USA + 6: INSIEME PER LO SPAZIO

USA – AUSTRALIA – CANADA – FRANCE – GERMANY – NEW ZEALAND – UK

The United States, alongside six partner nations, has released a vision for future space operations focused on interoperability and responsible use of the space domain. The three-page Combined Space Operations Vision 2031, released Tuesday, was developed by the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and aims to increase cooperation among the partner countries as well as promote security in the space domain. Defense News, Courtney Albon: US and six partner nations sign on to new space operations vision

AUSTRALIA

One of the former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials involved with a new group “Diplomats for Climate Action Now” recently voiced regret that during his decades representing Australia, he never really got to promote climate leadership. The Interpreter, Melissa Conley Tyler: Transforming Australian diplomacy for climate leadership | The Interpreter (lowyinstitute.org)

AUSTRALIA – CHINA

Australia has accused a Chinese ship of illuminating one of its P-8A Poseidon multimission aircraft with a “military grade” laser while it flew over waters north of the Pacific nation. Defense News, Mike Yeo: Australia accuses China of using ‘military grade’ laser against P-8A aircraft

CHINA – RUSSIA

Russia and China are making much of their strategic partnership as a counterbalance to their stresses with the West, but the European Union is still much more important economically to Russia than is China, and Australia comprehensively trumps Russia as a supplier to China. There’s no realistic prospect of China becoming an alternative market to Europe for Russia in the face of fresh sanctions targeting its exports. The Strategist, David Uren: Chinese market won’t dampen the effects of economic sanctions on Russia

CHINA – TAIWAN

China’s Foreign Ministry has said that Taiwan is “not Ukraine” and has always been a part of China, following Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s call to bolster vigilance in the face of the territorial crisis in Eastern Europe. RFE RL: Chinese Foreign Ministry: Taiwan Is ‘Not Ukraine’ (rferl.org)

CHINA – USA

The belief that the Chinese know far more about America than Americans know about China is a misconception. In the age of globalisation and the internet, a knowledge asymmetry actually exists between the Chinese and the Americans — middle class Americans seem to have an understanding of Chinese culture, history and system based on rigorous academic research and analysis, but the Chinese lack the same level of understanding of the Americans. US academic Wu Guo shares his views on why the “knowledge deficit” exists in China. ThinkChina, Wu Guo: Why the Americans know China better than the Chinese know the US, Society News

China said Monday it will impose new sanctions on U.S. defense contractors Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin due to their arms sales to Taiwan, stepping up a feud with Washington over security and Beijing’s strategic ambitions. The Associated Press, Defense News: China sanctions Raytheon, Lockheed over Taiwan deal

GERMANY – RUSSIA

German prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted a businessman on suspicion of breaking arms control laws by helping Russia purchase sophisticated machinery that could be used to make chemical weapons. The Associated Press, Defense News: Germany indicts arms control breach suspect over Russia sale

ISRAEL

Israel on Monday said it successfully tested a new naval air defense system, intercepting a series of threats in what officials called a key layer of protection against Iran and its proxies in the region. The Associated Press, Defense News: Israel successfully tests naval version of Iron Dome

METAVERSE

My company, IDC, defines the metaverse as “an evolution of today’s internet that leverages mobile devices, augmented and virtual reality headsets and next-generation networks to create persistent and continuous user experiences with a strong sense of presence.”. IndustryWeek, Jan Burian: Is the ‘Industrial Metaverse’ the Next Big Thing?

MYANMAR

Ukraine deserves European Union candidate status, and Poland and Lithuania will support it in this goal, the presidents of the two countries said in a joint declaration with the Ukrainian president on Wednesday. Reuters: Poland and Lithuania say Ukraine deserves EU candidate status due to ‘current security challenges’

Britain has asked the media regulator to review the broadcast licence of Russian news channel RT after the Kremlin recognised two rebel regions of eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday. Reuters, Muvija M and William James: UK asks regulator to review licence of Russian channel RT – Johnson

In the past few weeks, U.S. officials have warned several times that Russia plans to create the appearance of an attack on its own forces and broadcast those images to the world. Such a “false flag” operation, they alleged, would give Russia the pretext to invade Ukraine by provoking shock and outrage. Nextgov, Scott Radnitz: What are False Flag Attacks—And Could Russia Make One Work in the Information Age?

