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HERE WE GO AGAIN: Fresh off his hectoring of U.S. allies over trade at the G-7 meeting last month in Canada, President Trump is warning NATO nations gathering for next week’s summit in Brussels that he intends to berate laggards who have failed to meet their self-imposed goal of spending at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on their own defense. The New York Times has obtained texts of sharply critical dunning letters the president has sent to some of America’s closest allies, including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada, accusing them of failing to pay their fair share of NATO’s collective defense. In his letter to embattled German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump writes, “The United States continues to devote more resources to the defense of Europe when the Continent’s economy, including Germany’s, are doing well and security challenges abound. This is no longer sustainable for us.” The president says it’s not just him, citing “growing frustration” in the U.S. Congress. “Continued German underspending on defense undermines the security of the alliance and provides validation for other allies that also do not plan to meet their military spending commitments, because others see you as a role model.” MATTIS WARNS U.K.: Meanwhile in a separate letter leaked to Britain’s Sun newspaper, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warns his UK counterpart Gavin Williamson that Britain is in danger of falling below the 2 percent threshold, at a time when France is stepping up its spending. In the two page letter, Mattis suggests Britain may be forfeiting its status as a “leading world power” because the “credibility” of its armed forces is eroding. “I am concerned that your ability to continue to provide this critical military foundation for diplomatic success is at risk of erosion, while together we face a world awash with change.” It’s a rare rebuke for a country that has been America’s most reliable ally, has the second highest defense budget after the U.S. of the 29 NATO nations, and has so far never failed to meet the 2 percent threshold. But in his letter, Mattis says the U.S. expects more “beyond what we would expect from allies with only regional interests,” and suggests Britain could lose its “special relationship” with the U.S. “It is in the best interest of both of our nations for the UK to remain the US partner of choice,” Mattis writes. A QUICK REFRESHER: The U.S. frustration over anemic defense spending by NATO allies goes way back before Trump made it a signature issue of his administration. As national security adviser John Bolton noted on CBS on Sunday, it was under President Barack Obama in 2014 that all NATO countries committed to the 2 percent goal in what was known as the Wales Declaration. “I think what the president has said to the NATO allies that has caused them concern is that he wants them to live up to the commitment that they themselves made during the Obama administration,” Bolton said. “Barack Obama, in fact, said that free-riders aggravated him. So, I don’t think it’s fair to criticize President Trump for simply saying what President Obama said earlier. “NATO is the most successful political-military alliance in history,” Bolton said. “But if core members, including Germany, aren’t willing to spend what’s necessary for their own self-defense, what are we to make of that?” The pledges made at the Wales summit call for all NATO nations to meet the 2 percent goal by 2024, and to spend at least 20 percent of their defense budget on equipment and capabilities, not just pad the payroll with excess troops as a welfare program. Defense News has a handy graphic showing how much each of the countries has spent over the years. COULD U.S. PULL ITS TROOPS OUT OF GERMANY? The Pentagon confirmed yesterday that it is reviewing U.S military force levels in Germany, but insisted it was just one of the routine tasks its performs as a “planning organization.” The U.S. has some 35,000 active troops stationed in Germany, as well as the headquarters of the U.S. European and Africa commands. It also occupies some prime real estate in Germany, including massive training ranges in Hohenfels and Grafenwoehr. The implicit threat ahead of the summit is that the U.S. could withdraw or reposition its forces. It could not come at a worse time for Merkel, who has barely managed to prevent the fall of her government with a last-minute concession to conservatives that required her to backtrack on immigration policy, and is now ruling from a weakened position. “The NSC did not request for us to provide a cost analysis, but we regularly review our force posture, and we perform cost-benefit analyses to make sure that we have the right forces, in the right place, with the right capability,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said yesterday. “That is a constant process across DoD’s global footprint.” Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense. |
