Is Shanahan’s stock rising?

Shanahan is under an ethics inquiry and was criticized for his performance at a recent congressional hearing, which prompted some to speculate Trump will pass him over, but Inhofe said he believes Trump will stick with Shanahan and nominate him as soon as this week. “That’s a hope, that’s not a prediction,” Inhofe said.

SPACE FORCE WILL COST YOU $1.50: Yesterday, Shanahan offered a full-throated defense of President Trump’s Space Force, which he called “a low-cost, low-bureaucracy proposal that will ensure that America will have the ability to protect and defend our space interests for decades to come.”

Speaking at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Shanahan said the sixth branch of the armed forces will be small, smaller than the Coast Guard, with just 15,000 to 20,000 people, drawn from existing forces: “The additional cost is less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the DoD budget, or put another way, the Space Force will cost about $1.50 per American per year.”

WAR COMING TO SPACE: “The next major conflict may be won or lost in space,” Shanahan told the audience of space experts at the Broadmoor. “We must confront reality. Weapons are currently deployed by our competitors that can attack our assets in space.”

Both Russia and China have already weaponized space with the intent to put American satellites at risk in the event of conflict, he said, singling out China for its development of weapons that can jam or destroy U.S. surveillance, communications, and navigation satellites.

“The PLA [Chinese People’s Liberation Army] is also deploying directed-energy weapons, and we expect them to field a ground-based laser system aimed at low-earth orbit space sensors by next year,” Shanahan said. “They are also prepared to use cyberattacks against our space systems and have deployed an operational ground-based ASAT [anti-satellite] missile system.”

While he focused on China, Shanahan said Russia is developing many of the same capabilities, including hypersonic missiles that the United States has no ability to track. “Because of their actions, space is no longer a sanctuary — it is now a war-fighting domain. This is not a future or theoretical threat; this is today’s threat,” Shanahan told the audience at the 35th annual Space Symposium.

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 Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). 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.

HAPPENING TODAY: Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan welcomes Austrian Defense Minister Mario Kunasek to the Pentagon with an enhanced honor cordon at the River Entrance at 1:30 p.m.

IT’S OFFICIAL: We’ve known for a while that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley was President Trump’s pick to replace the retiring Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, but in making the official announcement of his nomination yesterday, the Pentagon also revealed that U.S. Strategic Command leader Air Force Gen. John Hyten has been nominated as the next vice, replacing Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, who finishes his term this summer.

NEW F-35 JPO DIRECTOR: In the same general officer announcement, the Pentagon said Air Force Maj. Gen. Eric Fick has been nominated to get a third star and take over as director of the Joint Strike Fighter program office. Fick is currently deputy director.

JAPAN GROUNDS F-35s AFTER CRASH: Less than two weeks after the Japan Air Self-Defense Force announced the stand-up of its first operational F-35A fighter squadron, one of the $100 million stealth fighter jets crashed over the Pacific Ocean, and the rest of the 302nd Tactical Fighter Squadron has been grounded while the accident is under investigation.

Parts of the plane’s tail fin have been recovered, but the pilot is still missing. The pilot apparently sent a distress message before disappearing from radar about 30 minutes after taking off from the Misawa Air Base.

SENATORS WARN TURKEY ON F-35 FLAP: The Republican chairmen and ranking Democrats of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees have issued a blunt warning to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an op-ed in the New York Times. “By the end of the year, Turkey will have either F-35 advanced fighter aircraft on its soil or a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense system. It will not have both.”

The op-ed, written by the Armed Services Committee’s Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., and the Foreign Relations Committee’s Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., threatens Turkey with crippling sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

“Sanctions will hit Turkey’s economy hard — rattling international markets, scaring away foreign direct investment and crippling Turkey’s aerospace and defense industry,” they write. “Further, no F-35s will ever reach Turkish soil. And Turkish participation in the F-35 program, including manufacturing parts, repairing and servicing the fighters, will be terminated, taking Turkish companies out of the manufacturing and supply chain for the program.”

ERDOGAN REMAINS DEFIANT: The op-ed appeared a day after Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he would proceed with the deal to buy the Russian air defense system, which the United States says would compromise the high-tech stealth of the F-35.

“No one can expect us to give up this,” Erdogan told reporters on his plane, arguing that as a sovereign country Turkey cannot accept foreign interference. “We answer that ‘this deal is done, everything is settled.’ The delivery of the S-400 missile defense system was to be in July. Maybe it can be brought forward,” Erdogan said.

Turkey has already bought and paid for four F-35As, which are at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, where Turkish pilots are learning to fly them. The country is one of eight international partners that help build the Lockheed Martin jet, making parts of the fuselage and cockpit displays. “Turkey is an important partner in the F-35 program, but it is not irreplaceable,” the senators say.

NOT A HOUSE CLEANING: President Trump insisted yesterday he’s not “cleaning house” at the Department of Homeland Security after firing the head of the Secret Service a day after forcing out Kirstjen Nielsen, the head of the department.

“Well, I never said I’m cleaning house. I don’t know who came up with that expression. We have a lot of great people over there,” Trump told reporters at the White House ahead of a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

The changes at Homeland come as Trump signals a tougher line on tackling the numbers of migrants trying to cross into the United States. His senior White House aide Stephen Miller is reported to have taken the initiative in overseeing a shake-up.

But instead of personnel, Trump blamed legislation for the problems and criticized a federal judge in California for blocking his administration’s attempts to send people claiming asylum back to Mexico as they waited for court hearings in America.

“We have bad laws, we have a judge that just ruled, incredibly, that he doesn’t want people staying in Mexico. Figure that one out. Nobody can believe these decisions we’re getting from the Ninth Circuit, it’s a disgrace,” Trump said.

