FULL SPEED AHEAD: Defense Secretary Mark Esper has outlined an ambitious plan to surpass China’s numerical naval superiority by building a future U.S. Navy that looks radically different from today’s maritime force.
“For years, our military was in a period of strategic atrophy, and our adversaries watched from the sidelines, searching for opportunities to erode our hard-earned gains, Esper said in a speech delivered Wednesday to the RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, California.
Esper cited the results of an exhaustive internal review aimed at determining the optimum mix of ships as the Pentagon aims to meet a congressionally mandated goal of a 355-ship Navy within the next 10 years. “The results are a game changer,” Esper said. “In short, it will be a balanced force of over 355 ships, both manned and unmanned, and will be built in a timely, relevant, and budget-informed manner.”
“The future fleet will be more balanced in its ability to deliver lethal effects from the air, from the sea, and from under the sea,” Esper said. “This fleet will need to be marked by more and smaller surface combatants; optionally manned, unmanned, and autonomous surface and subsurface vehicles; unmanned carrier-based aircraft of all types; a larger and more capable submarine force; and a modern strategic deterrent.”
STILL ‘THE WORLD’S GREATEST NAVY’: Esper’s forecast comes two weeks after the Pentagon released its latest report on China’s military power, which noted that the People’s Republic of China, the PRC, “has the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of approximately 350 ships and submarines including over 130 major surface combatants.” In comparison, the report said, “the U.S. Navy’s battle force is approximately 293 ships as of early 2020.”
“I can assure you that we command, without a doubt, the best and most capable Navy on this planet. No doubt,” Esper said, referring to the current force as “the world’s greatest Navy.”
“I want to make clear that China does not have parity when it comes to our Navy,” he said. “Even if we stopped building new ships, it would take the PRC years to match our capability on the high seas. Simple ship numbers don’t address the capabilities of the vessels being counted, nor the crews that man them.”
“We must stay ahead; we must retain our overmatch; and we will keep building,” Esper warned. “The Chinese Communist Party, specifically, intends to complete the modernization of its armed forces by 2035. By 2049, it aims to dominate Asia as a world-class military. In addition to developing advanced weapons systems, Beijing is also investing in long-range, autonomous, and unmanned submarines, which it believes can be a cost-effective counter to American naval power.”
ESPER TO INSPECT FUTURE SHIP TECH: Esper, in the middle of a three-day trip to the West Coast that will include visits to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, will make a firsthand assessment of efforts to repair the USS Bonhomme Richard, which was ravaged by a fire while docked in San Diego for maintenance, while also addressing the future of the Navy.
“As I visit with industry partners over the next few days, I will learn more about the Navy’s latest transformational capabilities — unmanned surface vessels and unmanned undersea vehicles,” Esper said, citing trials this month with the experimental unmanned surface vessel Sea Hunter, built by Vigor for DARPA, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
“The Sea Hunter prototype completed operations with the USS Russell, demonstrating various aspects of manned and unmanned teaming,” Esper said. “These efforts are the next step in realizing our future fleet, one in which unmanned systems perform a variety of warfighting functions, from delivering lethal fires and laying mines to conducting resupply or surveilling the enemy. This will be a major shift in how we will conduct naval warfare in the years and decades to come.”
Good Thursday 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 Tyler Van Dyke. 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: The Senate Armed Services Committee meets at 9:30 a.m. to hear testimony on the National Nuclear Security Administration from NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty; Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; and STRATCOM Commander Adm. Chas Richard.
BATTLE LINES DRAWN: Armed Services Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma is accusing Democrats of secretly working to undermine the working relationship between the NNSA, a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy with oversight of the nation’s arsenal of nuclear warheads, and the Nuclear Weapons Council, which is “charged with cradle-to-grave management of the existing nuclear weapons stockpile and for planning for the future nuclear deterrent.”
“Recently, I’ve been given information that individuals from the Department of Energy have worked behind the scenes with the House Democrats on ill-advised legislation that would bury the Nuclear Weapons Council in unneeded bureaucracy and bring its decision-making process to a grinding halt,” Inhofe will say this morning, according to a portion of his opening statement obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The legislation would “prohibit all cooperation between NNSA and the NWC for maintaining the safety and security of our nuclear weapons, destroy the NNSA’s congressionally-mandated independence and do lasting and possibly irreversible harm to the President’s efforts to preserve and improve our deterrent – an effort even former President Obama understood was necessary,” Inhofe says in his prepared remarks.
