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Defense Policy / Programs
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News Reports

Current Operations

• Afghan president, rival 'reach tentative deal' to end hostilities Press TV 01 May 2020 -- Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, have reached a preliminary deal to end the bitter hostilities between them, Abdullah says.
• US Troop Reduction Plan on Track in Afghanistan VOA 01 May 2020 -- The U.S. military said Friday its withdrawal from Afghanistan is continuing and that it expects troop levels to drop to 8,600 by mid-July under terms of a peace-building deal with the Taliban.
• US-Led Mission in Afghanistan Accused of Withholding Key Security Data VOA 01 May 2020 -- Assessing the security situation in Afghanistan is getting increasingly difficult now that Western military officials have started withholding some data on militant attacks across the country, according to a key U.S. government watchdog.
• Afghan President, Chief Rival Reach 'Tentative Agreement' To End Months-Long Feud RFE/RL 01 May 2020 -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, appeared close to ending a months-long political crisis that has undermined peace talks with the Taliban and the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• USNS Comfort Returns to Norfolk Prepared for Future Tasking NNS 01 May 2020 -- The hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) will return to Naval Station Norfolk May 2 after supporting the Department of Defense response efforts to New York and New Jersey during the coronavirus outbreak.

Defense Policy / Programs

• Army fires third next-gen strike missile test Army News 01 May 2020 -- The Army successfully held its third precision strike missile test Thursday morning, hitting its close-range target of 85 kilometres, enabling the Army to keep its 2023 fielding deadline on track.
• 'Flawless Performance': US Army Wraps Final Test of Lockheed's Next-Gen Long-Range Missile Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- Lockheed Martin's Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) has completed its third and final flight demonstration, as the US Army looks to replace its Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) with a weapon possessing a range previously prohibited under the expired Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
• Defense Logistics Agency Pivots to Support COVID-19 Response DoD News 01 May 2020 -- The agency that traditionally contributes to America's military readiness with items such as fuel and food has so far ordered more than $920 million in lifesaving supplies and equipment to support the nation's COVID-19 response.
• DOD Spokesman Briefs on COVID-19 Ops, Bahrain Command, 5G Problems DoD News 01 May 2020 -- Two Navy hospital ships deployed to New York and Los Angeles to aid in fighting the pandemic are winding down operations, Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, said today.
• Army Finalizing Plan to Resume Collective Training DoD News 01 May 2020 -- The Army aims to soon resume collective training and hold a ceremony for graduating West Point cadets after the success of measures safeguarding new recruits at training centers.
• DOD Supports African Partner Nations in Multiple Ways DoD News 01 May 2020 -- "In my visits to Africa, I've had the opportunity to meet several of our partners in places such as Ghana and Benin," said the deputy assistant secretary of defense for African Affairs.
• 31st MEU hones Naval Integration Operations during mission rehearsals from Guam to Okinawa USMC News 01 May 2020 -- The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard ships of the America Expeditionary Strike Group completed a series of sequential operations rehearsing naval expeditionary and Marine Air-Ground Task Force maneuver from Guam to Okinawa, Japan, March 21-28.
• Air Force update for COVID-19 US Air Force 01 May 2020
• Pentagon Awards Lockheed Martin $6 Billion Patriot Missile Interceptor Contract Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- Lockheed Martin has won more than $6 billion to produce interceptors and other equipment for the Patriot anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence system, the US Department of Defence said in a press release.
• USTRANSCOM Awards Global Household Goods Contract DoD 01 May 2020 -- U.S. Transportation Command, on behalf of the Department of Defense, awarded American Roll On Roll Off Carrier Group, Inc., (ARC), Parsippany, New Jersey, a Fixed-Price with Economic Price Adjustments, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract in the amount of $7,211,331,984 in the procurement of the Global Household Goods Contract on April 30, 2020.
• Owner of U.S. Navy Husbanding Services Provider Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bribery US Dept. of Justice 01 May 2020 -- The owner and Chief Executive Officer of a Republic of Korea–based company, DK Marine, that provided ship husbanding services to the U.S. Navy pleaded guilty today for his role in a bribery conspiracy.
• Warships From US 6th Fleet, UK Practice Anti-Submarine Warfare in Arctic, Navy Says Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- The US and UK navies joined forces for an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the Arctic featuring a single submarine, P8-A surveillance aircraft, warships from both nations and 1,200 sailors, the US Navy reported in a press release on Friday.
• U.S., and British Ships Conduct Anti-submarine Exercise Above Arctic Circle NNS 01 May 2020 -- U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) conducted a bilateral naval anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise with the U.K., above the Arctic Circle, May 1, 2020.
• Naval Oceanography Improves the Fleet's Asymmetric Advantage NNS 01 May 2020 -- Today, the U.S. Navy operates over 290 ships and submarines in a growing Fleet with approximately one-third underway at any given time. These national assets require accurate environmental observations and predictions to conduct safe operations and tactically exploit the environment. The U.S. Navy's primary capability to accurately predict the complex maritime environment in which these highly technical warfighting units work is getting a critical upgrade.
• Liaoning aircraft carrier task group wraps up South China Sea exercises Global Times 01 May 2020 -- The Liaoning aircraft carrier task group of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Thursday wrapped up its deep sea cross-regional mobilization exercises featuring comprehensive back-to-back attack-defense mock battles in the South China Sea, which enhanced the carrier group's systematic combat capabilities, media reported on Friday.
• Chinese aircraft carrier formation returns after routine training PLA Daily 01 May 2020 -- China's Liaoning aircraft carrier formation Thursday returned to a military port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, after nearly one month of trans-theater training in the far seas.
• S Korea hints at denial of Trump's claim of deal to pay more for US troops Press TV 01 May 2020 -- South Korea has suggested its denial of a reported claim by US President Donald Trump that Seoul has agreed to pay "a lot more money" to maintain nearly 30,000 American troops on its soil, insisting that talks on the issue are still underway.
• RAF Typhoons begin NATO Air Policing mission in Lithuania UK MOD 01 May 2020 -- Royal Air Force Typhoon jets will be in Lithuania for the summer, patrolling and protecting NATO airspace.
• Turkey Delays S-400 Deployment Due to Coronavirus Pandemic Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- The country was planning to make the newly acquired air defence systems operational in April despite numerous protests from the US, which had been pressuring Ankara to ditch the systems for good.
• Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure The White House 01 May 2020
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany The White House 01 May 2020

