The dry cargo ship USNS William Mclean (T-AKE 12) transits the Atlantic Ocean with the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) during an ammunition onload, April 16, 2022.
ATLANTIC OCEAN
04.16.2022
Video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Hartman
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)
By Kenneth Maxwell
This year marks 40 years since Spain joined NATO. Eastern and Central Europe in 1982 were firmly under the control of the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall stood separating East and West. The Ukraine was an integral part of the Soviet Union.
It is ironic that this June’s summit of NATO in Madrid will take place as Russia is conducting a vicious and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to re-establish past imperial territorial dominance. And NATO is now expanding to the north by potentially integrating Finland and Sweden as a direct consequence of Vladimir Putin’s actions in the Ukraine.
Spain’s decision to join NATO in 1982 was not without controversy both inside and outside the country. Since the bitter Civil War in the late 1930s Spain had been ruled by a military dictatorship. Many in Western Europe regarded Generalissimo Francisco Franco as a pariah. The U.S., however, had military base agreements with Spain since 1953.
NATO membership was linked to Spain’s desire following the death of Franco in 1975 to join the European Community. Both were seen as essential to link Spain to Western Europe’s core democratic values. Both paths to NATO membership and to accession to the European Community, however, proved slow and rocky.
Official negotiations for European Community membership began in February 1979, but Spain’s accession threatened among others French farmers who were not slow to express their opposition. It took an exhaustive eight years of negotiations before the Treaty of Accession was signed in 1985. Spain (together with its Iberian neighbor Portugal) officially gained full membership beginning January 1st, 1986.
Likewise NATO membership provoked unease in Portugal which had long been a NATO member, as well as from Great Britain which had control of Gibraltar, a position long disputed by Spain. Within a newly Democratic Spain public opinion was initially firmly against NATO membership and was especially critical of the U.S. because of its defense deals with the Franco regime. This made the development of a defense and foreign policy more in keeping with a democratic polity and Spain’s importance within Europe one of the most controversial tasks of the new Spanish democracy.
In this critical transition the role of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), and in particular of it’s leader Felipe Gonzales, was critical. As prime minister Felipe Gonzalez, despite earlier opposition to NATO, lead a vigorous campaign in 1986 In favor of membership in NATO and in a national referendum secured a victory with 56.9% of valid votes in favor. He regarded NATO and European Community membership as critical steps in assuring a democratic future for Spain.
The reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the incorporation into NATO of the post-Warsaw Pact countries was also linked to their incorporation into the European Union. There were important voices that warned against this NATO expansion, not least George Kennan, the father of the policy of containment. But Kennan was never much concerned with democracy which was at the core of the reasons the former Soviet dominated counties sought to join the EU. As Spain had demonstrated in NATO’s expansion in Southern Europe in the 1980s democracy was a central motivation for both NATO and EU expansion.
In 1989 Spain joined NATO’s integrated military structure and the Combined Operations Center (CAOC-T) at Torrejon controls NATO space in the Southern half of Europe. Both EU and NATO membership has transformed Spain over the past 40 years and has transformed and modernised its military. And on this 40th anniversary of NATO membership Spain again is led by a socialist government headed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez
The NATO summit in Madrid between 28-30 June will set NATO’s strategic direction for the next decade. It will seek to integrate Finland and Sweden. It will seek to conciliate the opposition of Turkey. It will have to retain internal cohesion as it seeks to contain and confront aggressive authoritarians like Putin.
It the face of these multiple challenges it is worth remembering that Spain’s own accession to NATO was neither speedy nor was it achieved without opposition and conflict. And It took time. For all these reasons Madrid is a remarkably appropriate location for this NATO meeting in June. It comes at a critical moment in confronting the challenges of a very dangerous and very unpredictable new world of disorder.
Kenneth Maxwell (editor), Spanish Foreign and Defence Policy (Boulder, San Francisco, Oxford, Westview Press, 1991)
Kenneth Maxwell and Steven Spiegel, The New Spain: From Isolation to Influence (New York, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994)
Kenneth Maxwell “Spain’s Transition to Democracy: A Model for Eastern Europe?” in The New Europe: Revolution in East-West Relations, Ed. Niles H. Wessell, New York: The Academy of Political Science, 1991, 35-49.
