domenica, Ottobre 13, 2024

I MARINES E L’INTELLIGENZA ARTIFICIALE

Diario geostrategico,  5 novembre 2021

Buona lettura ! 

 

The Science of Where Magazine’s interviews:

– Governo dei dati tra geopolitica e tutela del cittadino. The Science of Where Magazine incontra Ivana Bartoletti, Global Chief Privacy Officer a WIPRO Technologies e Visiting Policy Fellow presso l’ Università di Oxford

– Tecnologia e responsabilità: uno snodo decisivo. The Science of Where Magazine incontra Federico Cabitza, Università di Milano-Bicocca

– Inside the ethics of artificial intelligence: for a decentralized approach. The Science of Where Magazine meets James Brusseau, Philosopher, Pace University

– L’intelligenza artificiale contro le discriminazioni sul lavoro. The Science of Where Magazine incontra Keith Sonderling, Commissioner del U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

– Per Italia e Germania, il futuro è nelle nuove tecnologie. Intervista esclusiva con l’Ambasciatore d’Italia a Berlino, Armando Varricchio

– Gathering strenght, gathering storms. Visions on artificial intelligence. The Science of Where Magazine meets Michael Littman and Peter Stone

 Today’s Choice:

– Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One: The Marines, long known for their high turnover rate, can no longer afford to let so many experienced troops leave, the commandant said in a new report that says the way the Corps handles personnel is “overdue for a fundamental redesign.”. In the 20-page “Talent Management 2030,” released Wednesday, Gen. David Berger said the Corps’ personnel system can’t supply the troops needed for the vision he laid out in his Force Design 2030 document from 2020. Distributed maritime operations and expeditionary advanced base operations require Marines to be strategic decision makers and able to fill multiple roles in remote environments. – Marine Corps Seeks ‘Fundamental Redesign’ to Recruiting, Retention, Careers

– Megan Eckstein, Defense News: The U.S. Marine Corps needs a different kind of Marine to succeed in a future fight: older and more cognitively mature, cross-trained to juggle a variety of roles and missions, tech-savvy. And the service plans to cultivate a corps full of these types of warriors with the help of artificial intelligence and data analytics tools. – Marine Corps will use AI to revamp recruiting and retention models

Africa:

 Carlos Lopes, Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Project-Syndicate: The Pandora Papers, the largest investigative effort yet to shed light on the world of offshore finance, show just how serious the challenge of illicit financial flows is for Africa. The papers reveal that many prominent Africans hold assets in major financial centers abroad with the help of professional enablers who provide them with secrecy, ensure asset protection, and secure tax exemptions. – Africa Must Lead on Capital Flight

Belarus:

– Elisabeth Braw, Defense One: First Belarus arranged for a few hundred migrants to cross the border into Lithuania. Then the number grew to several thousand. Then Belarus brought more migrants to Minsk and pushed them into Latvia and Poland; thousands have since made their way to Germany. All this is likely just the start: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is sharply increasing the number of airline flights from Middle Eastern cities to Minsk. – Belarus’s Weaponized Migrants Offer a Primer on Gray-Zone Warfare

Belarus-Russia:

– Brian Whitmore, Atlantic Council: You can call it trolling. You can call it gaslighting. Or you can just call it the usual run-of-the-mill hypocrisy. Aleksandr Bastrykin, chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee, visited Belarus on November 2 for talks with law enforcement officials about, wait for it, fostering closer cooperation to combat transnational organized crime. Bastrykin also met with Oleg Shandarovich, the first deputy chair of the Belarusian Investigative Committee, about fighting cybercrime. – Is Lukashenka mimicking Putin’s weaponization of organized crime?

