MUSK: ‘THE HELL WITH IT’: In a tweet over the weekend, Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to withdraw his demand that the Pentagon — or someone else — pay for the Starlink internet access that has proven vital to Ukraine’s military command and control.
After tweeting Friday that his SpaceX company could no longer afford the $20 million a month to subsidize the satellite service, Musk came under withering criticism on social media from critics who believed he was acting out of spite because Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany had told him to f*** off on Twitter, in response to Musk’s proposed redo of referendums in Russian occupied areas of Ukraine
“The hell with it,” Musk tweeted Saturday. “… even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.”
SpaceX has been providing broadband internet service to Ukraine since the beginning of the war through a system of 2,200 satellites in low Earth orbit.
UKRAINIAN DIPLOMAT TELLS ELON MUSK TO ‘F*** OFF’ OVER PEACE DEAL PROPOSAL
PENTAGON IN DISCUSSIONS: With Musk, you never know for certain how serious he is about things in his posts on Twitter, where his profile now lists his occupation as “Perfume Salesman.”
In a briefing Friday, Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s new deputy press secretary, confirmed that discussions were underway with SpaceX and other satellite communications companies about the future of internet service in Ukraine for both military and civilian purposes.
“What we are doing right now and what the department is doing is we are working with the Ukraine Ministry of Defense. We know that there is this demand and SATCOM capability is needed, and we want to be able to ensure that there is stable communication for the Ukrainian forces and for Ukraine,” Singh said. “There are certainly other SATCOM capabilities that exist out there. I’m not going to show our hand right now on exactly what those are or who we’re talking to. But we do know that there are others — there’s not just SpaceX. There are other entities that we can certainly partner with when it comes to providing Ukraine what they need on the battlefield.”
“We’re going to work with our partners and allies to look at all options on how best we can support those identified by Ukraine,” she said.
PENTAGON IN TALKS WITH MUSK AND SPACE X OVER STARLINK ACCESS IN UKRAINE
UKRAINE: ‘IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO CONTINUE HAVING IT’: Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova told CBS yesterday that despite reports of internet outages last week affecting battlefield communications, the problem was not with the Starlink system.
“The actual reason for the outages is Russian aggression and the fact that they are bombing our infrastructure and this disruption there, the connectivity of all the cellular operators and trying to interfere also with others,” Markarova to CBS’s Margaret Brennan. “We’re trying to resolve it in many possible ways. And Starlink has been an instrumental part of the solution.”
“It’s there, it’s working. We will need [it] to be working for a longer time,” she said. “And look, we are proud to be one of the fastest-growing Starlink countries globally, too. But the payment, who’s going to pay, I’m sure we will find the solution there.”
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HAPPENING TODAY: This is Day Two of China’s Communist Party’s weeklong national congress, at which Xi Jinping is expected to receive a third consecutive five-year term as ruler of 1.4 billion Chinese and leader of the world’s second-largest economy.
The third term is possible because, during his second term, Xi engineered the removal of a provision of the Chinese Constitution that limited the president to two five-year terms, effectively setting himself up to be president for life.
In an hour-and-45-minute-long televised speech delivered in the cavernous Great Hall of the People, Xi called for the continuation of China’s decadeslong military buildup. “We will work faster to modernize military theory, personnel, and weapons,” Xi said. “We will enhance the military’s strategic capabilities.”
The Biden administration’s National Security Strategy, released last week, labeled China “the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it.”
CHINA’S XI CALLS FOR MILITARY GROWTH AS PARTY CONGRESS OPENS
TARGET TAIWAN: Xi also restated his goal of “reunification” of Taiwan with mainland China, a characterization Taiwan rejects, arguing that since the end of the civil war in 1949, it has never been unified with China.
“Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese,” said Xi, according to Chinese state media. “We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary.”
KYIV UNDER DRONE ATTACK AGAIN: Ukraine’s capital was rocked by explosions from Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones, which appeared aimed at energy infrastructure as Russian President Vladimir Putin attempts to increase the suffering of the Ukrainian people as winter approaches.
Vitaly Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, told the New York Times that 28 drones were spotted over the city, resulting in five strikes, and that the targets included the headquarters of Ukraine’s national energy utility and a municipal heating station.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian air force told the Associated Press that at least 13 drones were shot down but that others hit in central Kyiv, including an apartment building where 18 people were pulled from the rubble.
RUSSIA SHOOTS ‘KAMIKAZE DRONES’ INTO KYIV AFTER PUTIN CLAIMS ‘NO NEED’ FOR NEW STRIKES
ZELENSKY: CONSERVE ENERGY: The Russian attacks are having an impact on Ukraine’s ability to provide electricity to its citizens, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to urge conservation to “ensure the failure of Russian terrorist plans.”
“This is a small thing for every person’s life but extremely tangible within the entire energy system,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address. “For example, this Saturday residents of the Chernihiv region limited their electricity consumption by 20%. I am very grateful to you.
“Please do more, if you have the opportunity,” he said “We must reduce our electricity consumption.”