Three decades after its first mission, one of the most capable American spy planes is finally doing the job it was built for: tracking Russian forces as they invade eastern Europe. The E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, has spent its career flying missions from Desert Storm to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But in recent months, the plane has flown near the Russian border. Defense One, Marcus Weisgerber: ​​Above Ukraine, a Cold War Spy Plane Is Finally Tracking a Russian Invasion

Russia’s effort to justify its invasion of Ukraine didn’t convince the members of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, on Tuesday, according to a State Department senior official who attended a special session of the Permanent Council of the 57-member intergovernmental security organization. Defense One, Patrick Tucker: Russia’s Ukraine Claims Don’t Convince Europe, US Officials Say

Even before a single unmarked truckload of Russian troops entered eastern Ukraine, Russia had begun to cut its southwestern neighbor off from the world. On Monday, Lufthansa and Swiss Airlines suspended their flights to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, and Lufthansa suspended its flights to Odessa. Air France and SAS, too, have stopped flying to and from Kyiv. Indeed, only a small number of airlines still fly to Ukraine: spending time in its airspace is now considered quite risky. And airlines have no obligation to keep Ukraine or any other country connected to the rest of the world. Defense One, Elizabeth Braw: Russia Is Choking Off Air Travel to Ukraine

Pope Francis said that “increasingly alarming scenarios” are emerging in Ukraine and he urged all sides to refrain from actions that could cause suffering to the people in the region. RFE RL: Pope Cites ‘Alarming Scenarios’ In Ukraine, Urges Restraint

Britain’s Foreign Office said the country is ready to help Ukraine “weather the storm of Russian aggression” with loan guarantees of up to $500 million and additional funds. RFE RL: Britain Says It’s Ready To Provide Ukraine With Up To $500 Million In Loan Guarantees

Several European Union member states are activating a team of specialists to help Ukraine ward off Russian cyberattacks, which have previously accompanied kinetic combat ordered by Moscow. Defense News, Sebastian Sprenger: European Union cyber defense team deploys to aid Ukraine

Another round of U.S. troops has been mobilized in support of Eastern European countries as Russia further invades Ukraine. Joining 6,000 troops already activated in Germany, Poland and Hungary, the Defense Department announced Tuesday that a spate of combat aircraft and infantry troops will head to the Baltics and Poland. Defense News, Meghann Myers: US attack helos, F-35s and infantry heading to Baltics amid Ukraine invasion

Amid increasing concern over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Czech drone manufacturer Primoco UAV has announced the company will halt its activities in the Russian market and sell its local subsidiary AO Primoco BPLA. In a statement, the company cited various difficulties related to Western sanctions against Russia as the reason why it decided to shut down its operations there as of Jan. 31. Defense News, Jaroslaw Adamowski: Czech drone maker withdraws from Russia amid sanctions concerns

New funding legislation to address the Ukraine crisis is in the works, with potential action next week, U.S. lawmakers said Tuesday. Congressional Republicans and Democrats are signaling support for supplemental spending amid Russian troop deployments in eastern Ukraine. Some lawmakers are also pushing to boost weapons deliveries from the U.S. to Ukraine — support that is already underway. Defense News, Joe Gould: Emergency funding proposal for Ukraine gets bipartisan backing in Congress

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has cancelled a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that was planned for Thursday after Moscow’s recognition of two separatist regions in Ukraine as independent entities. Blinken said on Tuesday that he had agreed to meet Lavrov only if Russia did not invade Ukraine. Al Jazeera: Ukraine crisis: Blinken cancels meeting with Russia’s Lavrov

New sanctions have been imposed on Russia by the West, Japan and Australia for ordering troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine. There are also threats of going further with the sanctions if Moscow was to launch an all-out invasion of its neighbour. Al Jazeera: Ukraine crisis: What sanctions have been imposed on Russia?

Waving blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and singing a patriotic military song, hundreds of residents of the once largely pro-Russian city of Mariupol gathered in the central Theatre Square with a defiant message for President Vladimir Putin: Russia is not welcome here. On Tuesday, as people stopped for pictures next to a sign calling Moscow an aggressor, the possibility of an advance by Russian-backed separatists was a bitter pill to swallow. Al Jazeera, Liz Cookman: ‘Mariupol won’t give up’: Ukrainians defy Russian invasion threat

It is not yet a traditional invasion, but certainly with the deployment of forces, gunfire, missile launches, troop movements, stock market crashes, and price increases, we are already in the midst of an asymmetric war, typical of the 21st century. Settimana News, Francesco Sisci: Putin’s asymmetric war

