U.S. STRATEGIC COMMANDER DISCUSSES CHALLENGES

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

Stratcom Chief Outlines Deterrence Challenges

By Terri Moon Cronk

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2014 – Strategic deterrence in the 21st century is complicated, challenging and vastly different from that of the Cold War, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command said yesterday.

Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney said extremist organizations, significant regional unrest, protracted conflicts, budgetary stresses and competition for natural resources could have strategic implications for the United States and the world.
“While terrorism remains the most direct threat to our nation -- particularly weapons of mass destruction -- we are also dealing in advances in state and nonstate military capabilities across air, sea, land and space domains, and cyber security,” the admiral told an audience at the State Department’s George Marshall Conference Center.

Some nations continue to invest in long-term modernization with strategic capabilities, he added, some are replacing their older systems, while others are modernizing based on their perceived need in the geopolitical situation. He cited India, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, North Korea and China as examples of nations developing modern military capabilities.

When Russia recently invaded Ukraine and overtook Crimea, Haney said, Russian troops also exercised “their strategic ability, not just their conventional capabilities.” On May 8, he said, “Russia conducted a major strategic force exercise involving significant nuclear forces and associated command control six months from the last one. And I don’t mean just moving it around. I mean demonstrating firing each part of their associated arsenal.”

While adversarial threats grow against the United States, the nation still retains the strategic advantage, he said, although potential adversaries are moving quickly in their development of destructive capabilities.

“While we have improved and increased our cyberspace capabilities, the worldwide threat is growing in sophistication in a number of state and nonstate actors,” he said. “As we monitor developments, we must not lose sight of nation states and non-nation-state actors [that] continue to have goals of obtaining proliferation,” Haney said. “As long as these threats remain, so too does the value of our strategic capabilities to deter these threats.”

The Stratcom commander emphasized the importance of the U.S. nuclear triad.
“Each element of the nuclear triad has unique and complementary attributes in strategic deterrence,” Haney said. “As we look at ballistic missiles and air response capabilities to the survivable leg of our submarine capability to the heavy bombers, the real key is integration of all three that make a difference in the deterrence equation for any country that would want to take us on. And it works.”
Haney pointed out that while the United States has sought to have a world free of nuclear weapons, those weapons still have a role in strategic deterrence and in the foundational force, “until we can get rid of them.”

“We must continue to lean forward with arms-control agreements while continuing to provide assurance and deterrence,” he said. “As a nation, we must create strategies and policies to deal with this diverse, multidisciplinary-problem world we live in, because we have to deliver strategic stability and effective solutions in a conscious manner, given today’s fiscal environment.”

Haney urged students in the audience to challenge traditional thinking.

“Successful 21st-century strategic deterrence lies in our understanding that this is not about a Cold War approach,” he said. “It’s about understanding that deterrence is more than nuclear.”

And while U.S. nuclear weapons are just as salient today as in the past, Haney said, “it’s understanding that what our adversaries are willing to risk requires deep understanding.”

F-35 LIGHTING II JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER PROGRAM REPORT

The following excerpt is from a Department of Defense American Forces Press Service e-mail:

F-35 Reaches Critical Juncture After Strong Year, Official Says

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2012 - The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program -- the centerpiece of future tactical aviation and a key to implementing new military strategic guidance -- made strong progress in its development last year, a defense official said today.

Frank Kendall, acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the House Armed Services Committee that the fighter aircraft is essential to the Defense Department, and that it made "strong progress" in 2011.

"Last fall, the department engaged in a strategy and budget review, where everything -- and I do mean everything -- was on the table," Kendall said. "After a careful look at the joint strike fighter program, the department determined that we do need the JSF [and] that we need all three variants of the fighter, and that we need the planned inventory of 2,443 jets."

That said, Kendall added, "you must recognize there is still a long way to go for JSF." The F-35 flight test program is only about 20 percent complete and "many of the more challenging elements of flight test are still ahead of us," he said.

Kendall noted the F-35 development has reached a crucial point in the conversion from being conceptualized to actual production.

"The JSF program is undergoing the critical transition from development to production," he said. "Historically, this is always a difficult phase for any program, but particularly so for a high-performance aircraft."

That transition has been even more difficult for the F-35, Kendall said, because the program began production very early, well before flight testing had begun.

That decision for early production resulted in an unprecedented level of concurrency, which drove the need for significant changes in the program, he said. "With this year's budget, I believe we are now set on a course for program stability," he added.

Navy Vice Adm. David Venlet, program manager for the F-35, also said the program now is on track. "The F-35 has schedule and budget realism now going forward," he said. "It is transparent in the discovery and correction of issues arising in test that are typical in all fighter aircraft development."

Venlet told the Congress members he believes the F-35 "is a critical presence in the combined force battle space. It makes many other systems and capabilities and effects better because of the presence of the F-35's sensors."

Venlet called the F-35 a "critical presence" to many nations, as well as being a bond of joint strength across all U.S. military services.

"It is a bond of capability and a bond economically across many nations that raises the level of technology benefit in our militaries and our industries," he said.

Venlet called the F-35 "the best possible growth platform to incorporate future advances in weapons, sensors and networks."

The F-35 also is an assurance to service members that "they will succeed in every mission and return home safely to their loved ones."