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Jan. 15 (UPI) -- BAE Systems has signed a five-year, $79.8 million contract to assist the U.S. Navy in maintaining and operating electronic, communication and computing platforms across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The program, which supports the Pacific's Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master, will continue to provide continuous operations and maintenance support for afloat and ashore operations, the company said in a press release Tuesday. Full artcile: https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/01/15/BAE-signs-798M-contract-with-Navy-for-Pacific-comms-support/1401547573414/

ARMY BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $474,084,062 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for system technical support and sustainment system technical support. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 14, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-D-0040). ACC Construction Co. Inc., Augusta, Georgia, was awarded a $30,006,388 firm-fixed-price contract for a Special Operations Forces tactical equipment maintenance facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work will be performed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 5, 2020. Fiscal 2017 and 2018 military construction funds in the amount of $30,006,388 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, North Carolina, is the contracting activity (W912PM-19-C-0008). Tecmotiv (USA) Inc.,* Niagara Falls, New York, was awarded a $19,644,207 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Egypt) contract for M60 engine overhaul parts package. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Niagara Falls, New York, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 25, 2020. Fiscal 2011 foreign military sales funds in the amount of $19,644,207 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-19-C-0042). DynCorp International LLC, Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded an $18,537,068 modification (P00205) to contract W58RGZ-13-C-0040 for aviation field maintenance services. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2019. Fiscal 2017 and 2019 aircraft procurement, Army; and operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $18,537,068 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Mississippi Limestone Corp.,* Friars Point, Mississippi, was awarded an $18,399,991 firm-fixed-price contract for articulated concrete mattress casting at the Mississippi River. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Delta, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 21, 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $18,399,991 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, is the contracting activity (W912EE-19-C-0002). Avatar Environmental LLC,* West Chester, Pennsylvania (W912DQ-19-D-3004); GEO Consultants Corp.,* Kevil, Kentucky (W912DQ-19-D-3005); Trevet-Bay West JV II LLC,* San Diego, California (W912DQ-19-D-3006); and TriEco LLC,* Louisville, Kentucky (W912DQ-19-D-3007 ), will compete for each order of the $12,000,000 hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for environmental architect engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 10 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 14, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City, Missouri, is the contracting activity. Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $9,742,355 modification (P00030) to contract W911QX-16-C-0012 for support of Saturn Arch Aerial Intelligence System for day and night image collection and exploitation of Improvised Explosive Device “hot spot” areas. Work will be performed in Bridgewater, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 16, 2019. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $ 2,062,117 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Land & Armaments LP, York, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $7,201,316 modification (P00024) to contract W56HZV-17-C-0059 for the maintenance of M88 recovery vehicles, technical data package maintenance and total ownership cost reduction. Work will be performed in York, Pennsylvania, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 18, 2020. Fiscal 2018 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $7,201,316 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY ZOLL Medical Corp., Chelmsford, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $400,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for patient monitoring and capital equipment systems and accessories. This was a competitive acquisition with 36 responses received. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a Jan. 13, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-19-D-0011). (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) Valneva USA Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $70,051,600, firm-fixed-price contract for the Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 ( c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Maryland and the U.K., with a Jan. 14, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DP-19-D-0001). Dental Health Products Inc.,* New Franken, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $37,500,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for dental equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 68 responses received; 20 contracts have been awarded to date. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a Jan. 13, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Department of Defense and other federal organizations. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-19-D-0005). (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) NAVY Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is awarded $68,933,454 for cost-plus-incentive fee delivery order 0104 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-14-G-0020). This order provides for the design, development, documentation, integration, and test of upgrades to the U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory to execute the Mission Data (MD) programming and reprogramming mission for the F-35 Digital Channelized Receiver/Technique Generator and Tuner Insertion Program (DTIP) and non-DTIP configurations. These efforts are in support of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps operational aircraft, as well as all training aircraft within the continental U.S. with MD products. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (65 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (25 percent); and Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (10 percent), and is expected to be completed in May 2021. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation (Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps) funding in the amount of $20,000,000 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order combines purchases for the Air Force ($34,466,727; 50 percent); Navy ($17,233,364; 25 percent), and the Marine Corps ($17,233,363; 25 percent). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. C4 Planning Solutions, Blythe, Georgia, is awarded a maximum ceiling $45,488,761 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a five-year ordering period and option to extend services up to six months for tactical systems support and professional engineering services for the Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity. This contract contains an option, which if exercised, will bring the contract value to $49,999,196. Work will be performed at Camp Pendleton, California (41 percent); Okinawa, Japan (15 percent); Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (four percent); Norfolk, Virginia (four percent); Alexandria, Virginia (four percent); Quantico, Virginia (four percent); New Orleans, Louisiana (two percent); and additional various locations outside the continental U.S. (26 percent), and work is expected to be completed by March 6, 2024. If the option is exercised, work will continue through Sept. 6, 2024. Fiscal 2017 (Marine Corps) operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $515,910; and fiscal 2019 (Marine Corps) operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $146,903 will be obligated under the initial task order immediately following contract award. Although expired, the fiscal 2017 contract funds in the amount of $515,910 are available for this effort in accordance with 31 U.S. Code 1558. The contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Virginia, is the contract activity (M68909-19-D-7605). AECOM Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, is awarded a $35,162,580 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contract resulting from solicitation N00189-18-R-0044 that includes provisions for economic price adjustment to provide third party logistics support services and hazardous material supplies as required by Marine Corp. Pacific and tenant Navy commands in Okinawa, Japan. The contract includes a five-year base ordering period with an option to extend services for a six-month ordering period pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8 which if exercised, the total value of this contract will be $38,965,976. All work will be performed in Okinawa, Japan, and work is expected to be completed February 2024. If the option is exercised, work will be completed by August 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $768,053; fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $1,211,512; and working capital funds (Navy) in the amount of $138,000 will be obligated at time of award. Operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps) funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (N00189-19-D-0001) BAE Systems Hawaii Shipyards Inc., Honolulu, Hawaii, was awarded a not-to-exceed $9,576,151 undefinitized contract action modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-14-C-4412 for scheduled Surface Incremental Availability (SIA) on USS Halsey (DDG 97). The scheduled SIA is the opportunity in the ship's life cycle primarily to conduct structural repairs and alteration to systems. Work will be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by May 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $4,689,804; and fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $98,255 will be obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $4,689,804 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) Global Technical Systems Inc.*, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded an $8,510,970 firm-fixed–price delivery order N00024-19-F-5610 under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00024-14-D-5213 for the procurement of 15 Common Processing System (CPS) Technical Instruction Twelve Hybrid (TI-12H) water-cooled production units for Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program and two CPS TI-12H air-cooled production units for ship self defense systems. The CPS is a computer processing system based on an Open Architecture (OA) design. CPS consists of the CPS enclosure assembly and three subsystems: the processing subsystem, the storage/extraction subsystem, and the Input / Output (I/O) subsystem. It is intended to support the computer requirements of various Navy combat systems. This contract will provide for production, testing and delivery of CPS (water cooled, air cooled, and air-cooled commercial equivalents), spares, and associated engineering services. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by October 2019. