Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review, July 21 2017

Briefs
U.S. finalizing plans to revamp cyber command
U.S. officials say that after months of delay, the Trump administration is finalizing plans to revamp the nation’s military command for de- fensive and offensive cyber operations.
They say the intention is eventually to split it from the intelligence-focused National Security Agency in hopes of intensifying America’s abil- ity to wage cyber war against the Islamic State group and other foes.
Details are still being worked out, but offi- cials say they expect a decision in the coming weeks. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter so requested anonymity.
They say the goal is to give U.S. Cyber Com- mand more autonomy, freeing it from any con- straints that stem from working alongside the NSA. The NSA is responsible for collecting intelligence — a responsibility that can clash with military objectives. AP
5,000 NATO, partner troops stage exer- cises in Romania
Some 5,000 troops from NATO and part- ner countries are staging exercises in Romania watched by a senior NATO official and Roma- nia’s president.
President Klaus Iohannis and NATO Military Committee head Gen. Petr Pavel, who is on a two-day visit to Romania, were welcomed with military honors ahead of the July 15 exercises at the Cincu shooting range in northwest Romania.
Troops from Romania, the U.S., Ukraine, Ar- menia and Croatia opened gunfire, backed by U.S. and Romanian military aircraft.
The exercises, led by U.S. Army Europe, began this week in Eastern Europe involving 25,000 military personnel from more than 20 allied and partner countries. The U.S. is seeking to reassure NATO’s European allies concerned about Russia since it annexed Crimea in 2014. AP
Remains of Vietnam MIA set for Mon- tana arrival
More than 48 years after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War, a Montana man is coming home.
The Montana Standard reports Air Force Capt. Robert Edwin Holton of Butte, whose re- mains were excavated from the crash site earlier this year and recently verified, are in a sealed casket in Honolulu and will soon be on their way to Butte.
Bill Holton, Robert’s brother, confirmed Rob- ert’s casket would be flown from Honolulu and arrive in Bozeman, Mont., July 21. It will be driven from there to Butte later that day.
Robert Holton, a fighter pilot, was Butte’s lone service member missing in action from Vietnam. People have worn MIA bracelets in his honor, some dating back to 1969 — the year his plane went down. AP
Chinese warships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean
In a demonstration of the Chinese navy’s expanding global reach, the country’s latest- generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said July 12.
The destroyer Hefei, frigate Yuncheng and support ship Luomahu took part in the July 10 drills involving the ship’s deck guns and small arms, the ministry said in a notice on its website.
“Maintaining a strict schedule of targeted ex- ercises accomplishes transit, training and im- provement en route, raising the flotilla’s training levels and capabilities,” it quotes flotilla com- mander Liu Hui as saying.
The ships will next take part in the “Joint Sea
2017” exercises in waters off the Russian cit- ies of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, part of growing cooperation between the countries’ militaries.
China’s navy is the world’s second-largest behind the U.S. and is increasingly operating in the Mediterranean, aided by the construction of a naval logistics base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti.
Two naval ships departed July 11 from the southern Chinese port of Zhanjiang with person- nel to man the facility, China’s first overseas military base.
While China says the base is needed to sup- port peacekeeping, anti-piracy and other mis- sions in the region, Beijing’s rivalry with the U.S. is considered a key driving force behind the country’s military expansion.
“The U.S. Navy is also more combat ready because it has been actively participating in joint drills and regional wars for decades,” the offi- cial China Daily newspaper said in an editorial July 12.
“This means China has to work harder to be- come a major naval power that can better defend its territorial rights and sovereignty,” it said.
On July 11, China’s sole operating aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, departed Hong Kong after a visit aimed at inspiring patriotism among citi- zens of the former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule 20 years ago. Taiwan’s defense ministry said it was monitoring the progress of the carrier and its escorts as they traveled north- ward along the western portion of the Taiwan Strait. AP
NATO military drills in Eastern Europe begin in Bulgaria
Major NATO exercises in Eastern Europe began in Bulgaria July 11 involving 25,000 military personnel from more than 20 allied and partner countries as the U.S. seeks to reassure NATO’s European allies.
