COMBATANT CRAFT IN THE MED: Two USN combatant craft medium (CCM) operate in the Mediterranean Sea near the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York. Photo taken June 18, 2020. From June 2019, a Naval Special Boat Team CCM conducts a patrol during a U.S. Special Operations Command multi-nation exercise in the Black Sea. The second photo shows the boat from a side angle. From February 2019, an article discussing the Navy’s renewed interest in coastal patrol boats and small combat craft. Here’s a photo of a Cyclone-class coastal patrol boat, the USS Thunderbolt. It is really a small warship, huge in comparison to the CCM.

UPDATE: Second link fixed. Thanks.

VIPER FLYOVER: The commander of the USAF’s F-16 Viper Demonstration Team performs a dedication pass over Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. Photo taken July 16, 2020.

REFURBISHING IRAN’S FAKE NIMITZ CARRIER: The story of a target barge used for target practice and propaganda photos.

Iran has repaired its six-year-old replica of an American Nimitz Class aircraft carrier. Originally built in 2013-15, the unpowered mockup of the Nimitz hull and flight deck which also had several replicas of American carrier aircraft on the deck. The target barge was built using the materials technology used to build the many Iranian off-shore oil platforms. In short, there was a shell with a metal lattice underneath. Parts of the outer shell could burn, but basically the target barge was built to survive a lot of hit from missiles and bombs, remain afloat and be towed back to port.

The article’s a chuckle.

HONORING THE FALLEN: While flying over Joint Base Charleston, S.C., airmen in a C-17 display the American flag in honor of 1st Lt. David Schmitz, a 77th Fighter Squadron pilot. Two F-16 Fighting Falcons trail the C-17. Schmitz was recently killed in an F-16 crash at Shaw AFB. Photo taken July 4.

RUSSIANS SELLING OUT TO CHINA: StrategyPage discusses reports of Chinese spying in Russia. The bottom line is that money buys secrets. But then China has been doing that in the U.S., too, hasn’t it? China’s pervasive spying and buying targets American creativity.

FIGHTING THE BONHOMME RICHARD FIRE: Another Navy photo taken July 12. This one shows a line of fireboats operating at Naval Base San Diego.

FROM THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: China’s global investment vanishes under Covid-19. That’s the title of the study.

A key point:

As expected given COVID-19, China’s construction and, especially, investment around the world plunged in the first half of 2020. The decline may be exaggerated by Chinese firms not wanting to report global activity, but Beijing’s happy numbers are not credible.

Another:

The data show decline in the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) global activity predates the pandemic. Activity peaked in 2016–17. The peak was an unsustainable drain on China’s foreign currency reserves, and Beijing belatedly tightened controls on capital outflow.2 A second blow, starting in 2018, stemmed from growing foreign doubts about benefits of Chinese investment.3 This trend is evident in both CGIT and government numbers.

The CGIT stands for China Global Investment Tracker, an analytic tool used by the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation.

A slice from the 12-page long pdf:

Beijing recognized in 2017 that it did not have the money to buy all it wanted. A foreign exchange squeeze has limited and will continue to limit China’s global investment and construction. Foreign currency holdings remain the highest in the world yet are also insecure. Reserves hit $4 trillion in spring 2014 but tested $3 trillion lows in early 2017 and have held steady near $3.1 trillion since (say official data). This is why tight controls on out-bound capital were imposed and remain in place. Foreign exchange is required because no one wants the RMB. Its share in global reserves is 2 percent, not far ahead of the Canadian dollar. A steady $3 trillion is more than enough to cover basic import needs, but not enough for constant acquisitions in developed economies and engineering projects in more than 140 developing economies. Over the past few years, Beijing’s choice about where to concentrate its reduced resources was preempted by first the US and then other rich countries. Most of the developed world has become more hostile to Chinese enterprises, a hostility the COVID-19 outbreak is almost certain to intensify.

Economic push back — and so richly deserved.

RELATED: When the Chinese Communist Party declared war on international order. (bumped)

AMERICA MOVES TO PROTECT THE SOUTH CHINA SEA FROM COMMUNIST CHINA: This week the U.S. made it clear it is prepared to stop Communist China’s slow invasion of the South China Sea.

Four years ago this week, the Chinese Communist Party declared war on international order in the form of a blunt rejection.