MARINES IDed: The Pentagon has released the names of the three Marines who were killed in a suicide attack by a Taliban car bomb while riding in a convoy near the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan Monday.

• Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, New York.
• Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, of York, Pennsylvania.
• Staff Sgt. Christopher K.A. Slutman, 43, of Newark, Delaware.

All were assigned to the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve.

The NATO Resolute Support mission also corrected an initial report that a civilian contractor was killed in the attack. “The contractor who was reported as killed, is alive. The contractor, an Afghan citizen, was initially treated along with other injured civilians, later identified as a contractor and treated at Bagram Airfield.”

The Rundown

Military Times: Shanahan predicts expanded role at border for Pentagon

Breaking Defense: STRATCOM’s Hyten Calls For Space Rules After India’s ASAT Test

Defense News: Welcome To The Pentagon’s ‘Space Week.’ Will It Define The Department’s Future In Orbit?

New York Times: Dozens Of Afghan Forces And Taliban Killed As Violence Spikes Ahead of Talks

Washington Post: Libya’s Hifter emboldened by outside powers: West’s man in Libya targets U.N.-backed regime

The Hill: Top Armed Services Republican: ‘I don’t think anybody is satisfied’ with Space Force proposal

Army Times: Here’s President Trump’s pick for the next Army vice chief

Task & Purpose: The Army just awarded $976 million in contracts for border wall construction

Breaking Defense: Navy Needs Cyber Secretary, Wouldn’t Say No To Truman Refueling: SecNav Spencer

USNI News: SecNav Proposes Fifth Assistant Navy Secretary To Run Cybersecurity

Japan Times: U.S. Sails Massive, F-35-Laden Warship In Disputed South China Sea

Business Insider: Russia Is Talking About Scrapping Its Only Aircraft Carrier, Putting The Troubled Ship Out Of Its Misery

Washington Examiner: Dan Crenshaw denounces Ilhan Omar’s ‘unbelievable’ dismissal of 9/11 attacks

Washington Post: After admiring Islamic State fighters, Maryland man decided to emulate them, prosecutors assert

Air Force Magazine: Keep Space Force in Defense Policy Bill, Pace Says

Air Force Magazine: Final Doolittle Raider, Dick Cole, Dies at 103

Calendar

WEDNESDAY | APRIL 10

10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller testify before the House Armed Services Committee on the Navy budget. armedservices.house.gov

10 a.m. SR-232A Russell. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower hearing on Marine Corps ground modernization and naval aviation programs. Witnesses: James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition; Lt. Gen. David Berger, commanding general, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, deputy Marine commandant for aviation; Rear Adm. Scott Conn, director, air warfare, office of the chief of naval operations. www.armed-services.senate.gov

10 a.m. 138 Dirksen. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on National Guard and Reserve budget. Witnesses: National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel, Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Charles Luckey, Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee, Navy Reserve Chief Vice Adm. Luke McCollum, and Marine Corps Forces Reserve Chief Maj. Gen. Bradley James.

2:30 p.m. 138 Dirksen. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development hearing on Army Corps of Engineers budget. Witnesses: Assistant Secretary of the Army R.D. James and Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general and chief of engineers, Army Corps of Engineers.

THURSDAY | APRIL 11

8 a.m. 15052 Conference Center Drive, Chantilly. Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) holds its third annual Foreign Naval and Maritime Threat Symposium. Keynote at 8:35 a.m. by Vice Adm. Matt Kohler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence. Register at www.afcea.org.

8:30 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research holds a discussion on “What is Next for U.S.-Venezuela Policy?” Speakers: Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Roger Noriega, visiting fellow at AEI. www.aei.org. Livestream at www.american.com/watch.

8:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue N.W. Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Project on U.S. Leadership in Development holds fifth annual Global Development Forum. Mark Green, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, delivers remarks. www.csis.org

9:00 a.m. 1667 K Street N.W. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments releases a report, “An Air Force for an Era of Great Power Competition,” which recommends creating a future aircraft inventory that would be more lethal and better able to operate in future contested and highly contested environments compared with today’s force. Experts include: Mark Gunzinger, Carl Rehberg, Jacob Cohn, Timothy Walton, Lukas Autenried. Register at www.csbaonline.org.

9:30 a.m. SD-G50 Dirksen. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, and U.S. Strategic Commander Gen. John Hyten testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the “Proposal to Establish a United States Space Force.” www.armed-services.senate.gov

12 p.m. 1203 Van Munching Hall, College Park. The University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies holds a forum on “Building Bridges or a Road to Nowhere? International Frameworks for Preventing Nuclear Terrorism.” Speaker: Nickolas Roth, senior research associate in the Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affair’s Project on Managing the Atom. www.cissm.umd.edu/events

3 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. The Brookings Institution holds a discussion on “EU-U.S. Digital Cooperation: A Common Response to Tech Challenges?” Featuring EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova; and Cameron Kerry, visiting fellow at Brookings. www.brookings.edu

3 p.m. 1030 15th Street N.W. The Atlantic Council holds a discussion on “European Neighborhood Policy: Eastern Partnership 10th Anniversary,” focusing on the EU’s joint initiative with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Speakers: EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn and Romanian minister of public finance Eugen Orlando Teodorovici. www.atlanticcouncil.org/events

WEDNESDAY | APRIL 17

8 a.m. 2201 G St N.W. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Gen. Timothy Ray, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Forces Strategic – Air, U.S. Strategic Command. Crain Center Duques Hall, The George Washington School of Business. nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu