| PULLING PUNCHES: For the second time in four months, a Russian fighter jet has damaged a U.S. drone conducting a combat mission, and the response from the U.S. has been the same: a stern protest and a call for Russia to cut it out. "Russian unsafe and unprofessional behavior in the air not only degrades our Defeat ISIS mission, it risks unintended escalation and miscalculation," said Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, commander of the U.S. Central Command, in response to the July 23 incident over Syria in which declassified video shows a Russian jet dropping flares on an MQ-9 Reaper drone, damaging its propeller. "We call upon the Russian forces in Syria to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behavior," said Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, Air Forces Central commander, in a statement. In March, a Russian Su-27 harassing an MQ-9 over the Black Sea came in contact with the drone, clipping its propeller and forcing operations to ditch the unmanned aircraft into the waters off Ukraine. In this latest incident, the U.S. drone was able to land safely. RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT USES FLARE TO 'SEVERELY' DAMAGE US DRONE OVER SYRIA ESPER: THIS 'REQUIRES A RESPONSE': Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper argues it's time to meet the Russian harassment with more than words. "I think this is a pattern that's going to continue if not escalate, and I think it requires a response," Esper said on CNN yesterday. "I think we need to push back on this. I argued at the time that maybe we have to put fighter caps up there to protect these aircraft and signal to the Russians that we're not going to be pushed around in Syria or anywhere else." "What didn't get attention after the fact was that the Pentagon put out orders to pull surveillance flights, I think 50 miles away from where they were flying, which, I imagine, probably hurt our ability to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance," Esper said. "I suppose Moscow saw that there was benefit from doing that if we backed off, and maybe they're trying to do the same here." Asked last week at a Pentagon briefing if the U.S. can't deter Russia from these aggressive acts, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley replied, "I am quite confident that General Kurilla and all of the forces in CENTCOM know how to protect themselves and will protect themselves." "If there's a hostile act, hostile intent, or if they're acting unsafely or unprofessionally, then we'll work through that, but we will protect ourselves," Milley said. Two days later, the Pentagon announced it was sending additional forces to the region, including a Marine expeditionary unit equipped with F-35s, to augment Air Force F-16s and Navy warships already deployed to the region. But Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that those forces were dispatched "to address what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz and the continued activity that we're seeing by Iranian Navy ships harassing vessels." "Of course, you know, it's at the commander's discretion," Singh added. "If he feels that these assets need to be moved or need to be used in a different way in a different part of the region, of course, that is at the commander's discretion." CONVOYS, ANYONE? Retired Adm. James Stavridis, NATO's top commander from 2009 to 2013, is arguing that despite the risk of drawing the U.S. into direct conflict with Russia, NATO, or a "coalition of the willing," should seriously consider a naval and air escort of Ukrainian grain shipments to bust Russia's illegal Black Sea blockade. In an opinion essay published in Bloomberg, Stavridis cites his experience as a young lieutenant commander on the USS Valley Forge, an Aegis cruiser that was part of Operation Earnest Will, which thwarted the Iranian attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz during the "Tanker War" of the late 1980s, in which Tehran tried to block the export of oil to the world market. "How would it work? Probably by bundling the merchant craft into three-to-five ship convoys, each escorted by a couple of guided-missile warships. There would be a significant air component to carry out patrols tracking the location of the Russian Black Sea Fleet — which operates largely out of ports in occupied Crimea — and to respond to possible Russian air attacks on the ships," Stavridis writes. "Several squadrons of fighters could be assigned to NATO bases in northern Turkey or, more likely, Romania and Bulgaria." Stavridis admits the humanitarian escort operation would not be without risk. "It would bring Russia and Ukraine's Western supporters into direct confrontation, if not necessarily combat," he says. "Turkey, which controls passage to the Black Sea, might prove politically reluctant to cooperate. And there is the possibility of an inadvertent incident." But he argues, "Putin would fume, sputter and threaten — but is unlikely to take on NATO or a US-led coalition of Black Sea warships in direct combat. He would be well served to see how things turned out for Iran in the 1980s: multiple warships sunk, and a broken blockade." The White House has said flatly that escorting Ukrainian ships is not an option under consideration. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Good Wednesday 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 Conrad Hoyt. 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. