American military has grown averse to failure, US general says

“But somehow over the last few years, North Korea has developed a ballistic missile program that can threaten its neighbors and threaten the United States, and a nuclear program that can threaten its neighbors and the United States, and they’ve done that — they’ve changed the entire structure of the world — with the 115th most powerful economy in the world,” Hyten said. “You want to know what’s different about North Korea? They learned how to go fast.”

STUCK IN THE SLOW LANE: “When you look at our competitors, large and small, one of the things you find they have in common is they’re moving very, very fast. And we are not,” Hyten said, arguing that the U.S. military has become failure averse.

“If you want to go fast in the missile business, you need to test fast, fly fast, learn fast,” Hyten said, and cited Elon Musk’s SpaceX which he noted had suffered some “pretty spectacular failures.”

“Did they stop? No. They instrumented the heck out of their capabilities. They learned from the failures. They launched rapidly. Again, they changed systems. They change subsystems. Uh, they go in a different, completely different direction. That is what North Korea has been doing,” Hyten said. “North Korea has been building new missiles, new capabilities, new weapons as fast as anybody on the planet.”

FAILURE IS OUR FRIEND: “If the dictator of North Korea has learned how to accept failure, why can’t the United States learn how to accept failure?” Hyten asked. “We need to understand what failure is and learn from those failures. Learn from the mistakes that we made. Move quickly from those mistakes.”

IT’S A NIGHTMARE: Hyten argues it’s not the case that the U.S. doesn’t know how to move fast, it’s the the Pentagon is slow to adopt the mindset of the private sector, especially in the area of software development.

“When you go into the commercial sector and watch how we build software, it’s so fast. You look at Google or Facebook or Amazon web services or, or any of the small startups in Cambridge and Silicon Valley and Seattle and here in Washington. It’s just amazing.” Hyten said. “You ever walked into a defense contractor and watch us build software? Well, It is just a nightmare. And if you look at every one of our programs, it’s a nightmare across the board.”

Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Susan Katz Keating (@SKatzKeating). Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. 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: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and Sub-Committee on Security and Defence today in Brussels The speech will be streamed live on the NATO website.

ALSO TODAY: President Trump is in Davos Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum, and told the audience at the economic conference that America’s economic turnaround has been “nothing short of spectacular.”

Trump is scheduled to return to Washington tomorrow, as his impeachment trial begins in the Senate today.

ESPER HEADING SOUTH: Defense Secretary Mark Esper departs tomorrow for Naval Air Station Pensacola where he will be discussing new security measures in the wake of the Dec. 6 shooting in which three service members were killed and eight other people wounded by a Saudi student pilot.

“Going forward, we will put several new policies and security procedures in place to protect our people, our programs and our installations,” said Garry Reid, director of defense intelligence in a statement Friday. “These include new restrictions on international military students for possession and use of firearms, and control measures for limiting their access to military installations and U.S. government facilities.”

POMPEO: ‘WE DON’T WANT WAR’: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is wrapping up a trip to South America, where he met with Venezuela opposition leader Juan Guaido in Colombia, on the sidelines of the Third Western Hemisphere Counterterrorism Ministerial. Pompeo is scheduled for stops in Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Florida, before returning Thursday.

In a TV interview in Bogata, Pompeo argued that the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani has established deterrence and diminished the prospect of armed conflict. “The actions that we’ve taken over the past couple weeks have reduced the risk that there’ll be a war,” Pompeo said. “President Trump’s made very clear we don’t want a war. We don’t want a war anywhere, certainly in the Middle East.”

“The death of Qasem Soleimani, and the death of a senior leader of one of the militias there in Iraq – they provide an opportunity for a sovereign Iraq, and they reduce the risk of terror not only in the Middle East, but right here in Colombia.”

INDUSTRY WATCH:

— British defense and security giant BAE Systems PLC is buying U.S. defense technology assets worth close to $2 billion that became available by the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies, reports Bloomberg.

It’s the biggest acquisition in more than a decade for Europe’s biggest defense company, which according to the Wall Street Journal has agreed to buy Collins Aerospace’s Military Global Positioning System business from United Technologies, and Raytheon’s Airborne Tactical Radios business, which makes military communications equipment.

— Raytheon has completed the first recertificated Block V Tomahawk cruise missile, reports Seapower magazine, which quotes Capt. John Red, the Navy’s Tomahawk program manager, as saying all Block IVs will be converted into Block Vs.

Red said the remaining Block III Tomahawks, which first entered service in 1994, are being withdrawn from use and are being “demilitarized.”

— Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $19.3 million contract modification to procure masts for Virginia-class submarine hulls for the Navy, according to UPI.com

The deal funds procurement of eight multi-function modular masts for Block V hulls for the Virginia-class submarine, the Pentagon announced last week.

“The Block V hull can be extended based on the requirements of the vessels’ strike capabilities. Virginia-class submarines typically carry eight masts, including a snorkel mast and high-data-rate satellite communication masts as well as a radar mast,” said UPI.

SPACE FORCE: America’s newest branch of the military tweeted out a photo last week of its new blue embroidered name stripe and shoulder patch, featured on a regulation issue camouflage uniform. “The first #SpaceForce utility uniform nametapes have touched down in the Pentagon,” the tweet announced.