Defense Industry

• Contracts For May 1, 2020
• AUSTAL Australia Awarded A$324 Million Contract To Build Six Cape Class Patrol Boats AUSTAL 01 May 2020 -- Austal Limited is pleased to announce that Austal Australia has been awarded a A$324 million contract to design and construct six evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats (CCPBs) for the Royal Australian Navy. It is the largest contract for an Australian vessel construction program ever awarded to Austal in the Company's 30 year history

Other Conflicts

• Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General United Nations 01 May 2020
• China Updates Disputed Sea Maps to Get Back at Vietnam VOA 01 May 2020 -- China has renamed scores of islets and underwater landforms in the South China Sea, a move some analysts say is intended to push back against Vietnamese naval incursions in the disputed waterway.
• PLA slams naval drills in South China Sea People's Daily 01 May 2020 -- The Chinese military opposes foreign powers bolstering their naval presence in the South China Sea, actions that are detrimental to regional peace and stability, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday.
• China Announces Summer Fishing Ban in the South China Sea Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- China is vowing strict enforcement of its annual summer fishing ban in parts of the contested South China Sea. The ban began Friday and is likely to be opposed by other claimant nations.
• US, China Step Up Activities in South China Sea Amid COVID-19 Pandemic VOA 01 May 2020 -- An old geopolitical hotspot is poised to boil again amid the coronavirus pandemic, with U.S. and Chinese warships stepping up their presence in the South China Sea.
• Militants Shell Town in Syria's Idlib, Russian Military Says Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- Militants of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham* terrorist organization have shelled the Kafr Nabl town in the Syrian province of Idlib, Oleg Zhuravlev, the head of the Russian Defence Ministry's centre for the Syrian reconciliation, said during a briefing on Friday.
• China's New 'Ethnic Unity Law' is Seen as Effort to Sinicize Tibetan Culture Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- A Chinese law mandating "ethnic unity" in state and social institutions in Tibet took effect on Friday, raising concerns among Tibetans and outside observers who say the new law will further undermine Tibetan identity, already weakened by decades of ethnic Han Chinese migration into the region.
• China Inflicts Ever Tighter Information Controls Over Tibet, Long Off-Limits to Foreign Press Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- Chinese authorities in Tibet have further tightened controls over information flows in the region, arresting Tibetans last year for sharing news and opinions on social media and for contacting relatives living in exile, according to rights groups and other experts.
• Myanmar Stops Building of Emergency Camps For War Displaced in Rakhine State Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- Officials in Myanmar's strife-ridden Rakhine state have ordered local humanitarian relief groups to stop building makeshift camps for people displaced by armed conflict in Rathedaung town as the annual monsoon season approaches, a local lawmaker said Friday.
• European ambassadors warn Israel against annexing West Bank Press TV 01 May 2020 -- The ambassadors of 11 European countries have warned the Israeli regime that its planned annexation of the occupied West Bank is a "clear violation of international law" that would have "grave consequences" for the regime.
• Egyptian Military Kills 2 'Dangerous Extremists' in Sinai Peninsula Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- Egyptian Armed Forces conducted a special operation in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula and killed two militants, Egyptian Armed Forces spokesman Tamer al-Rifai said on Friday.