On May 30, 2022, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke at the ceremony marking the 40th Anniversary of Spain’s accession to NATO.
Here is his speech:
Your Majesty, Prime Minister, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is really an honour and pleasure to be here today with you to celebrate 40 years of Spain within the NATO Alliance. And I would like to thank His Majesty King Felipe for his strong personal commitment to our transatlantic Alliance, to our armed forces and to our security. In the late 1970s, after dark, decades of dictatorship, Spain sought a new path. One committed to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.
Values that lie at the heart of the NATO Alliance. And in 1982, Spain became our 16th member proudly joining a family of free democratic nations across Europe and North America. Let me thank my predecessors who join us today. Willy Claes, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Lord Robertson, Javier Solana, and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who could not be with us today. You steered our Alliance through four decades of incredible change from the height of the Cold War, to the fall of the Berlin Wall, from the Balkans Wars to 9/11. And from Afghanistan, to the illegal annexation of Crimea. Throughout these four decades, Spain has stood united with its NATO Allies in maintaining security across the Euro-Atlantic area. Protecting our people and our shared values and helping to change and adapt our Alliance every time the world changed and new challenges arose.
With both Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, Spain holds a vital strategic position, resting at the crossroads between Europe, Africa, and North America. It is both a border between continents and a bridge between cultures. As such, it plays a central role in protecting us from threats from all points of the compass. Your membership in NATO has made our military more modern, more capable, and more deployable. Over the past four decades, Spain has contributed greatly to our Alliance. You play a key role in NATO’s missions and operations. Spanish forces have helped maintain the stability of the Western Balkans to NATO missions in Bosnia Herzegovina and in Kosovo, they contributed over many years to our mission in Afghanistan, and I thank and honour all those who served so bravely there, those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and their families, and loved ones. Today Spanish soldiers are a crucial part of NATO’s training mission in Iraq to help ensure Daesh never returns. Spanish pilots take part in Baltic air policing. Spanish sailors serve in our maritime missions, and Spain hosts the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence ships in Rota. This shows that together we are ready to defend every inch of allied territory from any threat from any direction. Whenever I met with Spanish servicewomen and men, I’m always impressed by the dedication and professionalism.
I met some of them recently with Prime Minister Sánchez when he visited NATO’s battlegroup in Latvia, serving alongside Allied forces from both sides of the Atlantic. NATO solidarity in action. And therefore, I would also like to thank Prime Minister Sánchez for his personal leadership within our Alliance. Pedro, your commitment to transatlantic security is and remains vital. And also many thanks to your predecessors for the support of NATO over many, many years. In response to Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine, Spain is playing an important part in strengthening our deterrence and defence. Deploying additional troops, ships and jets to strengthen NATO’s defence of Europe.
You are also providing critical support for Ukraine with security assistance and humanitarian aid to uphold Ukraine’s right to self-defence enshrined in the UN Charter, help end the war and achieve the peaceful solution that Ukraine deserves and we all want. Back in 1997, Madrid hosted an historic summit. Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic, were invited to open talks to join our Alliance. Former adversaries became new friends. That summit marked a new age of hope and aspiration. NATO’s open door and the European Union’s enlargement helped spread freedom, democracy, and prosperity across Europe. It was and remains an historic success. Next month, Madrid will host another historic summit. This time however, the context is very different. Not a fresh burst of freedom. But the cold blast of conflict. Russia is waging war of aggression against Ukraine. Authoritarian regimes seek to undermine the rules based international order. China’s coercive policies challenge our interests, security, and values. And China has joined Russia in openly contesting the right of each and every country to choose his own path.
We also face brutal terrorism, instability from the south, sophisticated cyberattacks, disruptive new technologies, nuclear proliferation, and the security consequences of climate change. Together these challenge our security and our democratic way of life. At the Madrid Summit, we will chart the way ahead for the next decade. We will reset our deterrence and defence for a more dangerous world will deepen our cooperation with likeminded countries and organisations, including the European Union and countries in the Indo-Pacific. We will also be joined by Finland and Sweden, who have just made historic applications to join our Alliance. The Madrid Summit is an important opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to NATO’s values and the vital importance of Europe and North America working together in NATO. As we look to the future, Spain will continue to play a key role in our Alliance, because in this age of increasing global competition, our unity is our strength. Thank you so much.
