July 24, 2019 | International, Other Defence
By: Joe Gould and Leo Shane III
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved Mark Esper to be the country's 27th defense secretary, ending a wait of more than 200 days for a permanent Pentagon leader.
Esper's relatively drama-free confirmation vote — 90-8 — stood in contrast to the seven months of uncertainty in the highest levels of the military's leadership.
After former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was forced out of his post early on the first day of 2019, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan helmed the department until he suddenly withdrew from consideration for the full-time job in June amid reports of domestic violence among his family members.
Esper, who until then had served as Army secretary for since late 2017, bounced between that job and the acting defense secretary job over the last five weeks. Lawmakers and military officials expressed concerns over the temporary, unclear leadership in recent months, especially as other top military posts were vacated.
Tuesday's vote ends the longest period the Defense Department has gone without a permanent, confirmed leader since it became a Cabinet-level agency.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said ahead of the vote Tuesday that Esper is “beyond qualified” for the top military job.
"His record of public service is beyond impressive,” McConnell said. “His commitment to serving our service members is beyond obvious. And the need for a Senate-confirmed secretary of defense is beyond urgent.”
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., offered similar praise.
“It's not very often we have someone that is enthusiastically supported by Republicans, by Democrats, and he is obviously the right person,” he said. “He has the trust of our president, the trust of our military, the trust of Congress and the country to keep our nation safe.”
The only sharp opposition to Esper's nomination came from Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Senate Armed Services Committee member and 2020 presidential hopeful, who grilled Esper over his ties to his former employer, Raytheon.
But since President Donald Trump announced Esper's nomination last month, Democrats and Republicans have mostly offered effusive praise for Esper as the right candidate for the job.
At Esper's confirmation hearing last week, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., lauded Esper for hosting him and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., for an unvarnished look at problematic Army housing in Virginia.
“That willingness to show personal accountability was very, very impressive,” Kaine said. “He's been proactive and he's been transparent. ... And I think those are trademarks of exceptional leadership.”
Work ahead
Esper, a West Point graduate and former Army lieutenant colonel, was vice president of government relations for Raytheon — the third-largest defense contractor in the United States — for seven years before becoming Army secretary. His most notable work leading the Army included a shake-up of the service's acquisitions portfolio.
He inherits a military charged with following the National Defense Strategy's focus on competition with Russia and China but still grappling with Iran tensions, politically charged troop deployments on America's southern border and pressure from Trump to exit Afghanistan.
The American Enterprise Institute's Rick Berger said the leadership vacuum after Mattis has left the Pentagon “adrift.” Esper would be wise to reset relationships with Capitol Hill and the press, who have both grumbled at a lack of engagement, he added.
“The department has never been more timid about telling its story to the public or to Capitol Hill, a legacy of Secretary Mattis and his caretaker successor,” Berger said.
Loren DeJong Schulman, a deputy director at the Center for a New American Security, said Esper's priorities will be to fill the department's widespread leadership vacancies, to dig into the fiscal 2021 budget process and to assert himself in decisions regarding tension with Iran.
"In doing so, he has the opportunity to reorient some troubling trends in the Pentagon, such as the growing absence of transparency with the press, Hill, and American people, and the dominance of the Joint Staff in what should be political-military policy debates," she said.
“Esper is also fighting a White House policy process driven by presidential tweet and instinct, without a responsible deliberate process. Like Mattis, Esper can insist on better cross-agency deliberation to develop policy ideas that support the president's objectives.”
Senators will move onto the next Pentagon leadership vacancy tomorrow when they hold a confirmation hearing for David Norquist to be deputy secretary of defense.
Trump has already nominated Ryan McCarthy to replace Esper as secretary of the Army.
October 26, 2023 | International, Aerospace
U.S. defense contractor RTX Corp and Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems will build a missile manufacturing facility in East Camden, Arkansas, the companies said on Thursday.
December 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
China's heavy investments in the defense industry appears to be paying off with Beijing dominating the global arms market in 2019 while Russia is losing ground. Total sales by the top 25 rose by 8.5% to $361 billion, or 50 times the annual budget of the U.N.'s peacekeeping operations. The United States is still number 1, accounting for 61% of sales by the world's top 25 manufacturers last year, way ahead of China's 16%, a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report published Monday reveals. In 2019, the top five arms companies were all based in the U.S. - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics. These five together registered $166 billion in annual arms sales. In total, 12 U.S. companies appear in the top 25 for 2019, accounting for 61% of the combined arms sales of the top 25. The largest absolute increase in arms revenue was registered by Lockheed Martin: $5.1 billion, equivalent to 11% in real terms. Chinese companies that made its way to the global top 25 are Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC; ranked 6th), China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC; ranked 8th), China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO; ranked 9th), and China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC; ranked 24th). Their combined revenue grew by 4.8% between 2018 and 2019. “Chinese arms companies are benefiting from military modernization programmes for the People's Liberation Army,” SIPRI Senior Researcher Nan Tian said. The only two Russian companies in the list - S-400 missile system manufacturer Almaz-Antey in 15th spot and United Shipbuilding in 25th - accounted for 3.9% of 2019 arms sales. The revenues of the two firms both decreased between 2018 and 2019, by a combined total of $634 million. A third Russian company, United Aircraft, lost $1.3 billion in sales and dropped out of the top 25 in 2019. Alexandra Kuimova, Researcher at SIPRI, said: “Domestic competition and reduced government spending on fleet modernization were two of the main challenges for United Shipbuilding in 2019.” For the first time, a Middle Eastern firm appears in the top 25 ranking. EDGE, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was created in 2019 from the merger of more than 25 smaller companies. It ranks at number 22 and accounted for 1.3% of total arms sales of the top 25. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/28477#.X8_0tdhKiUk
January 1, 2024 | International, Aerospace
December 26, 2023 Defense and Security Thailand 2023 – IAI will supply 6 of its advanced Sea Mini-POP sensor payloads to the Royal Thai Navy. These payload upgrades will enhance...