“It’s not surprising that opponents of nuclear weapons support these efforts — it’s what you’d expect them to do. What bothers me is that people who should be doing all they can to support the critical work of the NNSA, are instead trying to undermine it,” Inhofe says. “As chairman of this committee, I won’t stand idly by and allow this to happen. This work is too important.”
BEWARE THE PIONEER KITTEN: The U.S. Cyber Command tweeted a warning about what it called the “reckless actions” of a new Iranian hacker group known as Pioneer Kitten. The tweet cited the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike as identifying Iranian government-aligned actors who have been attempting “to steal user credentials and sell network access to generate funds despite likely negative impacts to potential intelligence collection.”
“Pioneer Kitten … poses a particularly significant national security threat not only because its targets possess sensitive information sought by the regime in Iran, but also because it sells access to compromised systems,” according to an analysis by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“Pioneer Kitten, also known as Fox Kitten or Parisite, targets primarily Israeli and U.S. entities using known but only recently disclosed vulnerabilities in remote external services and virtual private networks. The group accomplishes this task through a tactic called ‘secure shell tunneling,’ which allows the attacker to use stolen credentials to bypass a company’s firewall, remotely connect to a secure computer network, and export sensitive data,” write FDD cybersecurity analysts Annie Fixler and Trevor Logan.
“Pioneer Kitten uses open-source tools, not zero-day exploits, thus leveraging the delay between vulnerability disclosures and when large companies patch their systems. While Pioneer Kitten is opportunistic and has targeted companies in diverse sectors ranging from healthcare to manufacturing, technology, and defense, Crowdstrike assesses that all of the targets have one thing in common: They possess the type of sensitive information that Iranian intelligence seeks,” they write.
IN-PERSON INTEL BRIEFINGS ON AGAIN: The Senate Intelligence Committee and the Office of Director of National Intelligence have come to an agreement to resume in-person classified briefings of Congress after DNI John Ratcliffe threatened to end the briefings in a dispute over alleged leaks.
“Last month, Director Ratcliffe reaffirmed that the Senate Intelligence Committee will continue receiving briefings, including in-person, on all oversight topics — including election matters,” said committee acting Chairman Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Vice Chairman Virginia Sen. Mark Warner in a joint statement.
“The Senate Intelligence Committee plays a critical role in conducting oversight of the Intelligence Community, and intelligence agencies have a legal obligation to keep Congress informed of their activities,” they said. “As we have in the past, the Committee will continue to expect timely and complete information from our intelligence agencies.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Five COVID-19 vaccines in advanced trials by October. Doses to be shipped within 24 hours of FDA approval
Washington Examiner: China bristles as Japan appoints Taiwanese ally as new defense chief
Washington Examiner: US threatens sanctions for China and Russia over Iran arms deals
AP: US envoy leading second recent high-level visit to Taiwan
Wall Street Journal: U.S. Set To Sell Taiwan $7 Billion In Arms
Washington Post: China Building Third Aircraft Carrier, Seeks To Rival U.S.