News Reports

• Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate The White House 01 May 2020
• Trump Claims Former National-Security Adviser Flynn 'Exonerated' RFE/RL 01 May 2020 -- U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a fresh wave of criticism against U.S. law enforcement agents as lawyers for his former national-security adviser, Michael Flynn, disclosed internal FBI documents in their attempt to have Flynn's criminal conviction overturned.
• U.S. intelligence analysts concerned over Trump officials' pressure to link coronavirus with Chinese lab: media People's Daily 01 May 2020 -- Some U.S. intelligence analysts have expressed concern that senior Trump administration officials' pressure to link the coronavirus with a Chinese lab will distort assessments about the virus and they could be used as a political weapon, The New York Times said in a report on Thursday.
• Trump says virus may have originated in China lab, threatens tariffs Press TV 01 May 2020 -- US President Donald Trump has threatened China with new tariffs amid the coronavirus outbreak he blames Beijing for.
• Trump Says Intelligence Points to COVID-19's Origins in Chinese Lab VOA 01 May 2020 -- U.S. President Donald Trump says he has a "high degree of confidence" the coronavirus pandemic originated in a Chinese laboratory, going beyond a rare, public assessment issued hours earlier by his top intelligence agency.
• The Week In Russia: Image And Influence Abroad, Coronavirus In The Cabinet RFE/RL 01 May 2020 -- The official number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia rose above 100,000, with deaths exceeding 1,000, and the prime minister tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin's Syria "headache" persisted and a bitter dispute with the Czech Republic took a dramatic turn.
• Russia's Energy Czar, Disliked And Feared, Catches Blame As Oil Prices Collapse, Venezuela Deals Crumble RFE/RL 01 May 2020 -- March was the cruelest month for one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's longest-serving and most hawkish confidants.
• Behind Russia's Coronavirus Fight, a Surveillance State Blooms VOA 01 May 2020 -- In the age of COVID-19, where does the line between security, privacy, and freedom lie?
• China's Provinces at Forefront of Online Censorship Enforcement VOA 01 May 2020 -- China's provincial government bodies are at the forefront of a massive online censorship campaign of unprecedented scope.
• Hong Kong Police Fire Pepper Spray in Mall Ahead of Planned Singalong Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- Police in Hong Kong fired pepper spray at a crowd in a Shatin shopping mall on Friday after they planned a public singalong as part of the city's ongoing pro-democracy movement, with police out in force after the authorities turned down an application to hold a Labor Day march in the city.
• Xinjiang Authorities Construct Parking Lot Atop Historic Uyghur Cemetery Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- A cemetery considered sacred by Uyghurs that was razed by authorities last year in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has been paved over and turned into a car park, according to an expert on Uyghur history.
• China-US relations at a low ebb but decoupling not the answer Global Times 01 May 2020 -- The ever-growing nationalist tide in the US seems to have soured on China amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Chinese public's attitudes toward the US political system have continued to become less favorable. Two surveys released in one month have come to the same conclusion: There is not much "love" left between the US and China.
• Allegations made by US, UK politicians against arrest of protestors 'ground-less': HKSAR Global Times 01 May 2020 -- Allegations made by the US, the UK and European Parliament against the Hong Kong police 's arrest of illegal protest organizers and participants were groundless and seriously interfered in Hong Kong affairs, spokesperson of the HKSAR government said Friday. The spokesperson expressed strong opposition over some politicians making such irresponsible and deplorable remarks.
• COVID-19-related stigmatization a dangerous "political virus" People's Daily 01 May 2020 -- The latest statistics released by Johns Hopkins University revealed that the U.S. is the most-affected country by the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. The situation strikes a chord with the Chinese people half a world away as they can feel the misery currently being felt by the Americans.
• China Pays High Price for Russian Gas Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- China is paying a high price for natural gas from Russia's newly-opened Power of Siberia pipeline at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has driven many energy costs down to historic lows.
