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  19 septembre 2018 | International, Sécurité

  White House sets ‘new direction’ in biodefense strategy

  By: Robert Burns, The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday released a new biodefense strategy that it said takes a more comprehensive approach to preparing the nation for deliberate biological attacks and natural outbreaks of infectious disease. The goal of the strategy, which was required by Congress, is to more effectively prevent, prepare for and respond to biological threats, which the document said are "among the most serious threats" facing the U.S. and the world. "Biological threats emanate from many sources, and they know no borders," Trump said in a written statement. "They have great potential to disrupt the economy, exact a toll on human life, and tear at the very fabric of society." Trump said his administration's plan takes a "new direction" with a more coordinated, centralized approach based on lessons learned from past incidents such as the West Africa Ebola epidemic of 2014. The Department of Health and Human Services is designated as the lead agency in coordinating federal biodefense actions and assessing whether the plan is working. A privately sponsored group that has studied biodefense issues since 2014 applauded the White House's strategy. The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense has warned that the U.S. is dangerously vulnerable to a large-scale biological attack and has urged Washington to develop a more comprehensive strategy. "The White House made a great start with the implementation plan they included with the strategy," said Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor who is co-chairman of the Blue Ribbon Study Panel. "We look forward to the White House assigning responsibilities for each element of this plan to specific federal departments and agencies, and establishing timelines for their completion." At a White House briefing, John Bolton, the president's national security adviser, told reporters there is "no particular immediate threat" of biological attack. Alex Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services, told reporters the threats are "very real and they're growing." He said the strategy is the first to include naturally occurring threats like the Ebola virus. Previous approaches focused on the threat of terrorists unleashing deadly germs or a nation such as North Korea launching a biological attack. https://www.federaltimes.com/management/2018/09/18/white-house-sets-new-direction-in-biodefense-strategy

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  30 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  USAF To Equip KC-135s For ADS-B Position Reporting

  by Bill Carey The U.S. Air Force will install automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) position reporting capability on its fleet of 417 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers beginning in September. ADS-B Out is not part of the KC-135's current Block 45 avionics upgrade, but the functionality will be added to the four-engine refueling tanker, the service confirmed. Supplier Collins Aerospace said it will integrate ADS-B Out through its Flight2 avionics system for the KC-135, using the aircraft's Identification friend or foe (IFF) transponder to broadcast position. Work is expected to take place at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. “We're very close to having the certification complete for that, and then the Air Force will begin the certification process to install on the aircraft,” Marc Ayala, Collins Aerospace director of Air Force sales and business development, told Aerospace DAILY. “Our system will interface with the various components—the GPS position source and some of the aircraft state data that gets fed into the [IFF transponder], basically the ‘electronic handshake' for that box to work properly within the system,” Ayala said. The Air Force has said that 2,936 military aircraft across all U.S. services will be fitted to signal their position by ADS-B Out as of the FAA's Jan. 1 compliance date. The number represents about one-fifth of the 13,596 aircraft operated by the Defense Department, according to Aviation Week's Military Fleet Discovery Tool. The leading category of ADS-B-equipped aircraft will be helicopters (1,129), followed by air mobility and transport aircraft (923), command and control/intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft (259) and trainers (625), the Air Force said. The 923 mobility and transport aircraft that will be equipped by January as part of ongoing updates include the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130J Super Hercules, KC-10 Extender and C-21 transport, the service said. https://aviationweek.com/defense/usaf-equip-kc-135s-ads-b-position-reporting

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  24 juillet 2019 | International, Autre défense

  Esper confirmed as new defense secretary, ending Pentagon leadership uncertainty

  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. https://www.defensenews.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/07/23/esper-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-ending-pentagon-leadership-uncertainty/