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The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Russia shoots ‘kamikaze drones’ into Kyiv after Putin claims ‘no need’ for new strikes
Washington Examiner: Russia has launched ‘hundreds’ of missiles this week, ‘most’ at civilian targets: Pentagon
Washington Examiner: Pentagon in talks with Musk and Space X over Starlink access in Ukraine
Washington Examiner: Iranian instructors teaching Russians to use drones in Ukraine, Kyiv says
Washington Examiner: Ukraine puts $100,000 bounty on commander of 2014 Donbas uprising
Washington Examiner: Russian-backed leaders urge citizens in Kherson to flee to Russia or Crimea
Washington Examiner: Inside the top-secret facility experts say could house the US government in case of nuclear attack: Report
Washington Examiner: Ted Cruz and Army IG agree: Generals shouldn’t be Twitter-trolling Tucker Carlson
Washington Examiner: Democrats urge retribution as Biden ‘humiliated’ by Saudi-led oil cut
Washington Examiner: China urges all citizens to evacuate Ukraine
Washington Examiner: Naval ships have faced more than 150 swarming incidents in Pacific since 2016: Report
Washington Examiner: Biden may be ready for big step in race against Chinese technology
AP: China’s Xi calls for military growth as party congress opens
New York Times: ‘Stormy Seas’ Warning As Xi Doubles Down On Hard-Line Policies
Reuters: Taiwan Says It Will Not Back Down On Its Sovereignty
Washington Post: American Technology Boosts China’s Hypersonic Missile Program
Washington Post: Iran ups its pledge of arms to Russia
Wall Street Journal: Failure To Control The Skies Hurts Russia
Washington Post: Russia is grabbing men off the street to fight in Ukraine
AP: U.S. Sending $725 Million More In Military Aid To Ukraine
Red Snow: For the Pentagon now, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is one way of giving war weapons to Ukraine
Yonhap: USS Ronald Reagan May Have Precipitated N. Korean ‘Tantrum’: Seventh Fleet Commander
Reuters: South Korea Kicks Off Military Drills Amid Talk Of North Korean Nuclear Test
USNI News: George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group Now Under NATO Command
USNI News: ‘Assault Carrier’ Tests Show How Marine F-35Bs Can Operate With Navy Aircraft Carriers, Says 7th Fleet Commander
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Early Planning for B-1, B-2 Retirements Depends on B-21 Progress
Air Force Times: Two Grounded C-130H Planes Back in Air. The Rest ‘Will Take Some Time.’
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Cybersecurity Is the ‘Soft Underbelly’ of Space Operations, SpOC Commander Says
Defense One: Pentagon Creates Team to Improve SecDef’s IT
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Needs to Cultivate More Hispanic Officers, SECAF and Report Say
19fortyfive.com: Rogue States Like North Korea Win if Putin Uses Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine
19fortyfive.com: 4 Reasons Putin Won’t Start a Nuclear War over Ukraine
19fortyfive.com: The Navy’s DDG(X) Destroyer: We Have a Price Problem
19fortyfive.com: Opinion: Why U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Are Irreplaceable
The Cipher Brief: Using Psychology as a Nuclear Deterrent
Calendar
MONDAY | OCTOBER 17
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Looking Ahead: U.S. and Lithuania’s Strategic Cooperation,” with Laurynas Kasciunas, chairman of the Lithuanian parliament’s National Security and Defense Committee https://www.csis.org/events/looking-ahead
10:30 a.m. 1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean, Virginia — Potomac Officers Club eighth annual Intel Summit, with Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines https://potomacofficersclub.com/events
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. N.E. — Heritage Foundation book discussion: Cyber Persistence Theory: Redefining National Security in Cyberspace, with co-author Emily Goldman, strategist at U.S. Cyber Command; and co-author Michael Fischerkeller, research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses’s Information, Technology, and Systems Division https://www.heritage.org/cybersecurity/event
12 p.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “Strengthening Taiwan’s Trade and Economic Stability,” with Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council; former acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute; and Abby Fu, research fellow at Hudson https://www.hudson.org/events/2166-virtual-event
2 p.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual discussion: “Russian Information Warfare,” with Bilyana Lilly, geopolitical risk analyst at the Krebs Stamos Group https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/10/17/russian-information-warfare
3:30 p.m. St. Louis, Missouri — National Defense Transportation Association fall meeting, with Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander, U.S. Transportation Command. Her keynote remarks will be livestreamed on defense.gov
4 p.m. 1521 16th St. N.W. — Institute of World Politics lecture: “A View of the Ukraine War You Haven’t Heard,” with Mitzi Perdue, anti-trafficking advocate and author of Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless https://www.iwp.edu/events/a-view-of-the-ukraine-war-you-havent-heard
4 p.m. — Livestream of the public portion of the Defense Innovation Board’s first meeting under new Chairman Michael Bloomberg https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/30268
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 18
7:45 a.m. 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, Maryland — National Defense Industrial Association “Precision Strike Technology Symposium,” with Navy Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of Strategic Systems Programs; and Air Force Lt. Gen. James Dawkins, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration at Air Force Headquarters https://www.ndia.org/
10 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave., N.E. — Heritage Foundation discussion: “The Diminished State of Today’s Military,” with Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI); Dakota Wood, Heritage senior research fellow for defense programs; and Kevin Roberts, president, Heritage Foundation https://www.heritage.org/defense/event/the-diminished-state-todays-military