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $8,510,970 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Jan. 14, 2019) Lockheed Martin Corp., Baltimore, Maryland, is awarded a fixed-price-incentive firm target modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-2300 to exercise an option for the construction of one fiscal 2019 littoral combat ship. The specific contract award amount for this ship is considered source-selection sensitive information (see 41 U.S. Code 2101, et seq., Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101 and FAR 3.104) and will not be made public at this time. Lockheed Martin will perform and oversee all necessary design, planning, construction and test and trials activities in support of delivery of this ship to the Navy. Work will be performed in Marinette, Wisconsin (40 percent); Washington, District of Columbia (7 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (6 percent); Beloit, Wisconsin (2 percent); Iron Mountain, Michigan (2 percent); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1 percent); Waunakee, Wisconsin (1 percent); Crozet, Virginia (1 percent); Coleman, Wisconsin (1 percent); Monrovia, California (1 percent); and various locations below 1 percent (38 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2026. Fiscal 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1732604/source/GovDelivery/

SYDNEY—Nine Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft that Japan plans to buy over the coming five fiscal years will cost an average of ¥26.2 billion ($242 million) each, the defense ministry estimates. The figure compares with the $223 million that the U.S. Navy paid for each of five E-2Ds ordered in fiscal 2018. Four Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tankers will cost an average of ¥24.9 billion ($229 million) each, the ministry said in a document summarizing the expense of equipment included in an acquisition plan for fiscal 2019-23. The U.S. Air Force is paying a unit price of $201 million for Pegasus tankers in fiscal 2019. Full article: http://aviationweek.com/defense/japan-details-2019-23-defense-plan-costs

By Liam Tung Microsoft wins a five-year services deal with Department of Defense, Coast Guard, and intelligence community. Microsoft has scored a major win with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to supply services to the value of $1.76bn over five years. The Pentagon on Friday announced the deal, which will see Microsoft provide enterprise services to the DoD, Coast Guard, and intelligence community. In a statement announcing the deal, the Pentagon explains that support includes, "Microsoft product engineering services for software developers and product teams to leverage a range of proprietary resources and source code, and Microsoft premier support for tools, knowledge database, problem resolution assistance, and custom changes to Microsoft source code when applicable." The five-year 'indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity' (IDIQ) contract has a completion date of January 10, 2024. This contract allows Microsoft to provide an indefinite quantity of services during the period. The contract allows DoD to pay Microsoft on individual task orders using primarily operations and maintenance funds. Microsoft's win comes as the DoD assesses proposals for its $10bn, 10-year cloud contract known as JEDI or Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure. The Pentagon is expected to announce a single winner of the JEDI deal in the first quarter. Full article: https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-big-win-pentagon-signs-massive-1-76bn-contract

By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON — A Maryland congressman is launching a local consortium on Tuesday to link small and large aerospace and defense firms and educational institutions in the Pentagon's backyard — so the companies can solve common problems like workforce shortages. The Pentagon has identified the aging workforce as a challenge to country's defense industry, and it's playing out in Rep. Anthony Brown's district, which is near NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a major space research laboratory, and Fort Meade, the home of U.S. Cyber Command. “When I think about the workforce shortages, it's not just the computer science engineer in high demand at Northrop's Linthicum facility, it's the welder down at Huntington Ingalls,” said Brown, D-Md., and a House Armed Services Committee member, told Defense News. “There has to be a public-private partnership.” After months of meeting with representatives of the defense industry, local economic development corporations, local school systems and institutions of higher education, Brown is launching the Maryland Defense and Aerospace Consortium as a means of spurring academia and industry collaborate — and to burnish the National Capitol Region's reputation as an A&D hub. The panel, made up of representatives from the Defense Department, industry, career and technical education organizations, and local universities, is meant to start a conversation and ultimately solve national security problems. The inaugural meeting of Maryland Defense and Aerospace Consortium, set for Tuesday on Capitol Hill, is due to host Army Undersecretary Ryan McCarthy. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/01/14/us-lawmaker-links-small-defense-firms-in-maryland

By: Justin Lynch The U.S. government wants to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities or risks being left behind by the private sector and China. In the last two years, that's meant new AI initiatives from the Pentagon, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the intelligence community. Now, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity is requesting information about research efforts on “cutting-edge machine learning techniques.” IARPA posted the formal request for information Dec. 4. The deadline for industry to submit information is Jan. 17. “Of specific interest is the respondent's knowledge of, and experience implementing, current, cutting-edge machine learning techniques,” the intelligence community's research arm said. Respondents are required to have top secret clearances to work on the project, according to the IARPA listing. In addition to its deep learning program, IARPA leaders want information about research into “future computing systems” that can self-learn. Such a move could have implications for improving government cybersecurity. “The need for real-time (or near-real-time) analysis of massive amounts of heterogeneous data in this new era of explosive data growth has dramatically broadened the application space for advanced computers,” IARPA said. “The current volume and variety of data are already beginning to exceed the ability of today's most advanced classical systems to deliver optimal solutions.” Most cyber threat detection platforms use some form of artificial intelligence to create warning indicators, according to public and private sector officials. However, the U.S. government is behind the private sector when it comes to use of AI, said James Yeager, the public sector vice president at cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. “There is, by design, a more staggered type of approach to some of these advances in technology in the public sector, and as a result, the government is going to be behind the private sector,” Yeager said. IARPA has a “very high-risk-but-high-reward approach to solving complex problems. They take a lot of time and take a lot of resources,” said Yeager. “But If they can come out of that research project with a silver bullet, it is going to benefit everyone.” Andrew Laskow, a senior manager at Blue Prism, which provides AI products to federal government and defense agencies, said that in the U.S. government many people are “looking to AI for problems that they cannot solve.” “There is still a misunderstanding at the highest levels of what AI can and cannot do,” Laskow said. Public and private sector officials warn that AI-backed threat network indicators can overload users and create too many warnings. Michael McGeehan, head of business development at Blue Prism, described intelligent automation being broken down into the “thinking side” and the “execution side.” The artificial intelligence platform is the “thinking side” that makes decisions and is analogous to the human brain. On the other hand, robotic processing automation is the “execution side” that carries out tasks, like an arm or a leg. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/2019/01/12/with-china-looming-intelligence-community-backs-ai-research

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by Milton Ezrati Tokyo will begin to alter the security equation in the Western Pacific in the not-too-distant future. Long pacifist, Japan has decided to accelerate its military spending and effectively begin to gear up. It should hardly come as a surprise. Though Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has long sought to shift Japan from pacifism to what he calls a “normal country,” North Korea's missiles and China's aggressiveness in the Pacific would have left Tokyo little choice anyway. Spending has stepped up dramatically, as has planning. The nature of the buildup responds to other pressures from its great ally, the United States, which wants Japan to buy more U.S. equipment, as well as from the demographic and technological imperatives facing that nation. Even now, some seventy-two years after Douglas MacArthur directed the writing of the then defeated Japan's constitution, the document still limits the country's room to maneuver. Spending cannot exceed 1.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Though clever accounting allows wiggle room, this rule nonetheless imposes a severe constraint especially next to China and the United States, each of which spend more than 3.0 percent of their much larger GDPs on defense. Because the constitution stresses defense exclusively, it naturally questions any preparation to project power, not the least the Ministry of Defense's (MoD) intention to construct two aircraft carriers and possibly base Japanese ground forces outside the country. The constitution also forbids Japan entering any mutual defense pact. Despite Japan's long-term alliance with the United States, it cannot go to America's aid if, for instance, a U.S. base in Asia was attacked. Prime Minister Abe has strived to change the constitution and has won concessions, but it remains a constraint. The MoD budget requests for 2019 nonetheless make clear the new military emphasis. According to documents published in September, the MoD is asking for ¥5.3 trillion ($48 billion) in overall defense outlays, which is 7.2 percent above the 2018 budgeted amount. A jump like that would be noteworthy in any country, but especially so in Japan, where heretofore defense spending grows by fractions of a percent per year. Five-year plans would sustain this heightened level of spending. Still more interesting is the proposed allocation of these funds. Here, each point reflects the various pressures on Japan. North Korea's presence is probably most evident. The budget document emphasizes on “deterrence,” which no doubt lies behind the decision to upgrade the electronic warfare capability of Japan's existing F-15 fighter jets and purchase six F-35A fighters from Lockheed Martin. New plans call for purchases of 147 of these new fighters over the next few years, well above the original plan to buy forty-two of them. U.S. pressure is also clearly evident in this decision, as it will preclude purchase of the domestically developed F-2 fighter. In the words of one Japanese security analyst, Masahiro Matsumura, Japan's “defense industry is being sacrificed for the political goal of maintaining good Japan-U.S. relations.” Less controversial but also clearly aimed at the North Korean threat, the budget calls for Japan to upgrade its airborne early warning capability and spend nearly ¥300 billion ($2.7 billion) to deploy two land-based Aegis missile defense systems (“Aegis Ashore”) and other U.S. manufactured missile interceptors. Measures to counter China, at sea mostly, make a longer list. Of course, the F-15 upgrades and the new F-35s constitute something of an answer to China. More pointed are MoD plans to procure RQ-40 Global Hawk long distance drones, fund research to