China:

– Frank Konkel, Nextgov: China has become the clear global leader in the total number of robotics patents issued, with nearly triple the number of robotics patents granted per year as the United States, according to a lengthy study published Tuesday by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology. – Study: China Far Outpacing U.S. in Worldwide Robotics Patents

Ethiopia:

– Al Jazeera: Ethiopia’s yearlong war has been marked by “extreme brutality” from all sides involved, according to the United Nations human rights chief. A joint investigation by the UN Human Rights Office and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has found evidence that all parties to the conflict in the Tigray region have, to varying degrees, committed abuses, some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. With a new national state of emergency, what actions will be needed to bring an end to this conflict rather than further escalate the situation? – Ethiopia’s escalating conflict and allegations of war crimes

Georgia:

– Giorgi Menabde, The Jamestown Foundation: On November 2, the “Opposition Coalition of Georgia” (OCG), which includes former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) party, held a rally in the Black Sea coastal city of Batumi, where its leaders announced the beginning of a mass protest movement. Demonstrators would demand the appointment of early parliamentary elections and the release from prison of the country’s third president (Batumelebi, November 2). Saakashvili was imprisoned on October 1, after he returned to Georgia from nearly decade-long exile in Ukraine. Since his arrest and detention, he has been on a hunger strike (see EDM, October 27). – Georgian Opposition Rejects Official Results of October Local Elections

Global Topics-COP26-Climate Action-Climate Change-Ecological Transition:

– US Department of State: At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the United States announced the launch of the First Movers Coalition, a new platform for companies to harness their purchasing power and supply chains to create early markets for innovative clean energy technologies that are key for tackling the climate crisis. Announced by President Biden at the COP26 World Leaders Summit, the First Movers Coalition was created through a partnership between the U.S. State Department’s U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the Office of Global Partnerships, and the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Energy. – Launching the First Movers Coalition at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference

– Nina Lakhani, The Guardian: As world leaders inside the Cop26 conference centre in Glasgow boasted about pledges to slash greenhouse gas emissions and end deforestation, indigenous delegates gathered across the river Clyde to commemorate activists killed for trying to protect the planet from corporate greed and government inaction. – ‘A continuation of colonialism’: indigenous activists say their voices are missing at Cop26

– Sarah Kaplan, The Washington Post: Global greenhouse gas emissions have almost completely rebounded after slumping during the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the world with just 11 years of burning carbon at the current rate if humanity hopes to avoid catastrophic warming. – Global carbon budget shows emissions have spiked almost back to pre-pandemic levels

– Mirella Castigli, Agenda Digitale: La transizione energetica è inevitabile e serve per evitare i disastri causati dai cambiamenti climatici, ma l’Italia è in ritardo nell’adozione delle strategie per affrontare il riscaldamento globale e le immense sfide al centro di Cop26, il summit di Glasgow sulla crisi climatica – Transizione energetica, la via per le rinnovabili passa dall’innovazione

– Roderick Weller, Shannon Engstrom, WEF: Air pollution is harmful to human health, the economy and the planet. Addressing air pollution can provide immediate and tangible benefits for people and communities, while also accelerating climate change efforts. There is a strong case for business to include air pollution in climate action agendas – here’s how they can do it. – How tackling air pollution can accelerate climate action

– Carlo Ratti, WEF: Environmental artists re-envision humans’ relations with nature and highlight how damaged environments can be remedied. The environmental artist Christo’s posthumous work in Paris has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors in recent weeks. The work used 25,000 metres of fabric to wrap a building, at a time when we need to abandon all forms of high-waste packaging. A new environmental art for the 21st century would use technology to create bold artworks that are truly sustainable. – Why we need an environmental approach to urban art

– Lars Holmquist, WEF: The world currently wastes one-third of all food produced. The food processing and packaging industry can contribute to the transformation of food systems. Food packaging can adopt many approaches to a more sustainable supply chain. – How better food packaging can help restore the planet

Global Topics-Cyber Security-Digital Transformation-Emerging and Disruptive Technology:

