Navy shipbuilder to hire 7,000 workers with state’s help
The Virginia company that builds the nation’s aircraft carriers and some of its submarines says it will hire nearly 7,000 people in five years. Virginia’s governor says the state will help the private shipbuilder recruit and train those workers.
Gov. Ralph Northam made the announcement Tuesday outside Newport News Shipbuilding, which sits along the James River near the Atlantic Coast. Northam said Virginia’s commerce secretary will lead the partnership to ensure the company gets the skilled workers it needs.
Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin says many new hires will replace retiring workers. But the shipyard will see a net gain of 2,000 jobs.
The new jobs are for existing military contracts. But the Navy’s goal of expanding the fleet reflects the growing need for skilled workers in the future. AP
Estonia to buy South Korean howitzers in $54 million deal
Estonia has agreed to buy South Korean artillery in a $54 million deal that officials say will substantially boost the small Baltic country’s defense capacity.
The Estonian military procurement agency says the contract with Seoul-based weapons producer Hanwha Land Systems is for 12 K9 Thunder howitzers, training, maintenance and spare parts.
Agency director Col. Rauno Sirk said after a signing ceremony June 26 that the artillery pieces “will bring Estonia’s defense capacity to a new level and be one of the most considerable steps of building up armored maneuvering capacity.”
The first howitzers are to arrive in Estonia in 2020.
Finland, Norway and Poland are among current European users of the self-propelled K9 Thunder. AP
U.S. aircraft carrier patrols disputed sea amid China buildup
The U.S. military has deployed the third aircraft carrier this year to patrol the disputed South China Sea, where Washington has criticized China’s military buildup on new man-made islands.
The 97,000-ton USS Ronald Reagan, carrying more than 70 aircraft, anchored in Manila Bay June 26 after plying the strategic waters for meetings between navy officials of the two countries and liberty for its thousands of sailors after weeks at sea.
The U.S. military presence in the region “has supported our ability to defend our nation and our allies” and “promotes our ability to safeguard freedom of the seas, unimpeded commerce, to deter conflict and coercion and to promote adherence to rules-based international order,” Rear Admiral Marc Dalton told reporters on board the ship.
Two other American carriers earlier patrolled the waterway, where China and five other governments have been locked in decades of disputes over territories that straddle some of the world’s busiest sea lanes. Some areas are believed to have undersea deposits of natural gas and oil.
China has reportedly deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missiles, electronic jammers and other equipment on islands it built on disputed reefs in the Spratly Islands, and landed a bomber aircraft on Woody Island in the Paracels, sparking alarm among rival claimants and the United States. Washington has no territorial claims in the region but has declared that freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters is in U.S. national interest.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said earlier this month that the Trump administration’s recent decision to disinvite China from a multinational naval exercise this summer was an “initial response” to Beijing’s island activity. Mattis called the U.S. action a “relatively small consequence. I believe there are much larger consequences in the future.”
China argues that it is within its rights to build up defenses on islands in the South China Sea that it claims are its sovereign territory. There is fear that Beijing will use its new islands, including some with runways, to project its military might and potentially to restrict navigation in the busy waters. AP
Pentagon says two bases to house immigrants
The Pentagon is preparing to build temporary camps for immigrants at two military bases, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said June 24.
He did not name the two bases, but said the details are being worked out, including how much capacity is needed. The Pentagon had initially talked about four potential bases, but Mattis indicated the number is now two.
The Pentagon last week said it would make space available on military bases for as many as 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children detained after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. It wasn’t clear Sunday if the housing would be limited strictly to children or if it would also involve families.
Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Asia on June 24, Mattis said the military has housed people in the past, including Vietnamese fleeing their country as well as Americans needing shelter in the wake of natural disasters.
“We consider that to be a logistics function that’s quite appropriate” for the department, Mattis said.
The request for temporary shelter — amid a growing political battle over detained migrants — was made by the Department of Health and Human Services and accepted by the Defense Department.
HHS has assessed facilities on four military bases: Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, plus three bases in Texas: Dyess Air Force Base, Goodfellow Air Force Base and Fort Bliss.
The Pentagon has said it will have no role in operating the temporary shelters, which would be controlled by HHS.
A Pentagon memo to members of Congress, obtained by The Associated Press, said it has been asked to have the facilities available as early as July, through the end of the year. AP
Australia, Vanuatu to negotiate security treaty
Australia says it will negotiate a security treaty with Vanuatu, weeks after the Australian prime minister warned China against building a military base on the South Pacific island nation.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the negotiations during a visit to the Australian Parliament House June 25 by Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas.
A Vanuatu government spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China and Vanuatu denied media reports in May that the Chinese had approached the former joint British-French colony about building a permanent military presence in the South Pacific.
Turnbull said at the time Australia “would view with great concern the establishment of any foreign military bases in those Pacific island countries and neighbors of ours.” AP
NATO chief sees July decision on launching Macedonia talks
NATO’s chief says he expect the leaders of the military alliance will decide at a summit next month to officially launch membership talks with Macedonia.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said June 25 that “I expect and I hope that NATO leaders at the summit will decide to start accession talks.”
U.S. President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts will meet in Brussels on July 11-12.
The news comes after Greece and Macedonia agreed to end a decades-long dispute over the latter’s name. It will be renamed North Macedonia.
Greece had long insisted on the name change, arguing that its northern neighbor’s name implies claims on a northern Greek province also called Macedonia, and on ancient Greek heritage. AP
Australia to buy six U.S.-made Triton drones for $5.1 billion
Australia has bought the first of six U.S.-manufactured long-range drones that will cost 6.9 billion Australian dollars ($5.1 billion) and significantly increase the nation’s military surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, a government minister said June 26.
The first MQ-4C Triton was purchased from Northrop Grumman for AU$1.4 billion ($1 billion), Defense Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told Parliament.
The drone, which has the same wingspan as a Boeing 737, will give Australia high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities across 10 percent of the world’s surface, Pyne said.
“We want to be a good ally and we want to look after our own national interests and today, we went even further along that road by announcing that we would buy the Triton unmanned aerial vehicles,” Pyne said.
Pyne said one of Australia’s most important contributions to “Five Eyes” — an intelligence gathering network that includes the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand — were reconnaissance and surveillance over Southeast Asia and Antarctica, as well as the Indian and Pacific oceans.
The Tritons will operate with 12 manned P-8 Poseidon surveillance planes that are replacing the aging P-3 Orion aircraft, he said.
Australia will ramp up its defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, a year earlier than had initially been promised, Pyne said.
President Donald Trump has been critical of U.S. allies that he says do not spend enough on their own defense. AP