Friday NatSec Roundup
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Desperate affairs require desperate measures.
- Not all is well between Boris and Donald?
- The big airlifters of the PLAAF are getting their first workout in response to the Wuhan crisis…
- Some Congressional signs of life on War Powers. Bernie deserves some credit on this, as it’s been one of his signature foreign policy issues and his staff has worked hard on building bridges with certain GOP members. Tim Kaine has also been important in the most recent push.
- Some weirdness with respect to aircraft orders for India’s new carrier, the Vikrant. The Russians are insisting that they haven’t received any orders, which is plausible since Indian procurement is generally a mess, a portion of the Indian security community remains committed to the idea of the Tejas as a carrier aircraft, and Modi has been squeezing the budget. Outside chance that Boeing sneaks in with a F/A-18 bid…
- Much trouble with the first four Littoral Combat Ships. Long story short, the first four are so different from the rest of the class that they require either very expensive modernization, or very expensive maintenance, and the Navy doesn’t want to do either.
- Nelson at St. Vincent: A Valentine’s Day Story