– Rick Wash, Nextgov: An employee at MacEwan University got an email in 2017 from someone claiming to be a construction contractor asking to change the account number where almost $12 million in payments were sent. A week later the actual contractor called asking when the payment would arrive. The email about the account number change was fake. Instead of going to the contractor, the payments were sent to accounts controlled by criminals. – You Know How to Identify Phishing Emails

– Diego Dimalta, Agenda DigitaleLe body cam, come strumento in dotazione alle forze dell’ordine, sono ormai una realtà anche in Italia. Lo ha ribadito anche il Garante Privacy con un provvedimento nel quale, peraltro, si delimita in maniera netta il confine tra quanto legittimo e quanto invece no. – Body cam alle forze dell’ordine, no al riconoscimento facciale: dove si ferma il diritto alla sicurezza

– Filippo Graziano, Agenda Digitale: Il rapido e inesorabile diffondersi delle valute virtuali richiede una altrettanto adeguata risposta da parte delle Istituzioni pubbliche e private soprattutto orientata a evitare che i nuovi strumenti possano essere utilizzati a fini illeciti, viste le loro intrinseche connotazioni di anonimato e carenza, se non addirittura totale mancanza, di assetti regolatori nell’ambito del riciclaggio e del contrasto del finanziamento del terrorismo (AML / CFT) uniformi e chiari. – Le criptovalute come leva di attività illecite: servono nuove leggi

– Ivana Bartoletti, Agenda Digitale: Ogni giorno miliardi di persone e imprese, connesse da ogni parte del mondo, affidano ad aziende pubbliche e private i dati necessari per le proprie attività, tra cui email, chat e blog. Secondo uno studio, condotto da Frontier Economics e commissionato da DigitalEurope, l’organizzazione europea che rappresenta l’industria tecnologica digitale, il flusso di dati transfrontaliero nei prossimi dieci anni per l’Unione europea potrebbe raggiungere il valore di duemila miliardi di euro. Tanto quanto il valore annuo complessivo dell’economia italiana. – Trasferimento dati, serve una nuova Bretton Woods? Quale approccio dopo Schrems II

Global Topics-Multilateralism:

– Ngaire Woods, Project-Syndicate: International organizations are currently plagued by allegations of powerful states wielding undue influence over outcomes. These include recent revelations about Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and other countries pushing back against the United Nations on climate change, suggestions that senior World Bank officials intervened to boost China’s ranking in the Bank’s Doing Business index, and suspicions that China influenced the World Health Organization’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. – Is Multilateralism a Fig Leaf?

Global Topics-Supply Chains:

– Michael Spence, Project-Syndicate: Supply-chain disruptions are severely hampering the global economic recovery. It is a strange situation in many ways. The types of products and services affected by delays and shortages – including a wide range of intermediate goods, from commodities to semiconductors, and the final products that depend on them – resemble what one would see in a wartime economy. And the disruptions took us largely by surprise. – Why Are Supply Chains Blocked?

India:

– Casey Crownhart, MIT Technology Review: India has officially joined the net-zero pledge club, and its 2070 target presents a reasonable, if challenging, timeline for the country. The commitment was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 1 at the COP26 UN climate conference. – India’s 2070 net zero pledge is achievable, appropriate, and right on time

Iran:

– Amir Rashidi and Mani Mostofi, Atlantic Council: Coverage of the recent cyberattack on October 26 against gas stations across Iran has generated expected outcomes, with images of long lines of cars and endless speculation over the perpetrator. While journalists photograph shut off gas pumps, hardline policymakers in Iran are seizing this opportunity to justify their latest attempt at restricting internet freedom. – Throwing gas on the fire of Iranian internet suppression

Israel:

– Associated Press, Defense News: Israel said Wednesday it has begun testing a massive inflatable missile detection system designed to hover at high altitudes and detect long-range threats. Israel already boasts an array of sophisticated missile defenses, which were used successfully during the 11-day Gaza war this year. – Israel tests massive inflatable missile detection system

NATO:

