AIMED AT ‘WARMONGERS’ IN THE SOUTH: North Korea’s launch of two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea yesterday was meant as a pointed warning to South Korea, in response to its purchase of American F-35 fighter jets and plans to resume joint military drills with the United States, according to a report carried in North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
“Kim Jong Un personally organized and guided the fire of the new-type tactical guided weapon as part of the power demonstration to send a solemn warning to the south Korean military warmongers who are running high fever in their moves to introduce the ultramodern offensive weapons into south Korea and hold military exercise in defiance of the repeated warnings from the DPRK.”
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A NEW WEAPON?: The report touted the missiles as a “tactical guided weapon system,” which features a “low-altitude gliding and leaping flight orbit … which would be hard to intercept.’
“[T]he development and possession of such state-of-the-art weaponry system is of huge eventful significance in developing our armed forces and guaranteeing the security of the country by military force,” the report stated.
South Korea’s military later said that the flight data of the weapon showed similarities to the Russian-made Iskander, a short-range, nuclear-capable missile, according to the AP.
PSHAW: In a phone interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity last night, President Trump downplayed Kim’s display of frustration.
“I’m actually getting along very well with him, but we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “I mean, you know, the sanctions are on. The hostages are back. We are getting the remains back. They haven’t done nuclear testing. They really haven’t tested to missiles other than, you know, smaller ones, which is something that lots test.”
“But I think with North Korea, we have been doing very well here, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to continue,” he added.
NO TALKS SCHEDULED: President Trump’s gesture of meeting Kim north of the DMZ last month — becoming the first U.S. president to step foot in North Korea — was supposed to jump-start the stalled denuclearization talks, but so far the expected meetings of small working groups have yet to materialize.
In a series of interviews yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed the missile launch as pre-negotiation posturing. “Look, everybody tries to get ready for negotiations and create leverage and create risk for the other side,” he told Bloomberg TV’s Kevin Cirilli. “We remain convinced that there’s a diplomatic way forward, a negotiated solution to this.”
On Fox News, Pompeo said he expects negotiations to resume soon and insisted the missile launches, which violate United Nations resolutions, do not break Kim’s promise to Trump.
“He said he’d commit not to conducting nuclear tests and that he would continue to avoid launching intermediate-range and long-range ballistic missiles,” Pompeo told Fox’s Bret Baier. “He also said that he would put his negotiating team back in the game, that we’d have another round of negotiations. And we’re working our way towards that. I think we’ll be able to pull that off in just a handful of weeks.”
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HAPPENING TODAY: At Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, Army Gen. Stephen Townsend assumed command of U.S. Africa Command from Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser at 4 a.m. EDT in a ceremony presided over by Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, who is also performing the duties of deputy secretary of defense.
HALFWAY THERE: The $1.3 trillion budget deal that effectively ends the threat of mandatory spending caps and forestalls the risk of government default for two years has made it over its first legislative hurdle.
“I am pleased to announce the House has passed our budget deal 284-149. Great for our Military and our Vets. A big thank you!” tweeted Trump last night.
The measure, which includes $738 billion for defense, passed with 219 Democratic votes and 65 Republican. The no votes came from 132 Republicans and 16 Democrats.
The bill goes to the Senate next week, with some conservative Republicans still unhappy about its budget-busting $320 billion increase in unfunded spending.
GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER: The Senate voted to confirm Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
As Army chief, Milley worked hand in glove with Mark Esper, who was Army secretary until this week, when he was confirmed as defense secretary. Now the two will be teamed up again.
Milley, like Esper, enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the Senate. The vote to confirm his nomination was 89-1, with Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley the lone dissenter.
HYTEN GETS HIS HEARING: The Senate Armed Services Committee has announced it will hold a confirmation hearing for Gen. John Hyten to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff next Tuesday, July 30, at 10 a.m.
Hyten was accused of sexual misconduct by a former aide who told the Associated Press this month that Hyten “subjected her to a series of unwanted sexual advances by kissing, hugging and rubbing up against her in 2017” and “tried to derail her military career after she rebuffed him.”
“Ahead of this hearing, the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have devoted many hours to reviewing General Hyten and his nomination, at four executive sessions held by the committee and on their own time,” said committee chairman Jim Inhofe in a statement. “Through a fair, thorough and methodical process, each member was able to ask questions, receive answers, review documents, listen to testimony, conduct analysis and express their opinions.”
The Pentagon backed Hyten, saying that after “a comprehensive investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, there was insufficient evidence to support any finding of misconduct.”
“Next Tuesday, the members of the committee will have the opportunity to consider General Hyten’s nomination in a public forum. I look forward to hearing from General Hyten then,” Inhofe said.