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HAPPENING TODAY: Mattis is scheduled to have lunch today with Trump at the White House. The Pentagon says Mattis, who is just back from his trip to China, as well as consultations with allies South Korea and Japan, is said to have basically cleared his schedule to prepare for the NATO summit July 11-12. Tonight, Trump delivers remarks at the Salute to Service dinner in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. POMPEO TO PYONGYANG: The White House yesterday confirmed reports from last week that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will leave for North Korea on Thursday for a meeting with Kim Jong Un and his “team.” Pompeo will be seeking specific commitments and timetables for North Korea to show it’s serious about meeting a vague commitment it made last month in Singapore “to work towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The White House yesterday refused to confirm widely reported U.S. intelligence assessments that the North was preparing to conceal the extent of its nuclear arsenal and related programs. “We aren’t going to confirm or deny any intelligence reports,” said press secretary Sarah Sanders. “What I can tell you is that we’re continuing to make progress. In the last eight months, you haven’t seen missile launches. You haven’t seen nuclear detonations. And again, these conversations are continuing to evolve.” Pompeo plans to wrap up his talks in Pyongyang in time to joint Trump and Mattis at the NATO summit in Brussels. BEIJING BRUSH OFF: Meanwhile, China is dismissing those intel assessments, touting instead the “momentum” behind the denuclearization process. “I don’t know where they come from or on what basis those U.S. officials made the relevant comments,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. “I think you may have to seek clarification from them.” THE ‘CODSPREY’ COMETH: U.S. troops and supplies will have a new way to arrive on aircraft carriers now that the Pentagon has inked a new $4 billion aircraft contract. The contract with Boeing and Bell Helicopter includes 39 of a new Navy variant of the Osprey aircraft, called the CMV-22B, that would land on the massive ship decks and act as a transport. The Marine Corps is set to get 34 of its own “B” variant Osprey aircraft and Japan will buy four under the contract. The carrier transport job is now handled by C-2A Greyhound turboprop aircraft that make catapult launches, harrowing dives and jarring arrested stops onto the carriers. Known as the carrier onboard delivery aircraft, or COD, the Greyhounds were introduced in the 1960s and have had a stellar safety record, despite last year’s emergency water landing in the Philippine Sea that claimed the lives of three crew members. But the CODs were notoriously hot, noisy and uncomfortable, with passengers strapped in backward and given only two small porthole windows. The new “Codsprey” CMV-22B tilt-rotor aircraft will have an enlarged fuel tank for longer range and be able to hover and land on the carriers like a helicopter. HIGH-POWERED ARMY LASER: It may be only a $10 million defense contract, but who doesn’t love laser weapons? Raytheon announced it won the contract to demonstrate a combat-strength 100-kilowatt laser to be mounted on Army trucks, specifically what the service calls its family of medium tactical vehicles. “This system is being designed to knock out rockets, artillery or mortar fire, or small drones,” Roy Azevedo, vice president of intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance systems with the Raytheon space and airborne systems business unit, said in a statement. NO IRAN WAIVERS FOR ALLIES? The United States will not hesitate to enforce sanctions on countries doing business with Iran despite deep concern among allies in Europe, the State Department said Monday. “We will not hesitate to take action when we see sanctionable activity and that is consistent with our policy of economic and diplomatic isolation of Iran,” said Brian Hook, the department’s director of policy planning. Waivers for the allies could undermine the Trump administration’s aim of curbing Tehran’s malign activities in the Middle East, Hook said. But he also hinted there might be some flexibility, saying that countries making an effort to reduce Iranian imports such as oil could be considered. CRIMEA NOT IN PLAY: The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin has no intention of discussing the status of Crimea, a region annexed from Ukraine in 2014, during his summit with Trump. “Crimea cannot and will never be on the agenda because Crimea is an integral part of Russia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday. “We do not recognize Russia’s attempt to annex Crimea,” Sanders said at the White House yesterday. “We agree to disagree with Russia on that front, and our Crimea sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Russia returns the peninsula to the Ukraine.” TERROR LABEL: The Trump administration is considering designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran’s military, as a foreign terrorist organization, CNN reports. The move is controversial among senior Cabinet officials, as