• Taiwan, Vatican team up to provide facial masks to Africa CNA 01 May 2020 -- In a spirit of collaboration, the Holy See will donate 100,000 surgical face masks provided by Taiwan to certain African countries to help them combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Taiwan's ambassador to the Vatican Matthew Lee (李世明) said Friday.
• U.S. seeking to help Taiwan regain WHO observer status: report CNA 01 May 2020 -- The United States is reportedly seeking the support of key allies to restore Taiwan's observer status at the World Health Organization (WHO) amid an intensified confrontation with China at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic as the U.S. 2020 presidential election approaches.
• Little movement expected in near-term cross-strait ties: report CNA 01 May 2020 -- Neither a breakthrough in relations nor an increase in tensions across the Taiwan Strait are likely at the moment as Taiwan and China focus on the COVID-19 epidemic and the economic impact of the disease, a report by an American group has argued.
• Change in Netherlands' office name in Taiwan is "playing with fire," poses risk to ties with Chinese mainland: experts Global Times 01 May 2020 -- The Netherlands took down a video clip in which it changed the trade and investment in Taiwan to the Netherlands office Taipei a day after the video was released. Chinese experts warned that the country's move is "playing with fire" and poses a risk to ties with the Chi-nese mainland.
• North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Reappears - at Fertilizer Plant VOA 01 May 2020 -- After a wave of news reports that he was gravely sick or even dead, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reappeared in public Saturday — for the first time in 21 days — at a fertilizer factory.
• Sister & 'Confidante' Yo-jong Most Likely to Succeed Kim Jong-un, US Congressional Report Says Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- Kim Jong-un's younger sister, who is currently first vice-department director of the DPRK Workers' Party is believed to be the number two in the country's leadership and the most trusted person in Kim Jong-un's inner circle, as she was seen by her brother's side at key state meetings.
• Treasury Designates IRGC-Qods Force Front Company and Owner US Treasury 01 May 2020 -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated dual Iranian and Iraqi national Amir Dianat, a longtime associate of senior officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Dianat, who is also known as Ameer Abdulazeez Jaafar Almthaje, is involved in IRGC-QF efforts to generate revenue and smuggle weapons abroad. OFAC is also designating Taif Mining Services LLC, a company owned, controlled, or directed by Dianat.
• US Indicts Two Iran Operatives For Sanctions Violations Radio Farda 01 May 2020 -- Criminal charges have been filed Friday against two Iranian nationals for circumventing U.S. Iran sanctions, money laundering and breaking export laws by purchasing an oil tanker from a U.S. seller.
• Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Iranian Nationals for Violating Money Laundering & Sanctions Laws by Procuring Petroleum Tanker US Dept. of Justice 01 May 2020 -- Related Forfeiture Complaint Filed for Approximately $12.3 Million in Funds Is Largest Ever Seizure of IRGC-QF Related Funds
• Iran arm's embargo can't be prolonged despite US efforts, Russia says IRNA 01 May 2020 -- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the UN embargo on conventional weapons sales to Iran, which expires in October 2020, can't be extended despite the US efforts.
• US Imposes Iran-Related Sanctions on Investment Company, Individual, Treasury Says Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- On 26 April, The New York Times newspaper reported, citing sources in the US administration, that Washington plans to force either an extension of the arms embargo against Iran or re-impose harsher sanctions if the UN Security Council declines to extend the arms embargo.
• US State Dept. Says Russia and China Have No Reason to Vote Against Prolonging Iran Arms Embargo Sputnik 01 May 2020 -- Russia and China have no reason to vote against the prolongation of the arms embargo on Iran, US Special Representative for Iran, and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Brian Hook said.
• Iran to cut dependence on Russia for maintenance of Bushehr nuclear plant Press TV 01 May 2020 -- Iran says it will probably cut its dependence on Russian engineers and become self-sufficient in the maintenance of its Bushehr nuclear power plant by 2022.
• Venezuela Paying Iran 'In Gold' For Alleged Help To Revive Oil Industry Radio Farda 01 May 2020 -- The U.S. Special manager for Venezuela on Thursday said in a desperate attempt to revive its oil industry, cash-strapped Venezuela is paying Iran with gold in return for Iranian assistance.
• Kosovo's President Names New Candidate For Prime Minister In Bid To Resolve Crisis RFE/RL 01 May 2020 -- Kosovo's president has formally asked a top official of the second-biggest party in parliament to form a new government in a bid to resolve a political crisis in the country.