In my line of work, the enemy gets a vote.

Jim Mattis

2. Have you met General Mattis, or are you just quoting what you read? Jim Mattis, after he retired, invited me to have lunch with him in Washington state, near his house. We had great conversations. I value our friendship.

WASHINGTON ― There is no such thing as a “tactical” nuclear weapon, despite the introduction of two so-called tactical options in the recently released Nuclear Posture Review, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress on Tuesday.

“I don’t think there is any such thing as a ‘tactical nuclear weapon.’ Any nuclear weapon used any time is a strategic game-changer,” Mattis told members of the House Armed Services Committee.

The Nuclear Posture Review, formally released Feb. 2, called for creatinga low-yield nuclear warhead for America’s sea-launched ballistic missiles, as well as the development of a new sea-launched nuclear cruise missile.

Officials rolling out the document said these weapons are needed to counter what the NPR directly refers to as Russia’s “tactical nuclear weapons.” Those weapons, which Russia is building out at a high rate, are described by the Pentagon as the backbone of Moscow’s controversial “escalate to de-escalate” strategy.

Under that concept, if fighting broke out between NATO forces and Russia, Moscow would move quickly to use a tactical nuclear weapon. The assumption would be that the U.S., armed only with large, world-ending strategic weapons, would be unable to retaliate appropriately and essentially stand down in the face of Russian aggression. Hence, the need for smaller nuclear weapons which could match Russia if need be.

While Mattis may be against the idea that using a low-yield nuclear warhead in combat does not escalate things to a strategic level, he still threw support behind the reasoning for building out the two new U.S. capabilities.

The plight of NATO’s navies

BY DOV S. ZAKHEIM, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 04/12/24 11:00 AM ET

Equipment and operational failures are but a symptom of the challenges facing not only the Danish and German navies but those of other NATO navies as well. Years of underspending on defense generally and on naval forces in particular have left many NATO navies short of both personnel and funding for operations and maintenance. While several countries, notably Germany, have committed to boost their defense spending in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it will take years before their fleets could be termed fully capable of carrying out their missions.


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The problems that NATO navies face are not unique to them. Years of budgetary decline have affected land and air forces as well. Naval forces are especially stressed, however. And with America’s naval forces unable to meet their own growth targets, there is an urgent need for other NATO states to increase their own contributions to the alliance’s maritime deterrent.

It is therefore crucial that European NATO members recognize that even their projected increases in defense spending for the remainder of this decade may not enable their naval forces to recover fully from the many years of neglect since the end of the Cold War. The Russian threat, and most notably the ongoing battles in the Black Sea, should spur the NATO allies to go beyond just fulfilling their current commitments to increase spending on maritime forces. They should also give serious consideration to allocating additional resources to their naval forces, in order both to modernize ship systems and to recruit and retain the necessary personnel to operate them effectively

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WASHINGTON (AP) — China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine, according to a U.S. assessment.

Two senior Biden administration officials, who discussed the sensitive findings Friday on the condition of anonymity, said that in 2023 about 90% of Russia’s microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used to make missiles, tanks and aircraft. Nearly 70% of Russia’s approximately $900 million in machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2023 came from China.

Chinese and Russian entities have also been working to jointly produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia, and Chinse companies are likely providing Russia with nitrocellulose needed to make propellants weapons, the officials said.
Beijing is also working with Russia to improve its satellite and other space-based capabilities for use in Ukraine, a development the officials say could in the longer term increase the threat Russia poses across Europe. The officials, citing downgraded intelligence findings, said the U.S. has also determined that China is providing imagery to Russia for its war on Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who returned to Washington this week from a visit to Beijing, said she warned Chinese officials that the Biden administration was prepared to sanction Chinese banks, companies and Beijing’s leadership, if they assist Russia’s armed forces with its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Democratic president issued an executive order in December giving Yellen the authority to sanction financial institutions that aided Russia’s military-industrial complex.

“We continue to be concerned about the role that any firms, including those in the PRC, are playing in Russia’s military procurement,” Yellen told reporters, using the initials for the Peoples Republic of China. “I stressed that companies, including those in the PRC, must not provide material support for Russia’s war and that they will face significant consequences if they do. And I reinforced that any banks that facilitate significant transactions that channel military or dual-use goods to Russia’s defense industrial base expose themselves to the risk of U.S. sanctions.”

Meanwhile, China on Thursday announced rare sanctionsagainst two U.S. defense companies over what it called their support for arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary.

The announcement freezes the assets of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems held within China. It also bars the companies’ management from entering the country.

Filings show General Dynamics operates a half-dozen Gulfstream and jet aviation services operations in China, which remains heavily reliant on foreign aerospace technology even as it attempts to build its own presence in the field.

The company also helps make the Abrams tank being purchased by Taiwan to replace outdated armor intended to deter or resist an invasion from China.

General Atomics produces the Predator and Reaper drones used by the U.S. military