Secondo gli esperti siamo davanti a una vera e propria battaglia dell’informazione tra Russia e Stati Uniti. Questi ultimi però, guidati da Haines e Burns, hanno imparato dagli errori del passato. “Più Washington espone le azioni e le intenzioni di Mosca, meno vie d’uscita salva-faccia ha Putin”, ha scritto London, ex Cia. Formiche, Gabriele Carrer: Cosa c’è dietro la svolta iper-comunicativa della Cia sull’Ucraina

As Russia orders troops into eastern Ukraine, close ally China finds itself in a difficult position on the international stage as it tries to balance close ties with Moscow with its own domestic concerns and a desire to retain a working relationship with Europe. At the United Nations Security Council on Monday, China’s Representative to the UN  Zhang Jun called for restraint as tensions escalated following Moscow’s unilateral move to recognise the two breakaway areas in Ukraine’s east as independent. Al Jazeera, Erin Hale: ‘Shared resentments’ but Russia ties could be ‘awkward’ for China

(Russia, Ukraine, Australia) Great powers seek spheres of influence – but there are limits. The Interpreter, Sam Roggeveen: Russia-Ukraine: Lessons for Australia’s defence

The world is not enduring a ‘Ukraine crisis’, but rather a Russia crisis. So said Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, at the most recent Munich Security Conference, which was dominated by the situation in eastern Europe. Project-Syndicate, The Strategist, Carl Bildt: Putin’s dangerous delusions of empire

UAE

Halcon, a subsidiary of UAE’s Edge Group, unveiled a tube-launched swarming drone system known as Hunter 2-S on the first day of the Unmanned Systems Exhibition here. Hunter 2-S is part of the family of the Hunter 2 series of unmanned aerial vehicles. These drones are expected to share information with each other for tracking and maintaining positions and engaging with the right target. Defense News, Agnes Helou: Following first demonstration, Edge unveils swarming drones based on AI technology

UK 

Britain’s Ministry of Defence says its latest equipment spending plans for 2021-2031 are affordable, compared with a $9.9 billion deficit reported last year, a projection that auditors here still view with some skepticism. Officials said Feb. 21 it was the first time since 2018 that they had been able to file a rolling 10-year equipment plan expected to fit within spending projections. Defense News, Andrew Chuter: UK touts ‘affordable’ defense-spending plan, but auditors are wary

USA

The National Institute of Standards and Technology wants to know how it might improve its landmark framework of cybersecurity standards and practices and streamline similar efforts related to particular issues like privacy and supply-chain security. Nextgov, Mariam Baksh: NIST Refreshing Voluntary Cybersecurity Framework Amid Push for Mandates

Updated information technology systems are needed in the federal workspace to better allocate and distribute vital radio-frequency spectrum technology across government business activity, a new report posits. Nextgov, Alexandra Kelley: Scarce Radio Frequency Spectrum Requires More Modern IT, Watchdog Finds

If the United States develops the most innovative semiconductor designs in the world, but can’t manufacture the less complicated chips that its electronics and automobile industries require, is it a case of penny wise, pound foolish? IndustryWeek, Dennis Scimeca: How the US Can Reshore Semiconductor Manufacturing

The Department of Defense is juggling more than 685 artificial intelligence projects, including some associated with major weapon systems, like the MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Artificial intelligence ventures are underway across several services and combatant commands, with the U.S. Army leading the pack, according to a list published last week by the Government Accountability Office, a federal auditor of agencies and programs. Defense News, Colin Demarest: Hundreds of AI projects underway as Defense Department eyes future combat

USA – AFGHANISTAN

National security threats may emerge because agencies failed to use all of the Defense Department’s available biometric and contextual data to properly vet Afgan evacuees who resettled in America amid the chaotic withdrawal last year, according to a new watchdog report. Nextgov, Brandi Vincent: U.S. May Have Allowed ‘Known or Suspected Terrorists’ to Go Undetected Among Resettled Afghan Evacuees

USA – INDO PACIFIC – INDIA

New Delhi finds a prominent place in the strategy’s focus on Washington’s network of allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific. The Diplomat, Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai Rajagopalan: India’s Place in the New US Indo-Pacific Strategy

UZBEKISTAN – KAZAKHSTAN

The Uzbek Embassy in Kazakhstan has officially requested detailed information from Kazakh authorities regarding more than a dozen Uzbek nationals held in custody over the deadly January unrest in the Central Asian nation. RFE RL: Uzbekistan Requests Information About Its Citizens Held In Kazakhstan Over January Unrest