By Charles Walker, RealClearDefense: “Submarines are an important weapon in any countries arsenal. The threat of an attack by a submarine is a concern to the operators of all merchant and naval vessels.”
By Stuart E. Gallagher, Divergent Options: “The Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 forced Russia to cede its Superpower status. This event embarrassed Russian leadership who then retooled Russia’s instruments of national power and redefined how Russia engaged globally. This ceding of power also motivated Vladimir Putin and his retinue to pursue Great Power status."
(Breaking Defense) India has finalized a $900 million deal with Sikorsky for 24 MH-60R helicopters that will help India’s navy spot and track Chinese submarines, drones and surface ships that are operating more frequently in the Indian Ocean.
MDA: All-domain C2 key to countering hypersonic missiles
(Breaking Defense) Senior Missile Defense Agency officials say Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) will be fundamental to rapidly and seamlessly integrating future capability to track and intercept hypersonic and cruise missiles into its current architecture focused on ballistic missiles.
(War On The Rocks) Last year, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger outlined a transformative vision for the service. The move stunned national security experts. As a former staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee tweeted at the time, “The blood of sacred cows is all over this thing.”
Dynetics will help DARPA scale up its artificial intelligence air-to-air combat effort, the company said May 6, potentially enabling a pilot to control a fleet of unmanned platforms in a dogfight. – C4ISRNET
The Pentagon has proposed legislation that aims to end reliance on China for rare earth minerals critical to the manufacturing of missiles and munitions, hypersonic weapons and radiation hardened electronics, by making targeted investments. – Defense News
Anthony H. Cordesman writes: The new National Security Strategy (NSS) issued on December 18, 2017, called for the United States to focus on competition with China and Russia in order to focus on the potential military threat they posed to the United States. This call to look beyond the current U.S. emphasis on counterterrorism was all too valid, but its implementation has since focused far too narrowly on the military dimension and on providing each military service all of the U.S. military forces that are needed to fight “worst case” wars. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
The massive network of corruption now being unraveled has major geopolitical and security implications that reach far beyond India.
By Ashley G. Johnson, Proceedings: “The notion that the only solution to the missile problem is more missiles is an oversimplification."
Beijing Flexes Its Muscles – And Washington Better Get Ready
By Bradley Bowman & Craig Singleton, RealClearDefense: “The goal is to consolidate and extend the CCP's authoritarian control and undermine the interests of the U.S. and its regional partners. One can see this more aggressive strategy not only in Thursday's political decision with respect to Hong Kong but also in Beijing's recent and planned military actions."
Don’t Bring a Knife to a Gunfight With China
By T.S. Allen, Strategy Bridge: "There are several durable reasons why China is the principal U.S. competitor least likely to employ insurgency—“the organized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify or challenge political control of a region”—either directly or by proxy, in the future."