develop a long-distance undersea unmanned surveillance device, and otherwise enhance naval heft by procuring more anti-air missile and anti-torpedo ammunition as well as more standoff missiles. Plans also call for the construction of a new submarine, aimed, in the words of MoD budget documents, at “detections, etc.” (The etcetera no doubt refers to offensive capabilities that might raise constitutional questions.) Japan also has plans to construct two new multipurpose, compact destroyers that can also sweep mines. They will bring the fleet escort force to a total of fifty-four vessels—a considerable upgrade from the past. More controversial from a constitutional standpoint are other efforts that would: 1) enable the military to project power and 2) obligate Japan to its allies. The MoD seeks to procure a tanker to support the navy at sea, a clear statement that Japanese naval power has gone beyond coastal defense. The ministry also seeks two new C-2 transport aircraft and six more UH-X helicopters specifically aimed at rapid deployments. Also, it seeks a training budget to ready Japanese ground forces for more distant deployments. The ministry also seeks to refit an existing helicopter carrier over the next few years to carry some of the new F-35 fighters and then build a second carrier. In some interpretations, this clearly violates the self-defense strictures in Japan's constitution, though the prime minister and the MoD have couched the requests in defensive terms. In what also might constitute a further violation of the constitution, the ministry has asked for concessions to allow greater integration of Japanese command, control, and planning with allies, the United States, obviously, but also India, Australia, and ASEAN, in other words those nations trying to check Chinese expansion. Beyond these obvious countermeasures to North Korea and China, the MoD has also emphasized the need for modernization. It has set aside funds to establish what in the United States might describe as a cyber-defense command and to investigate the military use of artificial intelligence (AI). In a similar vein, the ministry has dedicated development funds to eventually install protections for Japan's satellites, including an optical telescope with which to identify objects flying nearby. It has further dedicated a not insignificant ¥2.7 billion ($24 million) to work with the United States on what it calls “deep space international awareness.” Not only do these efforts capture further needs, but the budget document emphasizes that the military will help Japan cope with its long-prevailing low birth rate and the resulting shortfall in people who meet the military's age requirements. One other aspect of this effort is the ministry's remarkably un-Japanese push to put more women into uniform. Even if not every yen makes it to its designated place, it is apparent that Japan will begin to alter the security equation in the Western Pacific in the not-too-distant future. If Abe manages to alter the constitution as planned, then the change will no doubt occur at an accelerated pace. It will alter Washington's calculations. Beijing surely will also take note. Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at the National Interest , an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, the New York based communications firm. His latest book is Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live . https://nationalinterest.org/feature/japan-accelerates-its-defense-buildup-41277

By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's Missile Defense Review is in the final stages of pre-release, sources tell Defense News, after more than a year of release delays. The review, a congressionally mandated document looking at the status of America's missile defense capabilities, could be unveiled as soon as the next week, although it has yet to be briefed to Congress, sources say. And while there appears to be significant momentum to actually releasing the document soon, the release has seemed imminent in the past, only to be pulled back at the last minute. The document has been the focus of intense speculation from both the missile defense and nonproliferation communities, with a wide expectation that the document will call for investments in new missile defense technologies and, potentially, a notable change in America's missile defense posture toward Russia and China. For years, America has maintained that missile defense systems capable of defeating major strategic systems are being designed and deployed not at another great power, but only at rogue actors — chiefly Iran and North Korea — who might seek to strike at the U.S. or its allies. The National Security Strategy — the overall security guidance released by the Trump administration in late 2017 — underlines this thinking, stating that “the United States is deploying a layered missile defense system focused on North Korea and Iran to defend our homeland against missile attacks. This system will include the ability to defeat missile threats prior to launch. Enhanced missile defense is not intended to undermine strategic stability or disrupt longstanding strategic relationships with Russia or China.” But analysts, such as Thomas Karako of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, have argued that in an era of great power competition, as illustrated in the National Defense Strategy, it's foolish to lack a plan for defending American assets and allies against China and Russia. “For so many decades we've been standing there like Samson, pushing apart Russia and China on the one hand and missile defenses on the other, saying they're not related,” Karako said. “So in some ways, that implicit connection [from previous reviews] could become much more explicit and pursued more aggressively, and really it should be.” Citing a need to defend against Russian and Chinese weapons is simply stating a need to defend against a major challenger. But China particularly seems to grow as a concern year over