[link removed] [[link removed]]
copy and paste this link to read the alert on MDAA's website.
MDAA Logo [[link removed]]
Follow and Support MDAA
Find us on Facebook [[link removed]]
Follow us on Twitter [[link removed]]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MDAA Alert:
Temperatures Rising
June 30, 2020

Aerial view of Russian Navy base in Severomorsk, Russia, a town on the Barents Sea
and the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet. (Photo: Russian
Ministry of Defense)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Members and Friends,
As global temperatures rise and sea ice melts, the Arctic has emerged as the frontier
for countries to strategically position themselves on top of the world for resources,
sea lanes and projection of military power. Recent military exercises by both NATO
forces and the Russian Navy underscore the strategic importance of this under iced
and overlooked region. In early May, four U.S. Navy ships from its 6th Fleet, as
well as British Royal Navy, held exercises in the Barents Sea, territorially shared
by both Norway and the Russian Federation, to "conduct maritime security operations,
assert freedom of navigation and demonstrate seamless integration among allies [[link removed]]."This
marked the first U.S. Navy-led exercise in the Barents Sea since the mid-1980s and
in return, the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet held live-fire drills of its own in
the area and claimed to have been "monitoring the activities of the NATO strike
group." [[link removed]]
NATO Exercise Dynamic Mongoose [[link removed]]
is currently underway off the coast of Iceland featuring Anti-Submarine warfare
(ASW) and Anti-Surface warfare training. This comes as US warplanes have intercepted
four Russian reconnaissance aircraft off the coast of Alaska for the fourth time
[[link removed]]
this month.
Tensions are high in the Arctic fueled by the reemergence of Russia and China as
a threat and competing as near peer competitors. Their early successes in hypersonic
technology threaten American national security. Though these new hypersonic weapons,
such as the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) and the newly developed anti-ship
cruise missiles of the Russian 3M22 Tsirkon, were not displayed yesterday at Russia's
annual Victory Day Parade [[link removed]],
Moscow unveiled its latest Pantsyr-SM [[link removed]]
surface-to-air missile/gun system with a longer range capability against artillery
munitions, drones and missiles. Russia's world-class submarine fleet continues to
grow with the development of a new category of submarines known as the 'Khabarovsk
[[link removed]],
[[link removed]]'
set to launch later this month. Each sub will be armed with six Poseidon "mega-torpedoes
[[link removed]],"
also known as Russian Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) with nuclear propulsion
systems, nuclear warheads and a reported range of 5,200 nautical miles. The Poseidon
[[link removed]]
relies on supercavitation to reduce friction and travel significantly faster than
traditional torpedoes, ultimately reaching speeds of up to 108 knots.
The buildup of the Russian threat in the Arctic, has led the groundwork for a renewed
effort to strengthen European and US Homeland Defense through coordinated exercises
and arms strengthening between allied nations. As the U.S. Naval Forces Northern
Command (NAVNORTH), The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG), as well
as US Navy submarines and aircraft in coordination with Canada, Denmark, and the
USAF built collaboration amongst services and combatant commanders while advancing
tactical and operational proficiency in maritime warfare during Exercise Vigilant
Osprey. The buildup of the HSTCSG, a naval powerhouse of various Integrated Air
and Missile Defense (IAMD) abilities, has given naval forces an ability to have
increased strength in various European Seas in their efforts towards Integrated
Air and Missile Defense capabilities. Exercise Formidable Shield, started in 2017,
has exemplified this with ships from Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands,
Norway, Spain, the UK, and the US participating in more than a dozen successful
live-fire and simulated engagements against subsonic, supersonic, and ballistic
targets.
While these exercises and capability demonstrations are an essential step, they
are not sufficient to build robust capabilities and proficiency demanded across
multi-domain warfare. The extension of launch platforms to surface and undersea
assets as well as space, air and ground launched weapons bring all facets of the
maritime composite cross domain warfare command into play. It is not just an Integrated
Air and Missile Defense problem in the arctic region. Anti-Surface and Anti-submarine
forces must be effective against these expanded launch capabilities. It means US
and Allied naval forces must continually adapt to these expanding challenges along
