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Presented by Lockheed Martin: Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Morning Defense examines the latest news in defense policy and politics. | | | | | |  | | By Bryan Bender | Presented by |  | | | With Connor O’Brien and Jacqueline Feldscher Editor’s Note: Morning Defense is a free version of POLITICO Pro Defense's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our s each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. | | | — President Biden taps Pentagon veteran Christine Wormuth to be Army secretary, along with a new personnel chief and top military budget analyst. — Russian troops are massing on the border with Ukraine, so will the government deploy U.S.-made weapons to defend themselves? — A new blueprint for space security calls for an international alliance to encourage cooperation and reduce the potential for conflict. HAPPY TUESDAY AND WELCOME TO MORNING DEFENSE, on the 300th anniversary of the birth of our first president, John Hanson. That is, our first largely ceremonial president, under the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution. The post, which was filled by eight men, was officially the “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.” Maybe Hanson was no George Washington, but he got a few things rolling. And he and his wife, Jane, gave much to their young nation, including two sons who were killed serving in the Continental Army in the American Revolution. We're always on the lookout for tips, pitches and feedback. Email us at bbender@politico.com, and follow on Twitter @bryandbender, @morningdefense and @politicopro. | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Legion Pod®: Versatile, Transportable, and Affordable
Legion Pod is a long-range, multi-function infrared sensor system supporting collaborative detection and targeting operations in radar-denied situations. It has growth capacity to connect the battlefield and support Multi-Domain Operations. Learn More | | | | | | The Reagan Institute hosts an online discussion on the future of the defense budget with Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, at 9 a.m. And the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association holds a virtual forum, "Partnering for Space Power in 2021 and Beyond: Current Issues and Approaches for Industry and Government,” at 9 a.m. | | | NEW PENTAGON PICKS: Biden on Monday announced three additional nominees for senior Pentagon posts, tapping Christine Wormuth as the first woman to be Army secretary; former Rep. Gil Cisneros to be undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness; and Susanna Blume to be director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, our colleagues Lara Seligman and Connor O’Brien report for Pros. Wormuth served as undersecretary of Defense for policy and did a stint on the National Security Council, playing a prominent role in the Obama administration’s strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific. She most recently was a senior researcher at the government-funded RAND Corp. Cisneros, a former Navy officer, is a former member of the House Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees and a leading advocate for making sexual harassment a crime in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Blume, who is performing the duties of CAPE director, the department’s top budget analyst, directed the defense program at the Center for a New American Security. She was deputy chief of staff for programs and plans for the deputy secretary of Defense, and is also another veteran of the Pentagon policy shop, Lara also reports for Pros. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that all three “represent decades of combined expertise in national security, and are well-positioned to take on the crises we face in the current moment and prepare ourselves for the threats of tomorrow.” “I urge the Senate to confirm them soon, so that they can take up this critical work,” he added. Other noms: Biden also announced he is nominating Christine Abizaid, a veteran intelligence official, to be director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and Chris Inglis, a career Defense Department official and member of the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, to be the first national cyber director in the White House. Related: Biden names former NSA officials to key cybersecurity positions, via POLITICO Pro’s Eric Geller. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TO JOIN AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION: Power is changing, in Washington and across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. Our twice-weekly newsletter "The Recast” breaks down how race and identity are shaping politics and policy in America and we are recasting how we report on it. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear from important new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | | RELEASE THE JAVELINS? Remember the controversial sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to help fend off Russian tanks and other armored vehicles in another invasion? Lara and Natasha Bertrand explain the rules of their usage for Pros. Ukraine now has 360 of the shoulder-fired missiles, which are capable of hitting targets from three miles away, along with 47 launchers. “Javelins are defensive weapons and the United States expects Ukraine to deploy them responsibly and strategically when needed for defensive purposes,” Pentagon spokesperson Mike Howard said. Yet current Russian military movements along its border with Ukraine are a primary scenario the missiles were intended to counter, said two former senior U.S. defense officials. Still, they would be of limited use if Moscow is planning to rely on paramilitary forces like during its invasion of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, said Jim Townsend, a Pentagon official during the Obama administration. “If the Russians are up to something, and that ‘something’ doesn’t involve armor, then the Javelins won’t matter,” Townsend said. “For instance, Javelins aren’t useful if the Russians are using ‘little green men’ to infiltrate Ukrainian lines." Related: 'They want the West to be frightened.' Ukraine's president on why Russia sent troops to the border, via Time. And: Ukraine needs a clear path to NATO membership, via Foreign Policy. | | | |   | | | | | | A NEW ALLIANCE? The U.S. should pursue a new “space security alliance” to enhance international cooperation and prevent conflict, according to ”The Future of Security in Space: A Thirty-Year U.S. Strategy,” published Monday by the Atlantic Council. A first step would be “to engage existing allies in discussions to gain common understandings of space security” before the U.S. can build more international consensus on “the protection of space-related assets.” Over the next two decades, however, “the United States should lead the establishment of a space security alliance,” it says. “The securitization of space will become an increasingly important focus and the establishment and maintenance of collective security among like minded nations will be important in the long term.” That also means ultimately replacing the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, several former senior Pentagon officials said in a discussion marking the release of the report, Breaking Defense reports. The authors also assert the military must prepare to operate in deep space — to help fulfill the economic potential of space exploration and gain the high ground as China and others begin building infrastructure in cislunar space and on the lunar surface. “...As commercial activity in Earth orbit becomes ever more routine,” it says, “U.S. civil and military entities should push the envelope of regular space activity into cislunar space, the area between the edge of where most current satellites orbit and the Moon, and similarly advantageous areas identified in the solar system.” Related: U.S.-Soviet cooperation in outer space: from Yuri Gagarin to Apollo-Soyuz, via GWU’s National Security Archive. | | | | YOUR GUIDE TO THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: As the Biden administration closes in on three months in office, what are the big takeaways? Will polls that show support for infrastructure initiatives and other agenda items translate into Republican votes or are they a mirage? What's the plan to deal with Sen. Joe Manchin? Add Transition Playbook to your daily reads for details you won't find anywhere else that reveal what's really happening inside the West Wing and across the executive branch. Track the people, policies and power centers of the Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — National Guard deployed to Minneapolis suburb to quell riots following police shooting: National Review — House lawmakers to question Marine Corps commandant on deadly training accident: Stars and Stripes — New ICBM costs can, must come down, Hyten says: Defense One — Iran, U.S. signal nuclear talks will resume despite alleged Israeli attack: POLITICO — Canada cancels defense export permits to Turkey over conflict: Bloomberg — Biden keeping Trump's pick for Moscow ambassador in place: CNN — Taliban not ready to meet Afghan government in Turkey as U.S. wants: The Associated Press — Investigation finds Syria likely behind 2018 chlorine attack: The Associated Press — DoD’s new pushback against Chinese money in U.S. defense industry: Breaking Defense — A U.S. Air Force war game shows what the service needs to hold off — or win against — China in 2030: Defense News — Sanctioning India would spoil the Quad, by Sen. Todd Young: Foreign Policy — No one will win the competition in the High North: Defense News — What a real people-first Pentagon budget would include: Defense One — Why America can’t end its ‘forever wars’: Newsweek | | A message from Lockheed Martin: Sikorsky-Boeing DEFIANT X™ aircraft brings Army speed and agility to where it matters most.
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