SPACE FARCE: The official tweet prompted a response from the entertainment world’s Space Force, the comedy series coming soon to Netflix, which tweeted out its own version of a uniform, which featured a Moonscape patten and red on black motif. “Here’s what we’re using. They’ll never see us coming!,” said the verified parody account which goes by the misleading Twitter handle of @realspaceforce.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: ‘Put aside the terrorists’: Trump responds to Khamenei in Farsi

Washington Examiner: ‘No bullshit’: Trump describes efficiency of Soleimani strike to Mar-a-Lago crowd

Washington Examiner: Army says 20 soldiers died in training accidents over the past year

Washington Examiner: Morbidly obese ISIS official dubbed ‘Jabba the Jihadi’ arrested in Iraq

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Looks to Maintain Pressure on Iran as Tensions Cool

Breaking Defense: Iran Likely To Field Nuclear ICBM In 2 Years: Israeli Intelligence

Forbes: Five Reasons The Army May Have Finally Found A Formula For Modernization That Works

Navy Times: Navy’s Newest Aircraft Carrier Named In Honor Of African American Hero

USNI News: USS Shiloh Transits Taiwan Strait a Week After Presidential Election

South China Morning Post: China’s New Killer Robot Ship Goes Through Its First Sea Trial

Washington Post: Pressure builds against the Pentagon as it weighs reducing troop numbers in Africa

Military Times: How AFRICOM Plans To Counter Russian, Chinese Influence In Africa

New York Times: Sex, Power and Fury: The Mystery of a Death at Guantánamo Bay

Washington Post: ‘You’re a bunch of dopes and babies’: Inside Trump’s stunning tirade against generals

New York Times: A Small Step for Space Force Is Not a Giant Leap for Uniform Design

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump administration moves to fix faltering Venezuela policy

Calendar

TUESDAY | JANUARY 21

7:00 a.m. 1775 Liberty Drive, Fort Belvoir — Association of the U.S. Army breakfast with Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville. The event is sold out, but video will be posted afterward at www.ausa.org/live

WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 22

Defense Secretary Mark Esper departs for two-day trip to Naval Air Station Pensacola and the U.S. Southern Command in Miami, Fla.

9 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion “The Killing of Soleimani and the Future of the Middle East,” with Rasha Al Aqeedi, managing editor of Raise Your Voice; Dexter Filkins, journalist for the New Yorker; Emile Hokayem, senior fellow for Middle East security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies; and Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow in the CEIP Middle East Program http://carnegieendowment.org

9:30 a.m. 1401 Lee Hwy., Arl.— Air Force Association Mitchell Hour discussion with Air Force Maj. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, deputy commander, Combined Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, U.S. Central Command. http://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/mitchell-hour

12 p.m. 5500 Schulz Cir, Ft. Belvior — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association discussion with Army Col. Chad Harris, project manager for defensive cyber operations at the Army Program Executive Office for Enterprise Information Systems. https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause

2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “Asia Forecast 2020.” http://www.csis.org

3:30 p.m. 1301 Connecticut Ave. N.W. — Institute for Policy Studies discussion on “The Iran Crisis and the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy.” with Michael Klare, associate at IPS; Phyllis Bennis, director of the IPS New Internationalism Project; John Feffer, director of IPS’s Foreign Policy in Focus Project; and Negin Owliaei, research associate at IPS https://ips-dc.org/events/the-iran-crisis

THURSDAY | JANUARY 23

4 p.m. Bushnell, Florida — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks on U.S. foreign policy at the Sumter County Fairgrounds. https://www.state.gov

FRIDAY | JANUARY 24

8 a.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd., Arli — National Defense Industrial Association discussion with Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly on priorities for the department. https://www.ndia.org/events

9:00 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Security Forum “Emerging Technologies Governance,” featuring a keynote address from Defense Secretary Mark Esper and discussion with Kathleen Hicks, CSIS senior vice president. Also with Samuel Brannen, CSIS; Gabrielle Burrell, minister counsellor defense policy, Embassy of Australia; Andrew Hunter, CSIS; Jason Matheny, former director, intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity; Suzanne Spaulding, CSIS; and Brig Gen. Benjamin Watson, vice chief of naval research and commander Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. Live streamed at https://www.csis.org/events/global-security-forum

9 a.m. 1301 K St. N.W. — Washington Post Live book discussion on “A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America,” with co-authors Philip Rucker, Post White House bureau chief and Carol Leonnig, Post national investigative reporter. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-live

12 p.m. 2300 N St. N.W. — Aspen Institute discussion on “The Struggle for Power: U.S.-China Relations in the 21st Century.” with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Kathleen Hicks, senior vice president, chair and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ International Security Program; Anja Manuel, co-founder and principal at RiceHadleyGatesManuel LLC; Kurt Campbell, chairman and CEO of the Asia Group; and Mike Pillsbury, American director of the Hudson Institute’s Center on Chinese Strategy. https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events

WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 29

11:30 a.m. 1667 K St. N.W. — Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment discussion of new report, “Taking Back the Seas: Transforming the U.S. Surface Fleet for Decision-Centric Warfare,” with Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. https://files.constantcontact.com