The Saber Guardian 17 exercises are being led by U.S. Army Europe and run until July 20. The training will also take place in Hungary and Romania, including at the country’s Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near the Black Sea. The opening ceremony was held at the Novo Selo military camp in southern Bulgaria.
The drills aim to increase the interoperability of participating countries and demonstrate re- solve and readiness to act in support of security and stability in the Black Sea region. There will be a total of 18 specialized exercises.
A U.S. European Command statement said the drills are designed as a deterrent. The U.S. has beefed up its presence in Eastern Europe since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Penin- sula to reassure NATO’s East European mem- bers, which were formerly in Moscow’s sphere of influence.
The exercises will feature an air defense artil- lery live fire exercise, field training and live fire exercises, multiple river crossings and a mass casualty exercise.
The statement said that smaller U.S. and European-national exercises will be held in the Black Sea region this summer to support Saber Guardian’s objectives of “supporting security and stability in the Black Sea region.”
The Saber Guardian exercises have been held annually since 2013 in the Black Sea region. AP
China sends personnel to its first over- seas military base
China on July 11 dispatched members of its People’s Liberation Army to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti to man the rising Asian gi- ant’s first overseas military base, a key part of a wide-ranging expansion of the role of China’s armed forces.
The defense ministry said on its website that a
ceremony was held at a naval pier in the south- ern Chinese port of Zhanjiang presided over by navy commander Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong.
It said the personnel would travel by navy ship but gave no details on numbers or units. Photos on the website showed naval officers and marines in battle dress lining the rails of the sup- port ships Jingangshan and Donghaidao.
China says the logistics center will support anti-piracy, U.N. peacekeeping and humanitar- ian relief missions in Africa and western Asia. It says it will also facilitate military cooperation and joint exercises as the PLA navy and other services seek to expand their global reach in step with China’s growing economic and political footprint.
Djibouti is already home to the center of American operations in Africa, Camp Lemon- nier, while France, Britain, Japan and other na- tions also maintain a military presence in the small but strategically located nation.
Multinational anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden that China joined in 2008 have also giv- en its navy ready access to the Mediterranean, and, in 2011, it took the unprecedented step of sending one of its most sophisticated warships together with military transport aircraft to help in the evacuation of about 35,000 Chinese citi- zens from Libya.
In 2015, China detached three navy ships from the anti-piracy patrols to rescue Chinese citizens and other foreign nationals from fight- ing in Yemen. The same year, it took part in its first Mediterranean joint naval exercises with Russia. AP
North Korea calls U.S. practice bomb- ing run a provocation
North Korea has criticized a practice bombing run on the Korean peninsula by two U.S. B-1B bombers as a dangerous move raising the risk of nuclear war.
A July 9 commentary in the ruling party’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper accused the U.S. of “reckless military provocations” that are escalat- ing tensions.
The U.S. Air Force bombers released inert weapons July 7 on a training range in South Ko- rea. South Korean and U.S. fighter jets joined the drill. The bombers also flew with Japanese fighter jets on their way back to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
The 10-hour mission came three days after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. U.S. military officials described the ex- ercise as a defensive show of force and unity that demonstrated “the ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies.” AP
Pakistan test-fires short-range ballistic missile
Pakistan says it has successfully tested a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The military said July 5 the NASR is a high- precision weapons system with the ability for quick deployment and a range of 70 kilometers, or 43.5 miles. It added that this system will augment credible deterrence against prevailing threats more effectively.
Army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, who was at the launch, said that Pakistan will go to any lengths to ensure regional peace and sta- bility and underlined the missiles are meant to stress that war is not an option.
He also said that Pakistan’s strategic capabil- ity is a guarantee of peace against a highly mili- tarized and belligerent neighbor — an obvious reference to archenemy India. AP
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