– Gianluca Fabrizi, Lorenza Fortunati, Agenda Digitale: Lo scorso 21 ottobre è stata presentata la prima strategia della NATO sull’Intelligenza Artificiale (IA), in occasione di un incontro tenutosi a Bruxelles tra i Ministri della Difesa dei governi dei Paesi membri. L’Alleanza Atlantica si aggiunge così ad altri Stati e Organizzazioni che negli ultimi anni hanno presentato le loro strategie in materia per definire regole, etica e investimenti pubblico-privato per prevalere in uno dei nuovi campi principali del conflitto tra potenze. L’Intelligenza Artificiale è una delle sette aree tecnologiche all’avanguardia e dal potenziale doppio utilizzo militare-civile (dual use) che gli Stati membri dell’Alleanza ritengono prioritarie per questioni di difesa e sicurezza. Le altre sei sono: tecnologie quantistiche, dati e informatica, automazione, biotecnologie e potenziamento umano, tecnologie ipersoniche, spazio. – La Strategia NATO per l’intelligenza artificiale: come applicarla alla difesa in modo etico e sicuro

North Korea:

– Patrick Tucker, Defense One: Activity at North Korea’s Pyongsan uranium mine appears to have increased from 2017 to 2020, though its output still lags the country’s uranium processing capabilities, according to Stanford researchers who used artificial intelligence software in their analysis. Uranium from Pyongsan can be refined into low-enriched uranium, which is suitable for nuclear power reactors, or high-enriched uranium, suitable for weapons. No outside visitors or international monitors have seen the Pyongsan mine since the IAEA’s last visit in 1992. – North Korean Uranium Mining Picked Up From 2017 to 2020

Russia-Crimea:

– Roger McDermott, The Jamestown Foundation: At the end of October, the Russian Armed Forces staged a military exercise in Crimea to rehearse the defense of the occupied peninsula. The military deployed forces from the Southern Military District/Joint Strategic Command (Obyedinennyye Strategicheskoye Komandovanie—OSK) to the Opuk training ground in Crimea, where they practiced the defense of the territory in a variety of tactical episodes involving the Military-Maritime Fleet (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot—VMF), Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno Kosmicheskikh Sil—VKS), Ground Forces and naval infantry. The strategic command-staff exercise (strategicheskiye komandno-shtabnyye ucheniya—SKShU) involved 8,000 personnel from three combined-arms armies (CAA), the Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla as part of a much wider test of combat readiness in the Southern OSK (Mil.ru, October 25). – Russia’s Armed Forces Rehearse the Defense of Crimea

Russia-Moldova:

– Vladimir Socor, The Jamestown Foundation: On October 29, Moscow and Chisinau agreed on a conditional resumption of Russian natural gas supplies to Moldova as of October 30. The Russian side had curtailed gas supplies to Moldova by one third in October, and threatened to discontinue the supplies altogether by December 1 (see EDM, October 28), compelling Moldova to accept Russia’s conditions for prolonging the multi-year contract. These conditions are designed to ensure Moldova’s continuing exclusive dependence on Gazprom. This, moreover, entails dependence on electricity generated in Transnistria with Gazprom’s gas nominally supplied (as heretofore) to Moldovagaz. Breaking out of these dependencies will be a daunting challenge to Moldova in the years ahead. – Unfortunate but Inevitable: Moldova’s Gas Supply Agreement With the Kremlin and Gazprom

Russia-Ukraine:

– Aura Sabadus, Atlantic Council: As the winter season draws closer, Ukraine faces an energy crisis on multiple fronts which could lead to political instability and deepen the country’s dependence on Russia. On 1 November, Ukrainian officials announced that Russia had stopped thermal coal exports just as stocks were five times lower than the government’s expected volumes at this time of year. The news was overshadowed by reports from Ukraine’s national gas grid operator, GTSOU, that Gazprom had decreased the transit of natural gas to just over half of the contracted capacity for 2021. – Ukraine faces energy crisis as Putin weaponizes gas and coal supplies

– Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times: A study of weapons and ammunition used in the war in Ukraine shows that Russia has been systematically fanning the conflict with arms shipments, according to a new report funded by the European Union and the German government. The study is hardly the first to reach this conclusion: the United States and European countries have sanctioned Russia for years for arms transfers to separatist forces they say Moscow is supporting in Ukraine. – Weapons Tracing Study Implicates Russia in Ukraine Conflict

– Yevhen Solonyna, Todd Prince, RFE RL: For months, critics have accused Russia of withholding additional natural-gas shipments to Europe via Ukraine in order to pressure Brussels to fast-track its new Baltic Sea export pipeline, Nord Stream 2. Once it receives final approvals, the pipeline to Germany will enable Russia to reroute gas exports to Europe around Ukraine, depriving the cash-strapped country of billions of dollars a year in transit fees. – Triple Threat? Russia Halts Coal Exports To Ukraine, Cancels Power Auction Amid Gas Crisis

Spain:

– Vivienne Machi, Defense News: Spain requires a national strategy to grow and nurture its military space-industrial potential, and stand out as a European leader in the nascent domain, according to a small satellite company leader. The nation needs to increase its investment rates to match those of its neighbors, said Satlantis CEO Juan Tomás Hernani during a defense and space-themed panel Wednesday at the second biennial FEINDEF conference in Madrid, Spain. – Space sector exec: Spain must stand out among its neighbors in nascent domain

Sudan:

– Yezid Sayigh, Carnegie Middle East Center:  U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration’s response to the recent military takeover in Sudan was unambiguous. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price condemned it unequivocally and announced a pause in the entire $700 million in emergency assistance appropriations of U.S. economic support funds for Sudan. He added that other forms of bilateral aid would be reviewed, and he reiterated that Sudan would remain subject to restrictions that were imposed following the legal determination that a coup d’état had taken place in 1989 “until the Secretary [of State] determines that a democratically elected government has taken office.” The World Bank halted disbursement of $2 billion in financing for projects, the EU threatened to halt its own financial assistance, and the African Union suspended Sudan’s membership. Sudanese protesters calling for a restoration of the civilian government added to the pressure by turning out in large numbers in the capital Khartoum and several other cities on October 30. – A Road Map to Civilian Rule If Sudan’s Military Putschists Retreat

Sudan-Nile Dam Dispute:

– Ayah Aman, Al Monitor: Less than 24 hours after the coup by Sudanese army chief Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Oct. 25 against the civilian element of the transitional period, the African Union (AU) suspended Sudan’s membership and participation in all of its activities. This comes as the AU seeks a compromise formula between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to resume negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). These African efforts follow the presidential statement on the GERD adopted by the UN Security Council calling for a resumption of the AU-led negotiations. – Sudan’s political crisis could complicate Nile dam dispute

Syria-Egypt:

– George Mikhail, Al Monitor: Egypt has recently been making concerted efforts in the Syrian political crisis, supporting Damascus’ return into the Arab fold, as confirmed by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in a statement Oct. 2. Egypt also rejected Turkey’s attempts at “demographic change” in northern Syria. – ​​Egypt intensifies efforts to bring Syria back into Arab fold

Syria-Turkey:

– Sultan al-Kanj, Al Monitor: Sources close to Sultan Soleman Shah Brigade, one of the largest factions of the Syrian Liberation Front, said that the brigade has effectively withdrawn from the front to join the Thaeeroun Movement of Azm Operations Room.

Five factions in the Syrian National Army in September announced their full integration and formation of the Syrian Liberation Front: Sultan Soleman Shah Brigade, Al-Hamza Division, Al-Mu’tasim Division, Suqur al-Shamal Brigade and Division 20. – Why are Turkish-allied formations collapsing in Syria?