with robust investments in technical capabilities for long range detection, tracking,
and countering well before these launch assets can deploy these weapons.
With the exception of France and England who have nuclear deterrents in their Navies,
NATO maritime forces have been working many years to step up to the Integrated Air
and Missile Defense challenge, led by the Royal Netherlands Navy and its intention
to modernize its 4 air defense frigates with the ability to detect and track ballistic
missiles. The Federal German Navy's F-124 SACHSEN Class Frigates have the same air
defense systems as the Royal Netherlands Navy and are actively considering upgrading
them with the same BMD capability. The Royal Danish Navy is also considering upgrading
its three air defense frigates. All of these ship classes are equipped with the
MK 41 Vertical Launch System that could be adapted to include SM3 and SM6 missiles
if a future decision to include engagement capability were made. Most promising
is the Spanish Armada's program to build a new F-110 Multipurpose Frigate with
the most modern Aegis Combat System and a Solid State S Band phased array radar
that will have the potential be fully upgraded to IAMD capability. While these
are important steps, they are not moving fast enough nor are they technically sufficient
to keep paced with the rapidly evolving threats nor be fully integrated with the
U.S. These ships along with existing Aegis equipped ships from Spain and Norway
must be upgraded to augment the US commitments in the region. They must be able
to accurately discriminate lethal objects, accurately track to fire control quality,
and integrate both upper tier and lower tier effectors such as SM3, SM6, Patriot
PAC3MSE, and non-kinetic options. Robust integrated fire control options capable
of real-time coordination across NATO's Ballistic Missile Defense Operational Capability
(BMDOC) and US elements are a must requirement for the future.
It is not just expanding capabilities across the air and missile threat spectrum,
but the ability to execute multi-mission counters against the full list of launch
assets, air, sea, and land based. This landscape will demand focus on complex
multi-mission ships versus single mission or focused mission ships that currently
exist in most NATO Navies. Additionally, incorporating advanced capabilities like
the F35, which is being deployed by a number of NATO nations into the kill chains
of Integrated Air and Missile Defense systems such as Aegis, Patriot, and THAAD
to extend the sensor grid and effects options. The Patriot user nations of the
Netherlands and Germany, along with Aegis equipped ships from Spain and Norway and
F35 users UK, Netherlands and Denmark should focus on these capabilities.
NATO members and the United States must be unified in this fight. It will take
robust integration of all of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense contributors
across Europe and North America to be effective to be a credible deterrent against
the near peers. That means integrating the full array of sensors from Space, Maritime
Forces, and Land Based Radar with the US BMDO and NATO BMDOC and all of the assets
in multi-mission to achieve the effectiveness needed. It also means improvements
in investments across all member nations and more equitable burden sharing is critical
to effectiveness against these advanced air and missile threats.
In this modern world of evolving relationships and advancing interests, European
Deployed Cross Domain Integrated Air and Missile Defense with the United States
cools the potential for conflict in Arctic ice cap and freezes near peer competitors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Respectfully,
Riki Ellison
Chairman and Founder
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
Click Here to Join MDAA [[link removed]]
MDAA is a non-profit, non-partisan tax-exempt 501(c) (4) organization. Our mission
is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile
defense systems to defend the United States and its allies against missile threats.
We are a membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any
specific system, technology, architecture or entity. Founded in 2002, MDAA is the
only organization in existence whose primary mission is to recruit, organize, and
mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. Visit
our website www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org [[link removed]]
for more information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
515 King Street, Suite 330
Alexandria, VA 22134
Phone: (703) 299-0060
Email: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
[link removed]

This email was sent to [email protected] by [email protected].

Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe(TM)
[link removed]


Privacy Policy:
[link removed]

Online Marketing by
Constant Contact(R)
www.constantcontact.com



Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance | 515 King Street | Suite 330 | Alexandria | VA | 22314