FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – With the many national security and intelligence topics that American Defense News (ADN) cannot adequately cover every day – in collaboration with the Center for American Defense Studies (CADS) – we are providing our readers a PDB:

Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – Paul’s Daily Briefing.

Today’s PDB Includes a variety of critical issues such as – How China’s new nuclear reactors could produce lots more weapons-grade plutonium. The U.S. considering providing more weapons to Ukraine to face Russia. Cyber operations by both U.S. and China increase the risk of accidental nuclear war. The argument against a new U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) ‘nuclear sponge.’

Plus, the U.S. and Europe alarmed by the growing ‘danger’ from Putin’s Russia.

California foster parents asked to take in illegal unaccompanied minor migrants from Central America

U.S. Navy holds first-ever unmanned ‘ghost’ fleet exercise.

And the Pentagon requests an aircraft carrier to provide cover for NATO troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

TODAY’S PDB HIGHLIGHTS:

Afghanistan

Pentagon seeks carrier deployment as it exits Afghanistan, in sign it’s readying for a fight. Military commanders are seeking to deploy an aircraft carrier specifically to help protect NATO troops in Afghanistan as they withdraw, the clearest sign yet that the Pentagon is preparing for a fight as it closes the books on America’s longest war.

China Threat

China’s new nuclear reactors could yield weapons-grade plutonium, warns US commander. A new generation of nuclear power facilities that China is developing could produce large amounts of plutonium that could be used to make nuclear weapons, the head of the US Strategic Command warned lawmakers this week.

Russia Threat

US and European powers alarmed by growing ‘danger’ from Putin’s Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on domestic dissidents and military buildup along Ukraine’s border are driving relations between Moscow and the Western powers toward a perilous inflection point.

U.S. considers more weapons shipments to Ukraine amid Russian buildup. The White House is weighing requests from Kyiv to send additional weaponry to Ukraine as it faces the biggest military buildup of Russian forces on its border in nearly a decade.

U.S Military – Unmanned Warships

Navy’s first-ever unmanned fleet exercise launches off West Coast. As the Navy moves toward ‘unmanning’ part of its future fleet via air, surface, and underwater drones — plans that have prompted skepticism from some in Congress — U.S. 3rd Fleet hosted the sea service’s first-ever fleet exercise focused on unmanned systems this week on the West Coast.

National Security

How cyber ops increase the risk of accidental nuclear war. Five factors exacerbate a U.S.-Chinese security dilemma. The risk of the United States and China going to war, leading to a nuclear exchange, is growing by the day. Cyber operations by either or both countries increase the risk significantly, as each side is tempted to use cyber tools to gain warning and an early edge in a crisis.

$264B for ICBMs that would be destroyed in the ground? No, thanks. Creating a spiffy new “nuclear sponge” makes neither fiscal nor strategic sense.

Homeland Security

Foster parents in California are being asked if they can take in unaccompanied Central American children who have recently crossed the southern border. Automated emails and phone calls from the state’s Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) have asked foster parents if they can take anywhere from one to 26 or more children.

END of PDB

Paul Crespo

Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Defense News. A defense and national security expert, he served as a Marine Corps officer and as a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at US embassies worldwide. Paul holds degrees from Georgetown, London, and Cambridge Universities. He is also CEO of SPECTRE Global Risk, a security advisory firm, and President of the Center for American Defense Studies, a national security think tank.