KIND OF LIKE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH: In yet another interview yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that the U.S. “maritime security initiative” is gaining steam, even as European countries indicated they would implement their own plan to protect commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
“I already have commitments from a number of nations that said they will provide resources, both naval resources and resources that are aviation resources,” Pompeo told the Ben Shapiro Show, writes the Washington Examiner’s Joel Gehrke.
“Kind of like a neighborhood watch party,” Pompeo said of the “collective defense” pledge. “The presence there of multinational forces all working towards the same end reduces risks, it de-escalates, and puts Iran on its back foot.”
CLASH OF THE JEDI: Two reports released yesterday take opposite sides on the Pentagon’s plan to award a $10 billion sole source cloud computing contract, known as Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. President Trump asked the Pentagon to look into the contract after hearing complaints the process is unfair and favors Amazon.
Thomas Spoehr and Emma Watkins, writing in a report for the Heritage Foundation, argue that companies that are complaining are off base. “The Pentagon’s plan to make only one award, sometimes referred to as ‘winner-take-all,’ is legal, justifiable, and appropriate,” they write. “Congress and the Trump Administration should cease efforts that delay this valuable effort — and instead work to support the Pentagon in this endeavor. Further delay jeopardizes the Pentagon’s transition to 21st-century best-computing practices.”
A separate report by the nonprofit IT Acquisition Advisory Council calls for the JEDI contract award process to be rescinded and revised to allow for a “multi-cloud approach,” according to Breaking Defense.
But the Pentagon is rejecting that advice. “The July 23 Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council (IT-AAC) Report on DOD Cloud Adoption is not an accurate or credible analysis of the department’s efforts to move to the cloud,” Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith told Breaking Defense. “The DOD Cloud Strategy requires an ecosystem that takes full advantage of machine learning and artificial intelligence.”
A FEW BAD MEN: Sixteen Marines at Camp Pendleton in California were rounded up at a battalion formation and arrested on human smuggling and drug charges.
The Marines, part of the 1st Marine Division, were detained for “alleged involvement in various illegal activities ranging from human smuggling to drug-related offenses,” according to a statement from the Marine Corps. An additional eight Marines were questioned for their involvement in alleged drug-based offenses.
Thursday’s roundup is linked to the July 3 arrests of Lance Cpl. Byron Law and Lance Cpl. David Javier Salazar-Quintero. Border Patrol officers pulled them over and found three undocumented migrants in the backseat of their vehicle. The duo was allegedly trying to make money by smuggling people from Mexico into the United States.
The Rundown
AP: Seoul: NKorea in worst economic contraction in 2 decades
Washington Examiner: Venezuela standoff leads to mini arms race as US and Russia sell proxies fighter jets
Wall Street Journal: U.S., Afghanistan Agree On Need To Accelerate Peace Talks
Defense News: In a Naval Confrontation With Iran, Great Britain Can Find Neither Ships Nor Friends
New York Times: What Is the Chinese Military Doing in Hong Kong?
Reuters: Turkey’s First S-400 Shipment Complete, Second Planned For Ankara: Officials
CNN: How Vulnerable Are The Undersea Cables That Power The Global Internet?
Air Force Magazine: Boeing Backs Out of Nuclear Missile Competition, Prompting USAF Choices
Washington Post: Ukraine seizes Russian tanker in Black Sea in response to flotilla clash last year
Defense News: Germans Go Back To Sparring Over NATO’s 2-Percent Spending Target
Calendar
FRIDAY | JULY 26
8:15 a.m. American Enterprise Institute discussion on “The value of our veterans” about reforming the Veterans Affairs Department. Speakers: Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif.; Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio; Leo Shane, Capitol Hill and White House bureau chief at Military Times; Cynthia Gilman, senior vice president for strategic initiatives at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine; Mike Hutchings, chief development officer at Combined Arms; Rory Riley-Topping, founder of Riley-Topping Consulting; and Rebecca Burgess, director of the AEI Program on American Citizenship. www.aei.org/events
8:30 a.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd. National Defense Industrial Association discussion on “DevOps in the Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise,” with Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Contreras, program manager for defense intelligence information enterprise framework at the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic.
TUESDAY | JULY 30
10 a.m. SD-G50 Dirksen. Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing to consider Gen. John Hyten’s nomination to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
WEDNESDAY | JULY 30
9:30 a.m. SD-G50 Dirksen. Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Vice Adm. Michael Gilday’s nomination to be chief of naval operations. www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Mr. President, I know this is an important priority for you. And my Pentagon team is fully engaged with the Armed Services committees and bipartisan congressional leadership to create, for the first time in 70 years, a new branch of the armed forces, the United States Space Force.”
Defense Secretary Mark Esper addressing his commander in chief at Thursday’s full honors welcome ceremony on the Pentagon Parade Field.