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what's going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue! HAPPENING TODAY: Lloyd Austin has arrived in Papua New Guinea today where he is the first U.S. defense secretary to visit the island nation. "It's an honor to be the first US SecDef to visit PNG, especially at a time of historic progress toward the relationship between our two countries," Austin tweeted upon his arrival. Austin and Prime Minister James Marape have a press conference in Port Moresby scheduled for 9 p.m. Washington time that will be livestreamed on the Pentagon's website. Papua New Guinea is the first stop on Austin's trip to the Indo-Pacific region which concludes with a visit to Australia for the annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations, which will also be attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "In Papua New Guinea, Secretary Austin will mark a historic moment as the first Secretary of Defense to visit the country, a crucial U.S. partner in the Pacific, where he will discuss next steps following the recent signing of new bilateral defense agreements between the two countries," the Pentagon said in a statement. ALSO TODAY: A Senate Armed Services Committee hearing considers the nominations of Air Force Lt. Gen. Gregory Guillot to commander, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command; and Space Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting to be commander, U.S. Space Command. The hearing begins at 9 a.m. at the Hart Senate Office Building, room 216. NEW NO. 3 AT DOD: The White House announced several national security nominations yesterday, including Derek Chollet to be undersecretary of defense for policy, the No. 3 civilian position at the Pentagon. If confirmed, Chollet, who currently serves as counselor to Blinken, would replace Colin Kahl, who resigned this month. "Mr. Chollet brings extensive experience from his time at the White House, his time at the Department of Defense, and most recently, as the counselor of the Department of State," said Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. "The undersecretary for policy is the key policy advisor to the secretary and provides vital strategic guidance in support of U.S. national security interests worldwide." Also included in the latest batch of nominees are Elliott Abrams to be a member of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, and Harry Coker to be national cyber director. BIDEN PICKS NEXT PENTAGON POLICY CHIEF AMID TUBERVILLE HOLD FREEDOM CAUCUS WAR ON SPENDING: Members of the Freedom Caucus continue to flex their outsized muscle in the House, threatening to block two spending bills that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is trying to pass this week before Congress leaves for its scheduled August break. "We made a commitment to the American people we were going to reduce spending, we were going to freeze the spending levels, and we were going to make sure that we removed all of the woke spending programs that the Biden administration has put forward over the last couple of years," Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) said at a Capitol Hill news conference. "And the only way that we're going to be able to make sure that we do that is if we see all 12 of these appropriation bills totaled up so we know what the total spending is. If the leadership believes that they're going to be able to trickle these out two at a time, three a week, four a week, that's just not going to be feasible because we will never be able to see what the total spending is until the very end." Asked if that strategy risks an impasse that could lead to a government shutdown at the end of next month, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) replied, "We should not fear a government shutdown. Most of what we do up here is bad anyway … Most of the American people won't even miss if the government is shut down temporarily." The 20-member caucus is trying to hold McCarthy to a promise to hold overall discretionary spending to 2022 levels and defense spending to 2023 levels, which, when factoring in inflation, is a cut to the Pentagon's budget. "What you're going to hear is these cuts are draconian. Folks, we're talking about less than 2% of all spending that this government will do in the next year, less than 2%," said Rep. Keith Self (R-TX). "Sadly, unfortunately, there are some Republicans in the House who don't want to cut spending. Worse yet, many Republicans in the Senate want to actually increase spending," said Good. "But we are committed to using every tool at our disposal to go back to the $1.471 [trillion] pre-COVID-level spending for nondefense discretionary, allowing defense to stay at current levels. WHAT'S IN THE LATEST ARMS PACKAGE: As expected, the Biden administration announced another drawdown of equipment and ammunition from U.S. military inventories, the 43rd such transfer to Ukraine since August of 2021. "Today's $400 million commitment in security assistance includes additional air defense munitions, artillery and other ammunition — other ammunition, armored vehicles, anti-armor weapons and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russia's ongoing war of aggression," said Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon's deputy spokeswoman. Here's what's in the package: - Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS)
- Stinger anti-aircraft systems
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
- 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds
- 120 mm and 60 mm mortar rounds
- 32 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers
- Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles
- Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets
- Hornet Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Hydra-70 aircraft rockets
- Tactical air navigation systems
- Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing
- Over 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades
- Night vision devices and thermal imagery systems
- Spare parts, training munitions, and other field equipment
"Every package that is put together is done with all of our services involved," said Singh. "We have meetings where our services can weigh in on what they have available on their shelves … We are going to continue to assess what we can flow to them without dropping below our own readiness levels." 