some caution it could jeopardize U.S. personnel and installations overseas. For example, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned that the new label could present challenges to U.S. forces. OPERATION ROUNDUP: The U.S. military says the operation to eradicate the remaining elements of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is gaining momentum. In a release yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve said the coalition and its partners have accelerated offensive activity against ISIS targets in both Iraq and Syria. “Since the May 1 start of Operation Roundup, Syrian Democratic Forces resumed major offensive operations in the Middle Euphrates River Valley,” the statement said. “Since then, the SDF has continued to gain ground through offensive operations coupled with precision Coalition strike support.” The coalition says ISIS morale is “sinking on the frontlines as privileged [ISIS] leaders increasingly abandon their own fighters on the battlefield, taking resources with them as they flee.” TAKING THE MEASURE OF MATTIS: Talk Radio News Pentagon correspondent Tom Squitieri spent some quality time with Mattis on his Asia trip last week, and had an interesting take on how Mattis approached the Chinese. “Mattis is a true soldier. He has fought and led others to victory. For all its strengths and paper prowess, the Chinese military is untested. It may train well yet that guarantees nothing,” Squitieri writes, observing it was Mattis’ legendary military career that was his “secret weapon” to get the Chinese to pay attention to what he said. “The Chinese also know all this about him. It is that war fighting experience, that battlefield success, that they value, that makes his words ones they were open to hearing. That permitted Mattis to press Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders on China’s buildup of military bases on disputed islands in the South China Sea — even as Xi defiantly stated Beijing would not give up ‘an inch of sovereignty,’ according to Chinese media. Mattis did not blink. He pressed the issue of China’s broken promise not to militarize the islands in every meeting except that with the president. In the meeting with Xi, he played his straight flush of geography, history, experience, calmness, and steadfastness.” McMASTER’S NEXT ACT: Former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster has been named a visiting fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, beginning Sept. 1. McMaster, who was fired by tweet in March by Trump, will also serve as a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in management. “I am delighted to welcome H.R. McMaster back to the Stanford community,” said FSI Director Michael McFaul, in a statement. “In addition to his insights regarding national security strategy for the academic and policy worlds, we look forward to his contributions to the education and training of future foreign policy leaders from Stanford University.” THE RUNDOWN Bloomberg: Pentagon Hyped $1.2 Billion F-35 Savings Claim, Senators Say Defense News: US spy planes are breaking down ― and lawmakers want answers Stars and Stripes: Former Army Europe boss: Pulling US troops from Germany would be a big win for Russia Business Insider: Trump is trying to increase the pressure on Iran, but that means ‘threading the needle’ with a major ally Foreign Policy: The EU and NATO and Trump — Oh My! Defense One: Happy 50th Birthday to the NPT Nuclear Treaty Roll Call: US Spending Less to Secure World’s Nuclear Bomb Materials Bloomberg: Why the U.S. Worries About U.K. Military Commitment Washington Post: New Pressure On Israel As Syrians Flow Toward The Border Task and Purpose: TV Broadcaster Completely Unfazed As Attack Helicopter Nearly Takes Her Head Off Politico: Behind the secret U.S. war in Africa USNI News: Navy Use of Laser Scanning Already Showing Big Savings; Summit This Month to Refine Plans Flight Global: Hypoxia Scare Causes EA-18G To Make Emergency Landing |
CalendarTUESDAY | JULY 10 8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. Nuclear Deterrent Breakfast Series Review of Middle East and East Asian Missile Threats: Iran and North Korea Connections. mitchellaerospacepower.org 8 a.m. 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Procurement Division Meeting. ndia.org 9:30 a.m. Hart 216. Mitchell Hour Panel on Manned-Unmanned Aircraft Teaming and Taking Combat Airpower to the Next Level with Maj. Gen. William Cooley, Commander of the Air Force Research Lab, and Tim Grayson, Director of the Strategic Technology Office at DARPA. mitchellaerospacepower.org 10 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Stabilizing Sino-Indian Security Relations: Managing Strategic Rivalry After Doklam. carnegieendowment.org
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ADVERTISEMENT: NDIA invites you to attend the Army Science and Technology Symposium and Showcase August twenty first through twenty third at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in DC. Register today at http://www.ndia.org/ArmyScience |
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