On July 12, 2016, The Hague’s international arbitral tribunal, relying on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty (UNCLOS), issued a ruling supporting the Philippines’ claims that China had violated Filipino territory in the South China Sea by seizing islets and “sea features.” China had also plundered resources in the Philippines’ maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Despite having signed the sea treaty (which meant accepting the arbitration process), the Chinese government callously ignored the verdict and disdained the court’s authority.

More:

China’s blunt rejection of the decision stunned the Filipino government and alerted other nations on the Pacific Rim. The Beijing regime not only broke a major treaty it had ratified but also openly maligned legal procedures created to promote peaceful resolution of international disputes. Beijing’s thuggish rebuke sent the message that Chinese whim backed by China’s enormous military and economic power determined sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Even more:

Reneging on treaties, spurning just verdicts and, of course, seizing territory without suffering severe consequences tells China’s leaders that its opponents are weak and lack the will to resist. Undermining, co-opting and ultimately dominating global diplomatic and economic institutions; public and private organizations; and methods of interaction is another CCP goal. Revealing weakness forwards this line of operation.

And:

On July 13, 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a “strengthened” U.S. policy in the South China Sea that specifically aligns American policy with the tribunal’s decision. “Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them,” Pompeo said.

For the wind up, read the entire column.

RELATED: The South China Morning Post comments on America’s new policy. Take it as another indicator the SCMP is becoming another Beijing mouthpiece.

VERY RELATED: A U.S. Navy photo taken July 2.

USS BONHOMME RICHARD IN FLAMES: This is a photo taken July 12 showing the fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. The smoke is indicative of the extent of the fire and the damage.

RELATED: Why ship fires can be difficult to control.

A MODEST SWAMP DRAINING PROPOSAL: From John Hinderaker at Powerline, a quick look at Great Britain’s emerging plans to disperse “some government offices Northward and away from London.” He mentions a law partner of his once “wrote an op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, arguing that we should disperse federal agencies around the country rather than centralizing them in Washington.” The post is well worth reading. John doesn’t say how many years ago his friend wrote the essay, but the moving the headquarters of federal agencies from Washington, DC to cities in “fly over” country has been around quite awhile. I first heard it mentioned in the late 1960s. If I recall correctly, the advocate said Kansas was an ideal place for the Department of Agriculture.

TRYING TO SAVE THE BONNIE: An MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter combats a fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard.

THE HAGUE COURT’S 2016 DECISION EXPOSED COMMUNIST CHINA’S PREDATORY WAR ON WORLD ORDER:

Four years ago this week, the Chinese Communist Party declared war on international order in the form of a blunt rejection.

My latest Creators Syndicate column.

SOF INSERTION BY HELOCAST: A photo depicting a tactic that, in non-combat circumstances, looks like fun if you know how to swim and can handle the rotorwash. From the DOD caption: “A Green Beret assigned to 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) helocasts into American Lake from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, June 30, 2020. A helocast is an airborne technique that allows Special Operation forces to insert into an area by jumping directly from a helicopter into water.” This photo shows a helocast event from 2019— an event in the annual U.S. Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition. From 2006, 1st Force Recon Company Marines helocasting off the Hawaiian coast— note the caption hyphenates the term. In the 2006 exercise the Marines then swam 750 meters.

A LESSON FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA IN OBSERVING CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS: Malawi shows the world wow to fix a crooked election, avoid anarchy and keep the peace. It’s a complex story, with twists and turns. But the thugs fail to intimidate — and they lose. (bumped)

DIVER PROPULSION DEVICE: U.S. Marines with Force Reconnaissance Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, complete an open circuit dive during a Diver Propulsion Device certification course at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan. Photo taken June 23, 2020.

PARANOIA CENTRAL: A detailed post discussing North Korea’s new three-year long intelligence course for international information warfare specialists. Indeed, an Information Warfare major for North Korean spies offered by the Mangyongdae Revolutionary Academy.

The post also discusses specialized training for agents operating in foreign countries:

These agents are trained to hunt down high-level defectors in foreign countries and either arrange to kill the defector or at least find out how the defector is doing, how many secrets they have divulged and, if possible, persuade the defector to shut up or even return to North Korea.

To accomplish this “defector remediation” task the Mangyongdae students are taught the latest hacking techniques and what tools and mercenary hackers are available in the hacker underground and how to deal with the tools, and the mercs, to put together specialized efforts to track down defectors and monitor them.

The entire post’s worth reading.

HERITAGE FLIGHT PRACTICE: An A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-35 Lightning II and a P-51 Mustang, practice formation flying for a heritage flight during the upcoming Cedar Creek Lake Air Show. The air show took place July 3 at Cedar Creek Lake, Texas.