75 YEARS AGO TODAY: At a ceremony in the Pentagon's center courtyard this morning, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, Air Force chief of staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, and other senior DOD leaders will mark the day in history when President Harry Truman signed Executive Orders 9980 and 9981, which desegregated the federal government and armed forces. "For far too much of our nation's history, servicemembers of color who fought to defend our country were forced to serve in segregated units. Black troops were denied the very rights that they fought to defend. Despite this bitter heritage, segregated units demonstrated their skill and mettle in war after war. During World War II alone, more than one million Black Americans served bravely to defeat fascism," said Lloyd Austin, the nation's first black defense secretary, in a statement. "The end of segregation throughout the Department of Defense was a major step toward fulfilling America's founding promises of liberty and equality under law. Since then, our extraordinary military and our dedicated civilian workforce have welcomed qualified patriots from all racial backgrounds to defend our country and serve alongside one another. Today, some 44 percent of our active-duty, all-volunteer force are Americans of color." WANG'S IN, QIN'S OUT: Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has been removed from his post and replaced by Central Foreign Affairs Commission chief Wang Yi. After Chinese President Xi Jinping, Wang now holds China's two most senior foreign policy positions. The Washington Examiner's Tom Rogan says Wang must now represent both the Chinese nation and the Chinese Communist Party. READ MORE: CHARISMA AND DIPLOMACY: XI TAKES RISK IN MAKING WANG YI FOREIGN POLICY CZAR The Rundown Washington Examiner: US defense officials check on Israel as political crisis fuels 'civil war' anxiety Washington Examiner: Culture wars take center stage as House spending battles continue Washington Examiner: Senate votes to keep China from buying US farmland Washington Examiner: Biden picks next Pentagon policy chief amid Tuberville hold Washington Examiner: Russian aircraft uses flare to 'severely' damage US drone over Syria Washington Examiner: Once wrongfully detained in Russia, Trevor Reed injured fighting alongside Ukrainians Washington Examiner: Famed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny dubs war hawk 'political prisoner' Washington Examiner: UN nuclear watchdog finds anti-personnel mines near Zaporizhzhia power plant Washington Examiner: Russia destroying cultural sites in Ukraine 'marks an escalation,' UN says Washington Examiner: China's foreign minister ousted after mysterious monthlong absence Washington Examiner: Analysis: Charisma and diplomacy: Xi takes risk in making Wang Yi foreign policy czar Washington Examiner: Bice questions IRS about $10 million worth of weapons and ammunition purchased since 2020 Washington Examiner: Biden administration announces new $400 million round of aid for Ukraine Washington Examiner: Opinion: China and Russia boost North Korea support as cudgel against US New York Times: Putin Plans Trip to China, Another Russian Leader to Visit North Korea Washington Post: U.S. And China Battle For Influence In Pacific Island Nations Politico: West Scrambles to Hash Out Details of Ukraine F-16 Training USNI News: No Pentagon Plans to Send Assets to Black Sea Over Collapsed Grain Deal Air Force Times: Air Force Looks to Send Reserve Fighter Pilots, Air Planners to Europe Air & Space Forces Magazine: How US, UK, and Australia Aim to Cut Costs, Speed Delivery of E-7 Wedgetail Air & Space Forces Magazine: RTX Expects Even More Demand in the Next Year to Replenish Missiles Sent to Ukraine Flight Global: Airbus Wins $2.7B Contract for New Canadian Tanker Fleet, First Deliveries Set for Autumn NBC News: Inside NORAD's Mission to Defend US Airspace Defense News: Pentagon's Chief Technology Office Gets Three New Leadership Slots Breaking Defense: Draft Commercial Space 'Reserve' Plan Allows DOD 'Exclusive Access' to Services During Conflict Space News: Space Force Selects Vendors for Low Earth Orbit Satellite Services Air & Space Forces Magazine: Bones, BUFFs, and B-2s: All Three Bomber Types Fly in Alaska Exercise Military.com: VA Studying Whether 3 Types of Cancer Are Linked to Overseas Military Service The Cipher Brief: The Hunt for Spies Inside the U.S. is Harder Than You Think The Cipher Brief: Data is "Ammo in AI Warfare," and the Pentagon May Be Running Low Calendar WEDNESDAY | JULY 26 9 a.m. 216 Hart — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the nominations of Air Force Lt. Gen. Gregory Guillot to be commander of the U.S. Northern Command and commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command; and Space Force Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting to be commander of the U.S. Space Command https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings 10 a.m. 2141 Rayburn — House Judiciary Committee hearing: "Oversight of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security," with testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings 10 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual book discussion of Thanks For Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the U.S. Military, with author Peter Feaver, professor of political science and public policy at Duke University; and Katherine Kuzminski, senior fellow and program director of the CNAS Military, Veterans, and Society Program https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-book-launch 10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Accountability National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing: "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency" https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/unidentified-anomalous-phenomena 10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution discussion: "U.S.-China Proximate Military Operations in the Maritime, Air, and Space Domains," with Josiah Case, research analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses; and Robin Dickey, space policy and strategy analyst at the Aerospace Corporation https://www.brookings.edu/events/us-china 11 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussion with the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates From Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia: Oleksandra Matviichuk, director of the Center for Civil Liberties; Kanstantsin Staradubets, coordinator of the Viasna Human Rights Center; and Aleksandr Cherkasov, chairman of the Russian human rights center Memorial https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/07/26/conversation 11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies's Impossible State podcast discussion: "A Week of Detention and Deterrence on the Korean Peninsula," with Andrew Yeo, chairman of the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies; and Victor Cha, CSIS Korea chairman https://www.csis.org/events/impossible-state-live-podcast 1 p.