U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom crew chiefs assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1), participate in a live fire exercise during Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course 2-22 near Yuma, Arizona, April 1, 2022.
WTI is a seven-week training event hosted by MAWTS-1, providing standardized advanced tactical training and certification of unit instructor qualifications to support Marine aviation training and readiness, and assist in developing and employing aviation weapons and tactics.
04.01.2022
Video by Lance Cpl. Emily Weiss
Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1
By Michael W. Wright and David Jimenez
If you could go back in time, would you have chosen fossil fuels as the energy source for the 20th century?
Wouldn’t you have liked to look at the actual lifetime costs to the planet and, by proxy, to the economy?
In some industries, the models to examine the costs of technology choices have changed the course of industry decision making.
We are at a similar cusp, our choices for sustainable energy sources are at hand.
Today, humankind must make decisions about adopting technologies whose impact on people and planet are unforeseeable without careful consideration. Due to the complexity and high adoption rates (exponential) of modern technologies, decision making has become fraught with serious challenges. In fact, due to the complex interactions and systems integration of multiple technologies, the ramifications of our technology decisions are no longer obvious.
We engage in accelerating technologies from innovation to ubiquitous adoption with little examination of the consequences.
And once embedded in our infrastructures, transitions and transformations are not possible without large human costs.
Examples are the impacts of unintended human, economic, and environmental consequences our science and technology choices create. From our sources of energy generation affecting climate change, to low-cost mundane products creating oceans of plastic, our technology choices demand rigorous examination, using proven techniques from leading edge industries and institutions.
When examining the cost of energy production, we must look at total lifetime costs.
Lifetime issues to consider:
While most of the above is known for fossil fuels, traditional renewables (e.g., photovoltaics, wind turbines, solar thermal, nuclear, hydrogen) also have issues.
The terms “green or clean energy” applied to these typical renewables is not an accurate picture of their full lifecycle costs. We need to rigorously examine the total direct and indirect costs to produce a kw of energy, from raw materials to conversion to lifetime cost. If we don’t, we will create the next generation of inextricable costs and existential consequences.
We propose that a study by industry and policy makers is needed to look at what different approaches to energy generation really cost our societies long-term across all non-fossil fuel energy technologies.
To say an EV is a zero-emission vehicle is not at all valid. Batteries do not make electricity, they store electricity produced elsewhere, primarily from coal, uranium, natural gas-powered plants, or diesel-fueled generators. Forty percent of the electricity generated in the U.S. is from coal-fired plants, it follows that forty percent of the EVs on the road are coal-powered.
If you’re excited about electric cars and a green revolution, we suggest you encourage leadership to take a much closer look at the total cost of batteries, windmills, photovoltaics, etc. As an example, a typical EV battery weighs 1,000 pounds. It contains 25 pounds of lithium, 60 pounds of nickel, 44 pounds of manganese, 30 pounds cobalt, 200 pounds of copper, and 400 pounds of aluminum, steel, and plastic.
To manufacture each EV auto battery, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium, 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt, 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, and 25,000 pounds of ore for copper. We dig up 500,000 pounds of the earth’s crust for one battery, and that translates into untold costs in time and money to barely restore the ground.
The problem with solar arrays is the chemicals needed to process silicate into the silicon panels. To make silicon pure enough for solar applications requires processing it with hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, trichloroethane, and acetone. In addition, they also need gallium, arsenide, copper-indium-gallium-di-selenide, and cadmium-telluride, which are ALL highly toxic. Silicon dust is a hazard to the workers and the panels are difficult to recycle in an energy efficient manner, plus landfill is not a free disposal cost.
Windmills are the ultimate in embedded costs and environmental destruction. The average unit weighs 1,688 tons (the equivalent of 23 houses) and contains 1,300 tons of concrete, 295 tons of steel, 48 tons of iron, 24 tons of fiberglass, and the hard to extract rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium. Each blade weighs 81,000 pounds and will last 15 to 20 years, at which time it must be replaced. We cannot recycle used windmill blades.