Turkey:

– Diego Cupolo, Al Monitor: Turkey’s annual consumer inflation rate rose to 19.89% in October, according to official data published Wednesday by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). Up from 19.58% in September, the figure marks Turkey’s highest inflation rate in 2.5 years, driven primarily by rising costs in food, housing, services and transportation, as well as a spike in global energy prices. – Turkish inflation nears 20% on rising food, energy costs

Ukraine:

 Oleg Sukhov, Kyiv Post: Ukraine’s judicial reform is moving forward again after an extended impasse but there’s little to celebrate. The country’s corrupt “judicial mafia,” political establishment and vested interests are still doing their best to prevent a genuine cleansing of the judiciary, anti-corruption activists and judicial experts say. – Judicial reform makes progress but may be canceled

USA:

– Chris Wright, WIRED: Who pays for the United States’ astronomy and astrophysics projects—our collective staring into the void, seeking cosmic answers? Well, we all do, via taxes, which the government decides how to divvy up via an annual appropriations budget. – The Guide for the Next Decade of Space Research Just Dropped

– Matt Simon, WIRED: Off the coast of California lies an underwater forest of giant kelp, a kind of seaweed that grows to 100 feet tall at the rate of a foot a day. Just as a terrestrial forest sucks carbon dioxide out of the air, all that rapidly growing seaweed soaks up carbon from the water, playing an incredibly important role in climate mitigation. “With kelp goes a huge amount of carbon,” says Chris Wilmers, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “As a general rule, kelp forests are much more productive than most terrestrial forests, in that they’re churning through carbon much more quickly.” – The Cutest Way to Fight Climate Change? Send in the Otters

– Alexandra Kelley, Nextgov: A group of Senators Tuesday questioned the security of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continued order to collect personal data from airline passengers in an effort to contract trace COVID-19 cases. “We write to express concerns about the impact this policy could have on the privacy and data security of the American flying public,” the senators wrote in a letter to White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients. “It is unclear at this time whether the aviation industry is equipped to collect and retain more personal information from passengers than it does today and share it across multiple proprietary systems before responsibly and securely transmitting it to the CDC.” – Republican Senators Question the Security of Collecting Health Information from Airline Passengers

– Mariam Baksh, Nextgov: The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security banned U.S. persons from dealing with four companies—including Israel’s NSO Group—that they say acted against national security interests by trading in hacking tools and selling spyware to foreign governments. The other listed companies include Israel’s Candiru, Singapore’s Computer Security Initiative Consultancy and Russia’s Positive Technologies. – U.S. Blacklists NSO Group and 3 Others for Selling Spyware, Hacking Tools

– Kate Elizabeth Queram, Nextgov: The 2020 census may have undercounted the U.S. population by more than 1.6 million people, drastically affecting the distribution of federal funding across the country, according to new research from the Urban Institute. The census, researchers noted, is always an imperfect and inexact process that undercounts certain populations, particularly minorities. Their goal, then, was not to determine “whether accuracy was achieved, but its utility for specific purposes such as apportionment and allocation of federal resources,” according to the report. – 2020 Census May Have Missed More Than 1.6M Residents

– Brandi Vincent, Nextgov: Google achieved two new public-sector authorizations that insiders say will prove instrumental in their work helping the government modernize its information technology, security and compliance. On the heels of a long and complex engineering effort, the Google Workspace product reached FedRAMP High authorization, officials announced Wednesday, and the tech giant also earned an Impact Level 4, or IL4, designation from the Defense Information Systems Agency. – What Google’s New Cloud Security Authorizations Mean for Its Government Customers

– Mariam Baksh, Nextgov: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is pursuing a new strategy to guide agencies’ management of vulnerabilities with a binding operational directive that prioritizes their patching operations. “With over 18,000 vulnerabilities identified in 2020 alone, organizations in the public and private sector find it challenging to prioritize limited resources toward remediating the vulnerabilities that are most likely to result in a damaging intrusion,” CISA said releasing a catalog of 291 vulnerabilities in top technology products including those from Android and Apple for mobile devices. – CISA Orders Agencies to Patch Hundreds of Vulnerabilities Under Attack