10:30 a.m. 1744 R St. N.W. — German Marshall Fund of the United States discussion focusing on the war in Ukraine, with Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur and Kristine Berzina, GMFUS senior fellow https://www.gmfus.org/event/conversation-defense-minister-hanno-pevkur
12 p.m. — Middle East Institute and American Task Force on Lebanon virtual discussion: “The historic Lebanon-Israel maritime agreement,” with Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL)., co-chairman of the U.S.-Lebanon Friendship Caucus; U.S. Special Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein; and Lebanese Parliament Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab https://www.mei.edu/events/atfl-mei-discussion
12 p.m. 1740 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies book discussion: Offensive Cyber Operations: Understanding Intangible Warfare, with author Daniel Moore https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events
1 p.m. — The Hill online event: “National Security At The Speed Of Sound: Hypersonics in American Defense,” with Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ); Defense Undersecretary for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu; Mark Lewis, director of the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technologies Institute; Kelly Stephani, mechanical science and engineering associate professor in the Center for Hypersonics and Entry Systems Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and John Otto, senior director of advanced hypersonic weapons at Raytheon Missiles and Defense https://thehill.com/events/3668647-national-security-at-the-speed-of-sound
1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: on “Is Iran on the Brink?” with Jason Rezaian, Iranian-American journalist and writer at Washington Post Global Opinions; Arash Azizi, adjunct instructor, New York University; and Yeganeh Rezaian, senior researcher, Committee to Protect Journalists https://www.csis.org/events/iran-brink
2:30 p.m. Pentagon River Entrance — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur to the Pentagon
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 19
7:45 a.m 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, Maryland — National Defense Industrial Association Precision Strike Technology Symposium, with the theme “Integrated Precision Warfare in an Era of Major Power Conflict,” with Navy Vice Adm. Carl Chebi, commander, Naval Air Systems Command https://www.ndia.org
10 a.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “How will the U.S. Navy navigate an uncertain security environment?” with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-will-the-us-navy-navigate
11 a.m. — Heritage Foundation virtual discussion: “The Freedom Agenda and America’s Future,” with former Vice President Mike Pence https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/event/the-freedom-agenda
11:30 a.m. 1700 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, Virginia — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association discussion: “From The Boardroom to The Battlefield: Operationalizing AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning),” with Gregory Little, deputy comptroller for enterprise data and business performance in the Office of the Defense Undersecretary; Patrick McCartney, lead of the Air Force Futures’s AI Cross Functional Team; Alexander O’Toole, engineering lead at the Defense Department; Kristin Saling, director Army Human Resources Command’s Innovation Cell; Brett Vaughan, chief AI officer at the Navy; and Brandi Vincent, reporter at DefenseScoop https://afceadc.swoogo.com/aiml2022
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 20
7:45 a.m. 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, Maryland — National Defense Industrial Association Precision Strike Technology Symposium, with the theme “Integrated Precision Warfare in an Era of Major Power Conflict,” with Brad Cardwell, program manager at the Missile Defense Agency Register at https://www.ndia.org
10 a.m. — Hudson Institute virtual book discussion: “China after Mao: The Rise of a Superpower,” with author Frank Dikotter, chair professor of humanities at the University of Hong Kong https://www.hudson.org/events/2151-china-after-mao
12 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “How the latest women-led protests in Iran might shape the country’s trajectory,” with Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran; Golnaz Esfandiari, senior correspondent at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Nader Hashemi, director of the University of Denver’s Center for Middle East Studies; and Assal Rad, research director at the National Iranian American Council https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 21
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “Transatlantic Relations,” focusing on the war in Ukraine and foreign policy priorities,” with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna https://www.csis.org/events/discussing-transatlantic-relations
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 25
8:30 a.m. 1700 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, Virginia — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies first annual Spacepower Security Forum with Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations; Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander, Space Operations Command; Air Commodore John Haly, air and space attache, Australian Defense Staff; Air Commodore Jeremy Attridge, U.K. air and space attache to the U.S., Derek Tournear, director, Space Development Agency; and retired Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, former commander, U.S. Strategic Command. https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 18
TBA Halifax, Nova Scotia — 2022 Halifax International Security Forum with more than 300 participants from more than 60 countries across six continents helping to shape strategic thinking leading into 2023. Attendees from the U.S. include Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), ranking member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY); Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS); Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE); and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) https://halifaxtheforum.org
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.”
Elon Musk, tweeting after receiving withering criticism for requesting the Pentagon take over funding internet access in Ukraine