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Accountability Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee hearing: "Getting Nowhere: DoD's Failure to Replace the Defense Travel System," with testimony from Jeff Register, director of the Special Operations Division, Defense Human Resources Activity in the Office of the Defense Undersecretary for Personnel & Readiness; and Elizabeth Field, director of defense capabilities and management at the Government Accountability Office https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/getting-nowhere 2 p.m. 310 Cannon — House Homeland Security Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee and Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Subcommittee hearing: "The Real Cost of an Open Border: How Americans are Paying the Price" http://homeland.house.gov 2 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: "Space and U.S. National Security," with Even Rogers, CEO of True Anomaly; retired Col. Dean Bellamy, executive vice president of national security space at Redwire; Jason Kim, senior policy analyst at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Arthur Herman, Hudson senior fellow; and Peter Huessy, Hudson senior fellow https://www.hudson.org/events/space-us-national-security 4 p.m. 106 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing: "Potential Budgetary Efficiencies Achieved Through Improvement To Management And Planning Processes Within Defense Department Personnel Programs," with testimony from Michael Roark, deputy inspector general, evaluations component, Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General; David Mosher, assistant director for national security, Congressional Budget Office; and Elizabeth Field, director, Defense Capabilities and Management, Government Accountability Office https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings 7 p.m. 390 Cannon — House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party hearing: "Commanding Heights: Ensuring U.S. Leadership in the Critical and Emerging Technologies of the 21st Century," with testimony from Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner, Lux Capital; William Evanina, former director, National Counterintelligence and Security Center and CEO of The Evanina Group; and Lindsay Gorman, senior fellow for emerging technologies, German Marshall Fund https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/committee THURSDAY | JULY 27 10 a.m. HVC-210 — House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability hearing: "A Failure to Plan: Examining the Biden Administration's Preparation for the Afghanistan Withdrawal," with testimony from retired Col. Seth Krummrich, vice president, Global Guardian, former chief of staff, Special Operations Command Central; and Command Sgt. Maj. Jacob Smith https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release 10 a.m. 14th and F Sts. NW — National Press Club Newsmaker Program with Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff https://www.press.org/events/npc-headliners-newsmaker-general-daniel-hokanson 10:30 a.m. 106 Dirksen — Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the "Defense Appropriations Act" https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings 11 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute book discussion: The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers, with author Andrew Krepinevich, senior fellow at Hudson; and Timothy Walton, senior fellow at Hudson https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-origins-of-victory-tickets 12 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: "Lessons Learned from Oversight of War and Reconstruction Efforts in Afghanistan," with Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko; Danielle Brian, executive director and president of the Project On Government Oversight; and Andrew Bacevich, co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft https://quincyinst.org/event/lessons-learned-from-oversight 1 p.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association discussion: "A Holistic and Integrated Approach to Achieving Zero Trust for the DoD," with John Amorosi, federal CTO of CrowdStrike; Sky Hackett, senior zero trust architect at Amazon Web Services; Rich Johnson, federal senior sales engineer at Zscaler; Misae Romer, solutions engineer at Okta; and Diego Laje, senior reporter at SIGNAL Media https://www.workcast.com/register 1:30 p.m. The Center for the National Interest virtual discussion: "The U.S. Push for Saudi-Israel Normalization," with Jonathan Lord, senior fellow and director, Middle East Security program, Center for a New American Security; Firas Maksad, senior fellow and director of strategic outreach at the Middle East Institute; and Greg Priddy, senior fellow, Middle East at the Center https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register 2 p.m. 2253 Rayburn — House Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee hearing: "Review of the Recapitalization of the United States Coast Guard Surface, Air, IT, and Shoreside Assets" https://transportation.house.gov/calendar 2 p.m. — National Security Institute virtual discussion: "The New Soviet Union: What Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Means for the Freedom of the Near Abroad," with Rose Gottemoeller, former deputy secretary general of NATO; and moderator Jennifer Cafarella, NSI fellow, director of strategic initiatives at the Institute for the Study of War https://nationalsecurity.gmu.edu/the-new-soviet-union FRIDAY | AUGUST 4 9:30 a.m Summerall Field, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia — Relinquishment of Responsibility ceremony for outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston https://home.army.mil/jbmhh/index.php | | | "We should not fear a government shutdown. Most of what we do up here is bad anyway. Most of what we do up here hurts the American people when we do stuff to the American people by promising to do things for the American people. Most of the American people won't even miss it if the government is shut down temporarily."
| Freedom Caucus member Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), saying he's not concerned about blocking spending bills he thinks are too high.
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