Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has met with top military officials from more than 40 countries to discuss Ukraine’s war against Russia. We’ll break down the highlights.
In addition, a new Senate subcommittee report alleges that a contractor mistreats service members who live in his home.
This is Defense and National Security, your late-night guide to the latest happenings at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Jordan Williams. Did a friend forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.
US defense chief brings together his counterparts in Europe
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with top military officials from more than 40 countries at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
The meeting comes as Russia’s invasion enters its third month and Moscow launches an effort in the eastern part of the country.
Austin and his counterparts discussed aid for Ukraine, progress in the conflict and Ukraine’s postwar military needs.
It will be a monthly occurrence: The Pentagon chief also told reporters after the meeting that he will meet monthly to discuss Ukraine’s self-defense and “continue to build on our progress,” with face-to-face, virtual or mixed meetings.
Allies Step Up: Austin said officials leave the meeting determined to help Ukraine win the war and strengthen itself for future conflicts, noting that Germany pledged 50 Cheetah armored anti-aircraft vehicles on Tuesday and Canada announced the same day it would also send armored vehicles.
That news follows the British government’s announcement on Monday that it would deliver a small number of Stormer armored vehicles equipped with anti-aircraft missile launchers, Austin added.
“That is important progress. We are seeing more every day. And I applaud all the countries that have risen up and are rising up to meet this demand. But we have no time to waste,” she said.
The invasion threatens international security: After the consultative meeting, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told CNN that the “global international security order” established after World War II is being threatened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
“If this is left like this, if there is no response to this aggression, if Russia gets away with it at no cost, then so is the so-called international order, and if that happens, then we are entering an era. of seriously heightened instability,” Milley told the outlet.
“What is at stake is the world order of international security that was established in 1945,” he added.
Russia Receives Reprimand From US After Raising Nukes
Russia’s latest threats to escalate its attack on Ukraine into a nuclear conflict are “futile” and “irresponsible,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday.
“You’ve heard us say multiple times that that kind of rhetoric is very dangerous and useless,” Austin told reporters after a meeting with military leaders from more than 40 countries at Ramstein airbase in Germany.
“Nobody wants a nuclear war to happen. It’s a losing war for all sides, so saber rattling and… dangerous rhetoric is clearly pointless and something we won’t be addressing.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a day earlier he said the threat of nuclear war “should not be underestimated” and that “the danger is grave.”
The comments were a response to the provision of billions of dollars in aid and weapons by the United States and other NATO countries to Ukraine, which Lavrov called “adding fuel to the fire” in the conflict.
Read more here.
STING DELAYS
Raytheon Technologies, the maker of the thousands of Stinger missiles shipped to Ukraine amid its war with Russia, will not be able to quickly produce more weapons due to a lack of parts and materials, the company’s CEO said on Tuesday.
What is happening: Raytheon will not be able to ramp up production of Stingers anti-aircraft systems until at least 2023, as the company must “redesign some of the electronics in the missile and seeker head,” due to some components no longer being commercially available, CEO Greg Hayes he told investors during an earnings call on Tuesday.
That redesign “will take us a little bit of time,” Hayes said.
Additionally, Raytheon’s production line can only build a limited number of Stingers and will need a large commitment from the US government to fund a sharp increase in production, factors that mean missile assembly won’t ramp up until next year. year at the earliest, predicted.
The elephant in the room: The United States has shipped more than 1,400 Stingers, man-portable systems that can be used to shoot down planes and drones.
European nations have also drawn hundreds of Stingers from their reserves for kyiv.
But until the war, the Army had been moving to retire Stingers, instead moving toward a new man-portable anti-aircraft missile to be built by 2028.
That reduction means a slower timeline to replenish stock.
Read more here.
Panel alleges contractor mistreats military families
One of the largest private housing contractors in the military continued to mistreat service members living in its housing units, even as the contractor was under investigation, a Senate panel found.