– John Breeden II, Nextgov: This weekend I spent quite a bit of time helping Mars rovers learn how to avoid various mission-killing traps like the large rock fields and deep sand pits that are spread out all across the surface of the red planet. And NASA would like everyone to pitch in and assist the 12,000 of us who have already joined that effort. – How to Help Mars Robots With Their Missions

– Patience Wait, Nextgov: The challenge of finding qualified IT professionals to work for the federal government is well known. Most often the difficulty is attributed to lower pay scales than in the private sector, the slowness of the hiring process and the sclerotic bureaucracy that is reluctant to change or embrace new technologies. – Building a Cloud-Savvy Workforce May Mean Rethinking Degree Requirements

– Nathan Strout, Defense News: The National Reconnaissance Office is turning to industry for more satellite imagery, issuing a Nov. 3 request for proposals that could see contracts awarded in early 2022. The NRO has long been charged with developing, building and operating the nation’s fleet of spy satellites, but it was only recently made responsible for acquiring satellite imagery from commercial providers. That task had been the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s job, but the responsibility was passed to the NRO in 2017. – National Reconnaissance Office wants satellite imagery from commercial providers

– Jen Judson, Defense News: The U.S. Army has awarded a Boeing and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems team a contract to develop a 300-kilowatt solid-state laser weapon, according to an Oct. 25 Boeing announcement. The Distributed Gain High Energy Laser Weapon System will consist of both GA-EMS’ distributed gain laser technology and Boeing’s beam director and precision acquisition, tracking and pointing software. The program will culminate in a demonstration of the system for the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, according to the statement. – US Army awards Boeing, General Atomics contract to develop powerful laser weapon

– Stephen Losey, Defense News: For the first time, the Air Force last week carried out three major test flag events at three separate locations simultaneously to see how well the service can share data electronically across different battlespaces. The Orange Flag, Emerald Flag and Black Flag large force test events were held Oct. 26 in California, Florida and Nevada, the Air Force said in a Monday release. – US Air Force tests cross-country data sharing across three Flag exercises

USA-China:

– Matthew Kroenig, Atlantic Council: The People’s Republic of China is engaged in the most significant buildup of nuclear forces in its history. What are the implications of this buildup for international security, and what can the United States and its allies do about it? Atlantic Council Director of Studies and Scowcroft Center Deputy Director Matthew Kroenig examines what updates to US nuclear strategy are needed in light of China’s strategic forces buildup. – Deterring Chinese strategic attack: Grappling with the implications of China’s strategic forces buildup

– Tara Copp, Defense One: A new report says China’s nuclear arsenal is likely to be far bigger than the Pentagon predicted last year—the latest sign of what Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley is calling “one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power that the world has witnessed.” – China Likely to Have ‘At Least’ 1,000 Nukes by 2030, Pentagon Estimates

– Jordan Williams, The Hill: China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than expected as it seeks to build global influence, the Pentagon said in a report released Wednesday. The report stated that Beijing likely intends to have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, including 700 “deliverable” warheads by 2027, far outpacing the Defense Department’s previous estimates. – China expanding nuclear arsenal faster than expected: Pentagon report

– Al Jazeera: China is expanding its nuclear arsenal much quicker than anticipated, narrowing the gap with the United States, the Pentagon said in a report published. China could have 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027, and could top 1,000 by 2030 – an arsenal two-and-a-half times the size of what the Pentagon predicted only a year ago, according to the report published on Wednesday. – US predicts China could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030

USA-Egypt:

– Allison Nour, Atlantic Council: On November 8-9, an Egyptian delegation led by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is expected in Washington for the latest iteration of the United States-Egypt Strategic Dialogue. The dialogue—the first to be held under the Joe Biden administration—was confirmed in October following a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Egyptian counterpart on the margins of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September. – What will the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue look like? Here’s a preview

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