MISSILE DEFENSE MONDAYS

November 8 - November 14, 2022

THE WEEK IN BRIEF

On Tuesday, November 8, the first tranche of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missiles Systems, or NASAMS, as well as Aspide air defense systems, are confirmed to have arrived in Ukrainian hands, its Defense Minister announced.

Also on Tuesday, ABC News obtained a letter sent by a top Ukrainian official to senior members of Congress, asking them to assist Ukraine’s calls for additional air defense systems to counter the attack drones built and supplied by Iran to bolster Russia’s war effort. Russia has launched waves of deadly attacks in recent weeks, using Iranian-made drones that explode on impact to strike power plants, killing civilians and causing rolling blackouts, plunging millions of Ukrainian homes into darkness.

On Friday, November 11, Missile warning and tracking data gathered by the Space Development Agency’s satellites in low Earth orbit will be integrated with the Pentagon’s highly classified nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) network — but when and exactly how remain unanswered questions, the agency’s director said. He explained that there are two key requirements for SDA’s Tracking Layer Satellites to meet in order to be certified as sensors for the NC3 Integrated Tactical Warning & Attack Assessment (ITWAA) System, which helps the president and national leaders confirm a nuclear attack.

On Monday, November 14, President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping took a small but significant step toward stabilizing what has become an increasingly fraught relationship when they met for over three hours of talks. The two leaders “were very blunt with one another” on a range of topics where they do not see eye to eye, Biden told reporters after the meeting. But he said that they had agreed to further discussions among key officials, and to a visit to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, set to take place sometime early next year.

Click here to read all of this week's headlines.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Congressional Roundtable Discussion Series

Please join us for a virtual discussion:

"Defending U.S. Homeland From Alaska"

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM EST on MDAA's YouTube channel

Click Here to RSVP

MDAA ALERTS

Salute to Service

"We’re winner’s and we associate with winners to win. You’re world champions, and there is no better place in the world to be right now than here in Alaska. With what we’re seeing, with proliferation, especially of North Korea, you have held the Homeland safe for 20 years. We look back to when we first put those GBI’s in those silos, I was there in August of 2004, and you’ve gone through everything..."

Click here to read more.

MDAA WEBSITE UPDATES AND FEATURES

Ukrainian War Updates

Track the number and type of missiles used in the Ukrainian war, the number of casualties, and daily news highlights.

Track updates on the conflict in Ukraine.

Taiwan Incursion Updates

Track the number and type of incursions in the Taiwan Strait, the number of missiles fired, aircraft crossing the ADIZ, and daily news highlights.

Track updates on the tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

MISSILE DEFENDER OF THE WEEK

Lieutenant Junior Grade

Daniel Gerew

LTJG Gerew is the Fire Control Officer for the USS O’Kane (DDG 77). LTJG Gerew directly leads 20 Sailors in the conduct of routine and corrective maintenance across three work centers covering Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) critical equipment including the SPY-1D radar, Aegis Computer and Display Suite, 400 Hz Power System, and the Fire Control System. LTJG Gerew led the training and deployment certification of two complete BMD warfare teams on board USS O’Kane throughout truncated and Coronavirus challenged basic, intermediate, and advanced phases. Through his leadership, USS O’Kane was able to deploy two months early in support of national tasking and was the driving force behind USS O’Kane’s assumption and execution of duties as the BMD Commander (BMDC) for Carrier Strike Group One (CSG-1). In this role, LTJG Gerew authored the first ever CSG-1 operational tasking BMD Supplement, establishing the tactics, communications, and procedures to ensure High Value Unit (HVU) defense of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) from Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile threats. Furthermore, he fulfilled the operational BMDC role during intermediate and advanced phases of Fleet Synthetic Training-Joint and Composite Training Unit exercises, ensuring USS O’Kane was certified for operational employment as the BMDC in both Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet (C5F) and Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet Areas of Responsibility (AOR). During BMD certification, LTJG Gerew worked in tandem with experts at the Tactical Training Group Pacific (TTGP) to create and implement the first ever TTGP BMDC seminar. The seminar provided future CSG BMDCs with the same level of advanced training provided to the strike group commanders and filled a gap in the CSG deployment certification pipeline. While in the C5F AOR, LTJG Gerew was critical node for BMDC responsibilities in theater, to include serving as the primary liaison with C5F Task Force integrated air and missile defense and Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. USS O’Kane was the sole naval BMD platform in theater and has proven critical to BMD support, participating in missile collection operations. A native of Toms River, New Jersey, LTJG Gerew graduated with honors from American University with a B.A. in International Relations and a minor in Marketing. He obtained his commission through Naval Officer Candidate School in 2017. He served his first division officer tour as the Communications Officer onboard USS O’Kane.

Click here to view all the awardees from the 2022 Indo-Pacific Air & Missile Defender of the Year Award Ceremony.