Next generation nuclear power promises to deliver smaller, more efficient, and safer clean power. The promise of less hazardous waste, smaller footprint, and a wide range of generating capabilities from 1 MWe to 5 MWe to 300 MWe, depending on application, still incurs the costs of security and waste disposal, though there are companies now examining using spent nuclear material to create batteries. The micro-nuclear technologies being developed do, however, provide on demand power many years longer than solar or wind. This clean energy approach, which reduces materials impacts, is increasing in relevance.
There may be a place for all technologies, but leadership must look beyond the myth of zero emissions at point of generation to total emissions and unaccounted costs in the supply, support, and maintenance chains.
“Going Green” may sound like the Utopian ideal; however, when you look at the hidden costs realistically with a view toward the horizon, which grows closer at an exponential rate, you can see that adoption at scale without considering total costs will add to our shared planet’s existential challenges.
We’re not opposed to mining, electric vehicles, nuclear, wind, solar or other technologies, but empirically knowing how our choices ramify across the environment, economies, geopolitics, and the individual pocketbook would be a prudent step to take before implementing nearly irreversible energy sourcing policies and funding decisions.
The purpose of a non-partisan funded analysis would be to provide leadership with multiple industry tested tools for taking a closer and longer-term view looking around the corner before spending.
Humanity deserves the closer look.
Michael W. Wright is a former high technology Chairman/CEO/COO at scale and a founder of WWK.com. He is currently a Board/C-suite advisor at Intercepting Horizons, LLC, and a professional board member.
David Jimenez is president and CEO of Wright Williams & Kelly, Inc., the largest privately-held operational cost management software and consulting services company.
F-35As assigned to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, conduct flight operations at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, Feb. 23, 2022.
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, GERMANY
02.23.2022
Video by Travis Minyon
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors assigned to the 3rd Wing take off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson during Polar Force 22-4 in Anchorage, Alaska, April 7, 2022. The F-22 increases lethality against all advanced air threats by minimizing enemy capabilities to track and engage with the jet due to its stealth, integrated avionics, and supercruise characteristics.
The F-22’s characteristics provide synergistic effects, increasing lethality against all advanced air threats.
04.07.2022
Video by Senior Airman Jack Layman
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Public Affairs
U.S. Marines Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 (VMGR-152), 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, conduct tactical navigation operations near Subic Bay, Philippines, April 6th, 2022.Balikatan is an annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen bilateral interoperability, capabilities, trust, and cooperation built over decades of shared experiences.
Balikatan, Tagalog for ‘shoulder-to-shoulder,’ is a longstanding bilateral exercise between the Philippines and the United States highlighting the deep-rooted partnership between both countries.
Balikatan 22 is the 37th iteration of the exercise and coincides with the 75th anniversary of the U.S.-Philippine security cooperation.
NEAR SUBIC BAY, PHILIPPINES
04.06.2022
Video by Sgt. Devin Andrews Exercise Balikatan
By Pierre Tran
Paris – Ukraine will be among the exhibitors at the Eurosatory trade show for land weapons, with the east European nation showing its capability to build and export armaments, Charles Beaudouin, chief executive of the show organizer Coges Events, said May 25.
The Ukrainian stand will present a “remarkable” capability to produce and sell a range of weapons in foreign markets, he told a press conference on the exhibition, which will run June 12-17. The collapse of the USSR left a large Ukrainian arms industry under Kyiv’s control.
Progress, a state-owned arms trading company, will appear on the Ukraine national stand, along with its parent company Ukrspecexport, the ministry of defense, and Practika, a vehicle manufacturer, Coges information shows.
Progress is a “specialized foreign trade” company formed in 1990, and handles foreign arms sales, including heavy tanks, armored personnel carriers, Antonov transport aircraft, patrol boats and special forces vessels, radar, and communications, the corporate website said. The company is active in Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
Practika, set up in 1993, builds light armored and tactical vehicles, including mine clearing and mine resistant vehicles. The product line ranges from trucks and anti-mine diggers to armor protection, remote gun turrets, and bullet proof glass.
Ukraine has also been developing its own drones, Beaudouin said.
Ukraine’s past as being part of the former Soviet Union can be seen in the manufacture in Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine, of the T-74 heavy tank, he said.
Ukrainian forces secured Kharkiv, the second-largest city, around mid-May and their counter-attack pushed Russian troops back to the border with Russia.