Task & Purpose: Marines Practiced Taking Down A Hostile Ship In The South China Sea In A ‘Flex’ At China
Washington Examiner: ‘Severe consequences’: Iranian president blasts UAE and Bahrain over Israel agreements
AP: Showdown set as US to declare UN sanctions on Iran are back
Reuters: Russia Accuses U.S. Of Promoting Revolution In Belarus, Toughens Stance
AP: Seoul: North Korea May Conduct Underwater-Launched Missile Test
Washington Examiner: US airman dies in Kuwait accident
AP: Report: Feds considered using ‘heat ray’ on DC protesters
Washington Post: DHS compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists who published leaked documents
The Drive: The Plan For Making Aging USMC F/A-18 Hornets Deadlier Than Ever For A Final Decade Of Service
Task & Purpose: Air Force general on UFOs: ‘Occasionally you see stuff that you can’t explain’
National Journal: House Dems probe State Department’s emergency arms sale to Gulf allies
Air Force Magazine: Air Force PT Testing Delayed Until Jan. 1, 2021
Marine Corps Times: Corps Offers Up To $50K Bonuses For Raiders In Retirement Range, Says There Is No Shortage
Stars and Stripes: ‘Marines Make Excellent Soldiers’: Over Half A Marine Tank Company Just Joined The Army National Guard
Air Force Magazine: Air Force Vice Chief: Nearly One-Third of Employees May Permanently Telework
Calendar
THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 17
8 a.m. — National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction 2020 Symposium, with keynote remarks from Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Livestreamed at https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live
8:30 a.m. Hampton Roads, Va — Ceremony marking the initial operational capability for NATO’s newest command, Joint Force Command Norfolk, with Gen. Tod Wolters, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander, Joint Force Command Norfolk, and leadership from NATO Allied Transformation Command and U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
9:30 a.m. SD-G50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the budget of the National Nuclear Security Administration, with Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration; Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; and Adm. Chas Richard, commander, U.S. Strategic Command. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
10 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “Should Europe Go Its Own Way?” focusing on the European Union, with Kateryna Smagliy, division chief at the Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine; Stephen Walt, professor of international relations at Harvard University; former U.S. Ambassador to Poland Daniel Fried, fellow at the Atlantic Council; former French Ambassador to the United States Gerard Araud; Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest; and Benjamin Haddad, director of the Atlantic Council’s Future of Europe Initiative. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/should-europe-go-its-own-way
1 p.m. Rayburn 2118 — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing: “Interim Review of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence Effort and Recommendations,” with Eric Schmidt, chairman, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Robert Work, vice chairman, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence; Mignon Clyburn, commissioner, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence; José-Marie Griffiths, commissioner, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “Information Warfare: U.S. Competition with China,” with Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas; and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
1 p.m. — Intelligence and National Security Alliance and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association virtual Intelligence and National Security Summit, with Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Melvin Carter, intelligence director at the Marine Corps; Space Force Brig. Gen. Leah Lauderback, intelligence director at the Space Force; Army Maj. Gen. Kate Leahy, assistant deputy chief of staff for intelligence at the Army; Air Force Lt. Gen. Mary O’Brien, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and cyber effects operations at the Air Force; Coast Guard Rear Adm. Andrew Sugimoto, assistant commandant for intelligence at the Coast Guard; and Navy Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare in the Office of the Director of Naval Intelligence; Doug Cossa, deputy CIO of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Sue Dorr, CIO in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Army Brig. Gen. Jeth Rey, director of command and control, communications and computer systems at the U.S. Central Command; and Greg Smithberger, CIO director of the National Security Agency Capabilities Directorate. https://intelsummit.org/
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 18
9:30 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “Belarus and Democracy in Europe,” with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius; Vladimir Kara-Murza, chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom; Hanna Liubakova, journalist at Outriders; and Melinda Haring, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 21
12 p.m. — Day one of New America and Arizona State University Future Security Forum, a four-day virtual event reimagining national security in the age of COVID-19, with retired Gen. Joseph Votel, former U.S. Central Commander; Michèle Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy; Bonnie Jenkins, founder and president, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation; Helene Gayle, MD, member, Committee on Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus, National Academies; Michael Osterholm, director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota. https://www.newamerica.org/conference/future-security-forum-2020/
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 22
1 p.m. — Virtual Book launch of Adaptation Under Fire, with co-authors retired Lt. Gen. David Barno and Nora Bensahel, with discussion by Kori Schake, AEI; Karl Mueller, RAND; Richard Lacquement, U.S. Army War College; moderated by Jim Goldgeier. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/adaptation-under-fire
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 23
9:30 a.m. SD-562, Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support hearing on “Navy and Marine Corps Readiness,” with Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 25
10 a.m. — “Hack at the Harbor” virtual security conference sponsored by Point3 Security, with speakers including Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security. https://hackattheharbor.com/
11:30 a.m. — Approximately 70 World War II aircraft will fly over the Washington Mall in two-minute intervals in historically sequenced warbird formations representing the major World War II battles. More than 20 different types of vintage military aircraft are scheduled to take part, including the P-40 Warhawk, P-39 Airacobra, P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt, F4U Corsair, B-25 Mitchell, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress. https://ww2flyover.org/
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“These efforts are the next step in realizing our future fleet, one in which unmanned systems perform a variety of warfighting functions, from delivering lethal fires and laying mines to conducting resupply or surveilling the enemy. This will be a major shift in how we will conduct naval warfare in the years and decades to come.”
Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in a speech to the RAND Corp, describing the U.S. Navy of the future.