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs says Balfour Beatty Communities continued to commit many of the same misconduct after 2019, even when it knew the Justice Department was investigating them.
The panel, chaired by Sen. jon osoff (D-Ga.), released a report detailing the allegations and held a hearing with testimony from service members and company representatives.
If Balfour sounds familiar: Balfour, which operates housing communities on 55 military bases across the country, finally pleaded guilty to defrauding the military late last year.
He was ordered to pay more than $65 million in December 2021 after pleading guilty to defrauding the Army, Air Force and Navy by filing false reports for performance bonuses between 2013 and 2019.
The report: The 51-page report comes after PSI investigated the allegations for eight months. The panel focused its investigation on Fort Gordon in Georgia and Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.
Among other things, the report found that Balfour staff frequently ignored or delayed responding to urgent requests from military families to address conditions such as mold and leaking roofs at Fort Gordon. In several cases, these delays led families to seek care for skin conditions and respiratory symptoms.
The panel also found inaccuracies and omissions in Balfour’s internal job order database, which the military services use in part to determine the company’s performance award fee.
The panel hears from service members: Two US service members, a military spouse and a military housing advocate testified before the panel Tuesday to discuss their experiences with Balfour.
Capt. Samuel Choe, currently stationed at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, flew in to share his experiences living in a Balfour-managed home at Fort Gordon from 2019 to 2021. He alleged the company ignored mold growth on his home, causing her 8-year-old daughter to live with severe eczema.
Tech Sgt. Jack Torres of the Air Force testified that Balfour repeatedly ignored the mold growing in his home and said he had been displaced twice because his concerns were not taken seriously.
Balfour defends himself: In a separate panel, company representatives Richard Taylor and Paula Cook were confronted about the testimony they heard and defended the steps Balfour has taken to improve amid the $65 million deal.
Taylor, who is president of Facilities Operations, Renovation and Construction at Balfour, told the panel that while things can go wrong, he rejects the notion that the problems detailed in the panel’s report are systemic.
“What’s important to us is that we understand where our shortcomings are and take action to correct those shortcomings,” he said.
READY FOR TOMORROW
- President Biden will attend the funeral of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at 11 a.m.
- Defense One will host an event titled “The Road to Marine Corps Modernization” at 1 p.m.
HOUSE:
- Committee on Armed Services holds a hearing on the Air Force budget at 10 a.m.
- Transportation The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Shipping will hold a budget hearing at 10 am
- The Budget Committee will hold a hearing on the DOD budget for 2023 at 10:30 am
- The Appropriations Committee will hold a closed-door hearing on the NSA and Cyber Command budget at 10:30 a.m.
- The Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Ground Forces will hold a hearing on the Department of Defense’s “Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for Fixed-Wing Training and Tactical Aircraft Programs” at 2 p.m.
- The Veterans Affairs Subcommittees on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs and Oversight and Investigations will host a hearing at 2 p.m.
- The Power and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee and related agencies will hold a hearing on the “Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Office of Reclamation.” “at 2:30 p.m.
- The Armed Services Subcommittee on Maritime Power and Projection Forces will hold a hearing on the “Department of the Navy Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for Maritime and Projection Forces” at 4:30 p.m.
SENATE:
- The Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities will hold a hearing on U.S. Special Operations Command’s “efforts to maintain the readiness of special operations forces” against future threats at 2 p.m.
- The Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “Military and Civilian Personnel Programs” for the 2023 budget at 3 p.m.
- The Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs will hold a hearing on the Department of State’s budget at 2 p.m.
- The Foreign Relations Committee will hold a closed-door hearing on “Recent Developments in China’s Nuclear Capabilities” at 2:30 p.m.
- The Veterans Affairs Committee will hold a nomination hearing at 3 p.m.
- The Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee will hold a hearing on “The Department of Energy’s Atomic Energy Defense Activities and the Department of Defense’s Nuclear Weapons Programs” on the 2023 Budget at 4:30 p.m.
WHAT WE ARE READING
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