Weekly Recon – Multi-Domain Updates

Good Saturday morning and welcome to Weekly Recon. On this day in 1958, President Eisenhower ordered 5,000 U.S. Marines to Lebanon, at the request of that country’s president, Camille Chamoun, in the face of a perceived threat by Muslim rebels; to help end a short-lived civil war. And in 1987, Former National Security Adviser John Poindexter testified at the Iran-Contra hearings that he had never told President Reagan about using Iranian arms sales money for the Contras in order to protect the president from possible political embarrassment.

Followings its decades long economic offensive on the African continent, China has deployed the first troops to its first ever permanent overseas base, located in Djibouti. Mere miles from Camp Lemonnier, the U.S. base in Djibouti, this deployment marks a new era in Chinese foreign policy. Touted as a “supply base,” China’s outpost in Djibouti will allow China to launch counterterrorism, anti-piracy, and other military operations on the African continent. This deployment follows recent reports that China is planning a second overseas base to be located in Pakistan.

Blue Water 

The U.S. Navy announced this week that it would chart a new course for its Future Frigate program (FF), renaming the program FFG(X) and sending a request for information (RFI) that lays out an updated list of specifications to industry. Instead of basing its next generation frigate on existing Littoral Combat Ship designs, the Navy is pursuing a new design that will conform to its list of new specifications. The Navy's director of surface warfare, Rear Adm. Ronald Boxall, who oversees the program, was interviewed this week by Defense News, who quoted him as saying, “We took the good things that we like about LCS, and we improved on the other things that it needed.” The RFI is more or less a wish list, and the Navy will review proposals that industry has to offer and then see what it can actually afford.

Today the U.S. Navy’s fleet will grow by one hull when the Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer USS John Finn (DDG 113) commissions at Pearl Harbor. If you aare interested in watching the ceremony, you can tune in at DVIDS. The live feed will begin at 3:55 PM EST. Speaking of upcoming ship commissioning ceremonies, the White House announced that President Trump will be on hand to welcome the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) into the fleet next week, even after he criticized the ship’s “no good” electromagnetic aircraft launching technology (EMALS). One noted absence from the ceremony: the “goddamned steam.”

Air Superiority

It seemed earlier this week that the F-35 might soon add another customer. Germany had been probing an F-35 purchase since earlier this year. Initial meetings took place on the sidelines of this year’s Paris Air Show and continued this week when Pentagon officials met with German counterparts for a briefing on the jet. Germany has reportedly been looking at Boeing’s F/A-18 and F-15s as well. The situation became even more opaque on Thursday when, in a joint press conference, French and German leaders Emanuel Macron and Angela Merkel announced that the two countries would pursue the joint development of a new fifth generation fighter jet. It’s unclear how this project affects German interest in the F-35. Sandra Erwin reported this week for RealClearDefense that the F-35 is reaching a “tipping point.” Slow delivery rates, inconsistent commitments from foreign buyers, and rising costs are all dragging on the already beleaguered program, begging the question: “At what point will the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter be out of the woods?”

The U.S. House of Representatives’ FY2018 NDAA includes a proposal for an independent space corps to be stood up as an independent service branch of the military, similar to how the Air Force was established in 1947. Few outside the lower chamber are advocating for this proposal, however, and the Pentagon is actively trying to kill it. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Wednesday joined calls from Heather Wilson, the Air Force Secretary, and Air Force brass to abandon the effort to create a space corps, arguing that it would limit the military’s options in space. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) submitted an amendment to the NDAA that would delay the creation of an independent space corps, ordering a report on the strategic necessity of such a force. Turner’s bid for due diligence failed, and the original amendment establishing the space corps survived House debate this week but faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Senator John McCain’s silence on the issue has only added to the uncertainty surrounding the proposed branch’s future.

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