Kharkiv has a special place in tank history, as the T-74 traces its origins back to design and building in that city of the T-34, critical in defeating invading Nazi forces in the battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle, in 1943.
Meanwhile, there is fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine, with Russian forces using intense artillery fire to seize direct control of the Donbas region. Sievierodonetsk is a key target for Moscow, with the advance in the Russian assault seen in mortar rounds fired from the outskirts of the industrial city, after the previous use of longer range artillery.
The neighbouring city of Lysychansk, across the river Siverskyi Donets, is also under fierce attack, with Russian forces close to encircling the two besieged cities, seeking to hold out.
Russian artillery is hammering some 40 towns in the Donbas region, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Wednesday Russian troops outnumbered Ukrainian forces, and called on allies to send more weapons.
Beaudouin made it clear the Ukraine stand was welcome at the show, while the show organizer turned away three Russian companies. Russian nationals as private citizens were allowed into the show.
There was “probably” a link between a rise in exhibitors at the show and the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said, although it was hard to say there was a “straight line” effect. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the three Baltic states have shown great interest in the show.
There will be only four Chinese companies at the show this year, he said, reflecting the drop in Asian exhibitors due to the Covid crisis. Western governments imposed sanctions against arms sales to China in the wake of the killing of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen square, Beijing, in1989.
The show was taking place at a time of conflict between nations in Europe, a new world order, and questions over world trade, Beaudouin said. Among the themes at the exhibition were climate change, cyber security threat, and a digital “explosion,” with anti-electronic jamming, and how to jam enemy systems. Other themes include connectivity of systems, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The last day of the show seeks to boost staff recruitment, with students welcome to meet companies.
The exhibition includes medical assistance, with the great need in high intensity combat seen with the 60-100 Ukrainian troops killed a day and high casualties, he said.
Ukrainian defense minister Oleksii Reznikov thanked May 25 his French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu, for receiving Ukrainian war wounded in French military hospitals, and pointed up the Ukrainian forces’ significant needs in the face of Russian offensives, with the prospect of the conflict dragging on.
There is a capability gap with an “almost total absence” of anti-drone measures, Beaudouin said.
In anti-drone systems, the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office awarded an order worth €33 million ($35 million) to a consortium led by CS group and Thales for the Parade countermeasures program, the companies said respectively May 2 and April 29.
The total Parade budget is €350 million over 11 years, for delivery of a modular, multi-mission system to protect sensitive sites against micro- and mini-drones. There is an initial order for six countermeasure systems, with first delivery within a year of program launch. The partners included CerbAir, Exavision, MC2 Technologies, and a Dutch company, Robin.
New exhibitors include Egypt, Mexico, Ivory Coast and Luxembourg.
Beaudouin is a former army general who played a key role in drawing up the Scorpion modernization program, which is delivering the Jaguar combat and reconnaissance vehicle and Griffon multirole troop carrier.
Last year “was not an easy year” for exports, said Marc Darmon, chairman of Gicat, the trade association for land weapons, and the parent company of Coges.
There were financial problems stemming from commercial banks reluctant to back arms export deals, due to compliance with guidelines on social responsibility.
There was something of “schizophrenia,” he said, pointing to what he saw as highly contradictory European Union support for its European Defense Fund and criticism of
arms companies under environmental, social and governance criteria.
Arms exports were vital to support the French defense industrial base, he said, with a target of exports accounting for half of total annual sales. The Gicat 2021 report shows exports fell to 40 percent in 2020, compared to 51 percent in 2019 and 50 percent in 2018.
There was risk if exports fell this year and 2023, Darmon said.
The perceived need for foreign arms sales pointed up the importance of Eurosatory and the French national pavilion at other trade shows around the world, he said, and there was need for French and European support for the defense industrial base.
The European Defense Fund has selected 26 large projects to support research and technology, with funding of €158 million, he said.
Gicat members employ 47,500 staff directly and indirectly, distributed around the country, with 35 pct – the highest proportion – employed in the Paris region.
The land weapons sector had shown adaptability and resilience to get through the Covid health crisis in 2020 and 2021, he said, meeting program deliveries, while talking to the services, the DGA, and other companies.
The Covid crisis forced the closing of the 2020 Eurosatory show.
Darmon is also Thales executive vice president of secure communications and information systems.