year for the U.S. government; it's notable that acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan's message to his staff upon taking over the top job at the Pentagon was to focus on “China, China, China.” Members of the nonproliferation community, such as Laura Grego of the Union of Concerned Scientists, argue that the technology needed to ensure America can defeat a major nation's use of strategic weapons is so expensive and technically challenging that getting to that point will divert funding from better projects. That spending decision would also encourage potential adversaries to invest more, not less, in nuclear weapons to counter America's perceived missile defense improvements, the argument goes. “Even absent a specific policy to take on Russia and China more explicitly, planned missile defense plans continue to be made in patterns that Russia and particularly China will not be able to ignore,” she said. “Trying to counter China and Russia's strategic deterrent with missile defense is of course a fool's errand and gets us further from reducing nuclear weapons, not closer. I hope that wiser heads prevail.” It is important to differentiate between regional missile defense systems being placed to defend allies against Russia or China, and the bigger homeland defense mission, said Kingston Reif of the Arms Control Association. For example, based on congressional guidance, it is expected the review will include ideas for countering hypersonic weapons, a threat currently originating from only Russia and China. “If the review goes so far as to broaden the role of missile defense to defend the U.S. homeland against Russian and Chinese missile attack[s], that would mark a major and radical change in U.S. policy,” Reif said. “The United States, Russia and China aren't taking into account the concerns the others have about their offensive and defensive developments sufficiently seriously to avoid increased risks of instability.” Technical capabilities While the great power competition may be a key driver, it is unlikely to be the only new aspect of the report. Karako hopes to see a layout for how missile defense capabilities fit into America's overall deterrence strategy, noting: “All capabilities are finite. So how is it that finite active missile defenses can contribute to deterring a Russia or China?" “Everyone knows if they want to, they could overwhelm a given defense. But it really comes down to how do certain capabilities deter aggression, opportunism, limited strikes, all these kind of things,” he said. “So I'll be looking for the articulation of how it contributes to overall deterrence for ourselves and our allies.” He's also keeping an eye out for how the document defines “integrated” missile defense systems, and whether planners can avoid stovepiping capabilities. Reif, for his part, is looking to see if there are increases in the Ground-Based Interceptor force in Alaska and California, or the creation of an East Coast missile defense site. Technologically, the report is expected to push for so-called left-of-launch technologies — capabilities that can take out a potential missile threat before it even leaves the launcher. “If you can see it early, you can kill it early,” Gen. John Hyten, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, said in August. “Driving that equation to the left has huge operational advantages because to actually shoot down a missile that somebody launched that comes back down on their head, do you think they are going to shoot another one? I don't think so. They are not going to shoot another one because it's just going to come right back down on their head, and so they stop shooting. Isn't that the whole point?” It's also expected the MDR will call for investment in laser systems, with Michael Griffin, the Pentagon's research and engineering head, saying in November that “you're going to see in upcoming budgets for missile defense a renewed emphasis on laser scaling across several” technology areas. In addition, expect talk of a space-based layer for missile defense, although that may be primarily focused on sensors rather than intercept capabilities — at least for now. Asked about space-based interceptors, Reif said: “Like a zombie that can't be killed, the idea keeps coming back. Pursuing space-based interceptors would be unaffordable, technically dubious and highly destabilizing.” The document, as ordered by Congress, must include milestone targets for developing new capabilities. It requires statements of five- and 10-year programmatic goals for developing capabilities, “as well as desired end states and milestones for integration and interoperability with allies, and a statement on the role of international cooperation,” per congressional guidance. Getting the MDR published has proven to be a nearly Sisyphean task for the Trump administration. Pentagon officials originally said the document would be released in late 2017 — then February, then mid-May and then late in the summer. In September, John Rood, who as undersecretary of defense for policy is the point man for the MDR, indicated the report could come out in a matter of weeks. And in October, Shanahan, then the deputy secretary of defense, said the document had been done “for some time.” There is also widespread speculation in the missile defense community that the review has been delayed, at least in part because of the warmed relations between the Trump administration and North Korea. Notably, the mid-May time frame for release, which was floated by Shanahan in April, lined up President Donald Trump's planned meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. While that meeting was canceled and then eventually happened in June, there was a sense the Pentagon did not want to do anything that could jeopardize those talks, such as releasing a report discussing how the U.S. could counter North Korean capabilities. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/01/11/what-to-look-for-in-the-upcoming-missile-defense-review