AIR TANKER LINE UP: A KC-135 Stratotanker and seven KC-46A Pegasus tankers conduct an elephant walk at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. Photo taken July 1, 2020.

A LESSON FROM SOUTHERN AFRICA IN OBSERVING CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESS: Malawi shows the world wow to fix a crooked election, avoid anarchy and keep the peace. It’s a complex story, with twists and turns. But the thugs fail to intimidate — and they lose.

MA DEUCE TARGET PRACTICE: A U.S. Army 1st Cavalry Division soldier fires a M2 .50-caliber heavy-machine gun from a M88 Recovery Vehicle during a gunnery exercise at the 7th Army Training Command’s Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany.

MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE SUB-CONTINENT: StrategyPage’s latest India-Pakistan update really focuses on Communist China’s duplicity, border violations and general trouble-making. The post is long but detailed and informative.

I’ll highlight one section (about a third of the way through the article), since major media appear to have little interest in the Pangong Lake dispute.

In June China revived the border war over Pangong Lake, which is largely in Tibet and patrolled by a small Chinese naval force. This is the longest lake in Asia and part of the 134-kilometer long lake extends 45 kilometers into the Indian Ladakh region. China is using its usual “sneak, grab and stay” tactics to slowly move the border into territory long occupied by India. The portion of the lake shore in dispute has no native population. The only people who visit the area are soldiers from India or China.

Given this newly declared foreign threat China has, since 2019, sent new Type928D Patrol Boats to guard the lake. This fast (70 kilometers an hour) boat is armed with an RWS (Remote Weapons System) using a 12.7mm machine-gun plus two or more smaller (7.62mm) machine-guns that can be outed elsewhere on the boat and operated by one of the ten sailors on board. There is also seating below deck for up to twenty troops. India has smaller boats patrolling it portion of the 4,200-meter high lake, except for the few months when the entire lake is frozen over.

The article also discusses the Galwan River Valley dispute. This essay from 2015 analyzes Communist China’s “cabbage” imperialism in the South China Sea. It’s a slower version of “sneak, grab and stay,” but seeks the same imperialist territory-gobbling results.

READY IN JAPAN: Quite a show. From the Pentagon caption: “Twelve U.S. Air Force F-16CM Fighting Falcons, 12 Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35A Lightning IIs, two U.S. Navy EA-18G Growlers, a U.S. Navy C-12 Huron, two U.S. Air Force MC-130J Commando IIs, and a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon participate in an elephant walk at Misawa Air Base, Japan, June 22, 2020.” The caption goes on to say the photo records Misawa’s first “bilateral and joint elephant walk.” This article from January 2020 discusses F-35 acquisition by Japan and Singapore. Both countries are purchasing F-35As and F-35Bs (the vertical takeoff and landing variant). Here’s a USMC F-35B taking off from Futenma, Okinawa.

THE WIDE OPEN DOORS: A C-17 rolls into a very large maintenance hangar.

DECOUPLE AND CONTROL: U.S. Must Secure Supply Chains and Production.

To protect their own political, economic and military security, the U.S. and other democracies must treat Beijing’s CCP regime as the aggressive adversary it is.

Unfortunately, the economic globalization process that accelerated in the 1990s entwined the U.S. and Chinese economies. A large slice of U.S. manufacturing moved offshore. China began producing computers, communications gear and pharmaceuticals. Why? As China’s economy modernized, the U.S. bet political liberalization would follow. International integration would moderate China’s communists, and a democracy focused on internal development and peaceful economic competition would emerge.

Information globalization, however, didn’t follow economic embrace. The Great Firewall of China (attempting to isolate Chinese digital connectivity) exemplifies CCP hedging.

More:

Two words describe the solution: decoupling and control. Decoupling is wonkspeak for separating supply chains. (The word’s easy; the chains and decoupling process are complex horrors.) “Control of production” means “build it yourself.”

Read the entire mini-manifesto.

THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY IS SNARED IN A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL WAR: My latest Creators Syndicate column (bumped). The column sketches some of the economic, ideological, information, political, military and diplomatic components of the snare.

The goodie-producing economic engine that braces the CCP’s domestic political strategy needs international markets. China’s domestic economy can’t sustain it.

CCP international aggression magnifies the vulnerabilities. Recent vile aggression abounds. But call my choices cherry-picking and I’ll call you a bribed media propagandist.

You’ve been warned.