Experts see promise, risk in draft of Pentagon acquisition reforms. A six-page draft memo to military leaders is circulating ahead of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s planned Friday speech about acquisition reform, and experts, industry figures, and current and former procurement officials have thoughts.
Some see promise, like Arnold Punaro: “If fully implemented, these reforms will finally break the long-standing paradigm that has defined and constrained defense acquisition for decades…”
Others have concerns, like Todd Harrison, who says that the “time-indexed incentives” espoused in the memo are “a big shift towards holding contractors responsible for keeping to schedule, but it comes with some big risks. It may incentivize companies to deliver poor-quality products before they are ready for prime time just to stay on schedule and not be penalized for being late.” Defense One’s Thomas Novelly, Lauren C. Williams, and Patrick Tucker have many more reactions, here.
Who’s coming to hear Hegseth’s speech? A draft list of 34 attendees includes defense giants and younger startups, plus notable consumer tech companies like Facebook parent company Meta and consumer AI company Anthropic. Find that, from Tucker, here.
Boat-strike briefing fails to allay Hill concerns. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed a group of lawmakers—a bipartisan one this time—in a bid to persuade them that the deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean are lawful. Emerging from the meeting, Democrats said the administration officials did not provide clear answers about the legal basis, scope or objective of the mission. The New York Times reports, here.
This afternoon, the Senate is to vote on a motion for a resolution that would direct the removal of U.S. armed forces from hostilities “within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.” Washington Examiner: “The measure backed by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) comes as the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford is steaming toward Venezuela, amid increasing indications President Trump is considering airstrikes against drug cartel targets.”
Paul: “These are small outboards with no fentanyl and no path to Florida. To kill indiscriminately is akin to summary execution!…Everyone should get a trial because sometimes the system gets it wrong. Even the worst of the worst in our country get due process.”
Also: Rep. Brian Mast, R-Mich., says the White House is drafting “concepts of operations” for military action against Venezuela, the former Army explosives disposal tech told Fox on Wednesday.
Legal input: “There is no obvious legal argument to support President Trump’s expanding campaign of strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. And the implications are even scarier,” national security law professor Steve Vladeck of Georgetown University wrote Thursday on Substack.
These U.S. military attacks “are, near as I can tell, blatantly unlawful as a matter of U.S. domestic law—and a quickly spreading stain on whatever is left of the executive branch’s commitment to the rule of law,” argues Vladeck, using five guiding questions to frame his response.
One notable consideration: Trump’s Pentagon has been attacking “boats that, to all appearances, lack both the ability and the intent to even reach the United States (or U.S. targets overseas), let alone to attack them,” which would seem to fly in the face of the president’s apparent claims of self-defense in authorizing these strikes, Vladeck explains.
Perhaps most concerning: “[I]f this President doesn’t have to justify what’s happening right now in the Caribbean and the Pacific, it’s terrifying to think of what other uses of force he and his successors wouldn’t have to justify next—in contexts far closer, both literally and metaphorically, to home,” Vladeck warns. “Extrajudicial killings should be reserved for extraordinary cases in which we are as sure as we can be that the target is who we think it is; where the law authorizes the use of force against them; and where there’s no other means of incapacitating them. Whatever else is happening in these strikes, it sure ain’t any of that.” Read the rest, here.
Q. Should the U.S. military attack Nigeria, as Trump suggested over the weekend, and attempt to institute regime change? Former football coach and Senate Armed Services Committee member Tommy Tuberville, R. Ala., says yes. Speaking to Fox on Wednesday, Tuberville was asked by John Harwood, “Would you support U.S. troops going into Nigeria?” Tuberville responded, “You bet I would. It wouldn’t be like going into Russia, China, North Korea, or Iran. This would be helping innocent people who could take back over the country.”
At least one key congressional leader is unhappy with SecDef Hegseth’s new bottleneck on Pentagon communications with lawmakers. CNN reported this week that Hegseth has forbidden military officials from discussing a wide array of subjects with lawmakers without prior approval. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., and ranking member of the House Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, cited a notable precedent in his criticism of Hegseth’s clampdown on Wednesday.
“Looking back at history, the success of the U.S. nuclear submarine program is a direct result of unrestricted communication between mid-level naval officials and Congress,” Courtney said in a statement. “Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the originator of the nuclear submarine program, met directly with Senators and Members of Congress without permission from Navy brass to establish the nuclear propulsion technology for the U.S. submarine fleet. Over the objections of his superiors, he presented his iconoclastic ideas to key Congressional committees that overruled Pentagon leadership and funded his plan. Without Rickover’s direct communication to Congress, the U.S. would not wield the generational advantage we have in the undersea domain today.”
“This is just one of the many examples of where a free flow of communication with Congress benefitted our nation.” He continued, “Secretary Hegseth’s restriction of DoD experts and personnel to have these discussions with Members of Congress, committees, and staff will hamstring our historic collaboration and delay getting the men and women of our armed forces what they need.”
What Pacific forces say they need: The deputy commander of Pacific Air Forces said their recent REFORPAC exercise in the Pacific“identified the capabilities that we need to win in this theater.” Speaking at the AFCEA TechNet Indo-Pacific conference, Lt. Gen. Laura Lenderman said they were artificial intelligence, autonomy, machine learning; improved command and control capabilities; and resilient cyber networks “that can communicate securely in expeditionary environments and survive relentless attacks.” Defense One’s Jennifer Hlad has more, here.
Welcome to this Thursday edition of The D Brief, a newsletter dedicated to developments affecting the future of U.S. national security, brought to you by Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston. It’s more important than ever to stay informed, so thank you for reading. Share your tips and feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 1971, the U.S. tested its largest underground hydrogen bomb on Amchitka Island in the Aleutians.
Around the world
Developing: The U.S. military is planning to stage some troops at a Syrian airbase in Damascus, Reuters reported Thursday—which is almost a year since dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country, allowing former al-Qaeda branch leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (now referred to as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa) of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to take over.
“The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarised zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria,” the wire service reports ahead of a meeting between Trump and al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday. Already a U.S. military C-130 has landed nearby to ensure the runways are suitable.
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s very similar to other deals Trump officials have forged with Lebanon and Israel to have U.S. troops monitor tenuous ceasefire agreements involving the Israeli military in the region.
Panning out: “The U.S. has been working for months to reach a security pact between Israel and Syria, two longtime foes,” Reuters writes. “It had hoped to announce a deal at the United Nations General Assembly in September but talks hit a last-minute snag.”
By the way: Israeli jets are still attacking alleged Hezbollah positions inside southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire signed last November, the Associated Press reported Thursday from Beirut. “Lebanon’s health ministry has reported more than 270 people killed and around 850 wounded by Israeli military actions since the ceasefire took effect…107 of those killed were civilians or noncombatants,” AP reports, citing United Nations monitors. “No Israelis have been killed by fire from Lebanon since the ceasefire,” AP adds.
Related reading: “Sudan’s paramilitary group said it agrees on truce proposed by U.S.-led mediator group,” AP reported Thursday from Cairo.
Meanwhile in the Pacific region, China tested a “mini drone carrier” at sea last week, according to footage aired on state-run television, The War Zone reported Wednesday.
The “size and configuration of the flight deck, especially a trapezoidal section on the starboard side toward the stern, as well as its markings, match up directly with the design of a ship that was launched at the Jiangsu Dayang Marine shipyard back in 2022…which is approximately 328 feet (100 meters) long and some 82 feet (25 meters) across, and has a small island on the starboard side toward the bow,” TWZ writes. More, here.
Elsewhere in the region, Japanese soldiers have been deployed to help reduce bear attacks in the northern region of Akita. “Since April, more than 100 people have been injured and at least 12 killed in bear attacks across Japan,” AP reports from Tokyo.
What will the soldiers do? The Defense Ministry plans for them to “set box traps with food, transport local hunters and help dispose of dead bears,” but they will not use their weapons to kill the bears, AP reports. Read more, here.
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