUST CHINA: The administration is also telling Russia to calm down about the NATO missile shield it fired up this week in Romania, along with groundbreaking for a second site in Poland. Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work, in Romania for the activation went to great pains to insist that the two dozen interceptor missiles are aimed Tehran, not Moscow, and they are purely defensive. Russia’s not having it.
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BOOT CHECK: If you’re having trouble keeping track of all the places the U.S. has non-combat boots on the ground in active war zones, it’s understandable. Yesterday, the Pentagon revealed that U.S. forces were accompanying Ugandan troops in Somalia, who came under fire from the al Qaeda-linked al Shabab terrorist group. We’re told the U.S. troops were a safe distance away, but close enough to call in an airstrike to turn the tide of battle. Five al-Shabab fighters were said to have been killed.
So in addition to Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Somalia, you can also add Libya to the “Boots List.” The Washington Post details how U.S. special ops troops have been stationed at two outposts in Libya since last year.
HOW’S THE WAR GOING? The ever-optimistic Col. Steve Warren briefs from Baghdad this morning. Daily on Defense hears he’ll report progress in Fallujah, Iraq, and acknowledge some “setbacks” along the Ma’ara line in Syria. He’ll also update the efforts to cut the Islamic State’s financial resources: Oil revenues have been cut in half, and so has the average paycheck for an ISIS fighter, says Warren.
SKIPPER SCUPPERED: The investigation continues in the embarrassing January incident in which 10 American sailors were captured by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, handing a propaganda coup to Tehran hours before President Obama’s State of the Union. The Navy announced late yesterday it fired Cmdr. Eric Rasch from his position within the Coastal Riverine Squadron 3 due to “a loss of confidence in his ability to command.”
WE HAVE A BILL: Sen. John McCain unveiled some details of the Senate Armed Service Committee’s fiscal 2017 defense policy bill on Thursday, including the fact that the top line for base funding is in line with the president’s, and not with McCain’s counterpart in the House.
McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry will have to iron out that difference and others during a conference committee once each chamber passes the bill. Another likely sticking point? How many Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines the Air Force can use to get to space. Senators will allow nine while the House committee upped that to 18.
The Center for Individual Freedom weighed in on the issue, urging lawmakers to end the U.S. reliance on Russia as soon as possible.
The Senate version also calls for splitting up the job of the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer into two undersecretary jobs: researching & engineering, and management & support.
DRAFT SAVINGS: The Congressional Budget Office found that requiring women to sign up for the draft would actually save money over the long term. Read here to find out why.
DEMOCRACY BY THE OCEAN: Reps. Randy Forbes and Rob Wittman are co-hosting a hearing on the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower this month. While they say it’s to see problems the fleet is facing first hand, Forbes’ primary competitor, Del. Scott Taylor, accused the Republican congressman of using sailors and Marines as political props just weeks before they are set to deploy to the Middle East.
Speaking of making waves, check out this short video tweeted by @GulfQuest of the future littoral combat ship Manchester being rolled out. The ship is of the Independence variant of the LCS, built by Austal USA.
HISTORIC DAY AT NORTHCOM: Gen. Lori Robinson becomes the first female U.S. combatant commander today when she takes over the North American Aerospace Defense and U.S. Northern Command. Both Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford are on hand for the change of command in Colorado Springs. All three meet the press at 2 p.m. EDT.
Congrats are also in order for Brig. Gen. Ed Thomas, former spox for the Joint Chiefs chairman, who took over Thursday as the head of Air Force public affairs.
FINDING THE WHISTLEBLOWER: GOP members of the Benghazi committee are on the hunt for an Air Force member who told Fox News he could have helped save the Americans who died at the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi in 2012, Sarah Westwood reports. But Democrats on the panel say the matter is already settled.
SO … NOW THEY’RE TALKING? Sen. Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump can’t stand each other, but Gabby Morrongiello writes that they held a “cordial, pleasant phone conversation” to discuss foreign policy. Graham’s still not endorsing Trump, though.
PETRAEUS WARNS TRUMP: He doesn’t mention the presumptive GOP nominee by name, but there no question who former CIA Director David Petraeus is talking to when he writes in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, “I have grown increasingly concerned about inflammatory political discourse that has become far too common both at home and abroad against Muslims and Islam, including proposals from various quarters for blanket discrimination against people on the basis of their religion.”
ARMY RECRUITING ANTI-ALIEN FORCE: OK, this is most creative Army recruiting video since “Be All You Can Be.” The new campaign is tied to the release of the new sequel to the classic sci-fi movie Independence Day. If don’t remember the war of 1996, check out the online video game at joinESD.com, where you can enlist in the Earth Space Defense Force. And if you haven’t already, be sure to check out that insane Chinese military recruiting video that came out last week.
THE RUNDOWN
Defense One: America’s Last Fighter Jet Makers Scramble to Keep Production Alive
UPI: Raytheon gets Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile contract
AP: Top Lebanese Hezbollah Military Commander Killed in Syria
UPI: Bell Helicopter announces half-billion dollar contract
Flightglobal: Boeing backs extended-range Harpoon to stave off Kongsberg threat
Defense One: The DIUx Is Dead. Long Live The DIUx
RealClearDefense: The Alfred E. Neuman Defense Policy
Politico: Top Trump ally on Capitol Hill: He snubbed us
Washington Post: Three deaths linked to recent Navy SEAL training classes
Breaking Defense: F-35 Wins Denmark Competition: Trounces Super Hornet, Eurofighter
New York Times: Russia Calls New U.S. Missile Defense System a ‘Direct Threat’
Defense One: America’s Last Fighter Jet Makers Scramble to Keep Production Alive
New York Times: The Mullahs and Their Missiles, by Ted Cruz
Calendar
FRIDAY | MAY 13
8:30 a.m. Kennedy Caucus Room, 325 Russell. Aerospace Industries Association hosts a “Rockets on the Hill” event with 50 teams from Team America Rocketry Challenge. aia-aerospace.org
MONDAY | MAY 16
8:45 a.m. 201 Waterfront St., Oxon Hill, Md. The Navy League’s three-day Sea-Air-Space Exposition gets underway at National Harbor. Seaairspace.org
2 p.m. 1150 17th St. NW. Think tank experts look at rethinking the map of the Middle East 100 years after the agreement that served as the foundation for the border lines in the region. Aei.org
TUESDAY | MAY 17
9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, Va. Greg Zacharias, the chief scientist of the Air Force, will talk about the future of autonomous systems. Mitchellaerospacepower.org
9:30 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. A panel of experts discusses how drone proliferation may change the national security landscape of the future. stimson.org
1:30 p.m. 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. White House national security advisor Ben Rhodes will speak about U.S. policy in Southeast Asia at an event, following a profile of him in the New York Times Magazine that sparked backlash among the media and on Capitol Hill. cnas.org
WEDNESDAY | MAY 18
11 a.m. 529 14th St. NW. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will speak at a World War I Centennial Commission event. press.org
4 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Analysts will discuss the social and economic long-term viability of the Islamic State. cato.org
THURSDAY | MAY 19
8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. Rep. Jim Bridenstine speaks about Congress’ perspective on space national security. Mitchellaerospacepower.org
