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00:00What's in a name?
00:01The president turns the clock back on the Department of Defense.
00:05Plus, with a $50 million bounty hanging over his head, Nicolas Maduro vows a response to
00:11the U.S. military strike on a Venezuelan boat.
00:15And a move towards modernization.
00:18Why the Air Force is shutting down a nuclear missile silo.
00:23Hey folks, welcome to Weapons and Warfare.
00:29Whether you're hanging with friends or debating fools in the comments section, our goal is
00:34to help you have an informed conversation about what's happening with America's national
00:38defense.
00:39For Straight Arrow News, I'm your host, Ryan Robertson.
00:42And we start this week with Ukraine and what peace might look like for the nearly 40 million
00:47people who live there once the war ends.
00:54Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine looks destined to hit the four-year mark.
00:59Still, preparations for an eventual peace need to be made.
01:03Which has many wondering what exactly that will look like for a war-torn nation that once
01:09boasted a population of nearly 40 million.
01:13In early September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv and its allies have a general
01:19vision for security guarantees against future Russian aggression.
01:24And that more than two dozen countries were exploring exactly what role they would play.
01:29Keir Giles, author of Who Will Defend Europe, says there's a large gap between being willing
01:37and being capable.
01:39What all European countries seeking to support and protect Ukraine face is the reality of
01:44the aftermath of decades of defense drawdowns in their own armed forces.
01:49It's only the easternmost states, the frontline states, that have taken seriously the need
01:52to rearm and re-equip and rebuild their military potential.
01:56West of Warsaw, that task is still lying ahead of them.
01:59So what these countries that have got together to try to support Ukraine may be swiftly realizing
02:04is that a coalition of the willing is something very different from a coalition of the able.
02:08Around 30 western leaders took part in talks with Zelensky in Paris on potential commitments
02:14to bolster Kyiv's defense following any potential truce with Russia.
02:19Giles says the only meaningful security guarantees for Ukraine would be serious military consequences
02:26for Russia if it launched new attacks.
02:29The question is whether European powers are willing either to build up Ukraine's own armed
02:34forces in order to be able to deliver that damage or to promise to deliver it themselves
02:39by means of an unshakable and undoubted commitment to Ukraine's future security.
02:44Earlier this month, in a warning to Kyiv's allies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said any
02:49western troops deployed to Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Moscow to attack.
02:56Russia has long argued one of its reasons for going to war in Ukraine was to prevent NATO
03:02from admitting Kyiv as a member and placing its forces in Ukraine.
03:07We've already heard suggestions from Moscow that it should be part of any future security
03:11package for Ukraine in the same way that it was part of the Budapest memorandum signed
03:15in 1994 which supposedly guaranteed the territorial integrity of Ukraine against, for example, Russia.
03:22There's no doubt that the vagueness of this term provides Russia with an opportunity to shape
03:26the narrative towards its own ends.
03:28A recent report by NBC News detailed how the US could take a lead role in monitoring a buffer
03:34zone between Ukraine and Russia if and when a peace deal is reached.
03:39On the one hand, the fact that Donald Trump appears to be engaging with this process is encouraging.
03:44On the other hand, it's entirely unclear what the United States might be willing to do in order
03:49to support future security guarantees for Ukraine.
03:52We've heard a range of different positions laid out apparently firmly by Trump and by the
03:56US from no involvement whatsoever to some vague and unspecified commitments, something
04:01to do with the air.
04:03President Trump hosted Vladimir Putin amid great fanfare for summit in Alaska last month.
04:09Trump even hand-delivered a letter to Putin written by First Lady Melania Trump pleading
04:14with the Russian leader to return the Ukrainian children his forces had kidnapped.
04:20But Putin didn't and instead ordered a massive strike on an American-linked factory in Ukraine.
04:26And there certainly has been no indication of Moscow softening any of its terms for ending
04:32the war or agreeing to a meeting with Ukrainian leadership.
04:37I'm joined now by senior producer and Air Force veteran Brett Baker for some headlines you may
04:42have missed and Brett, breaking news to report by the time this episode publishes to the interwebs,
04:48you and I are going to be in Ukraine reporting and gathering some stories.
04:51Yeah, very exciting development.
04:54I don't think any of us at the beginning of the year would probably be predicted that trip
04:59would be in store for us, but it is.
05:01And I know we're excited to go and get some excellent content and bring it back to share
05:06with, you know, not only weapons and warfare, but the straight air news viewership.
05:10Absolutely.
05:11And it's, we're not going to be at the front lines or anything like that, but we are going
05:15to Ukraine.
05:16Our families are a little nervous, but you and I were talking a little bit earlier as journalists,
05:22I think you said your point was, you know, it's just one of those opportunities that
05:25you can't really pass up.
05:26So looking forward to it for sure.
05:28So, all right, let's get to those headlines.
05:32Bucking constitutional norms.
05:34Once again, President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order returning the Department
05:39of Defense to its original name, the Department of War.
05:42Mr. President, is it your expectation that Congress will codify this name change in the law?
05:48I don't know, but we're going to find out, but I'm not sure they have to.
05:51We're signing an executive order today.
05:54So a little history lesson.
05:55The Department of War was created in 1789 by, or was changed by President Harry Truman
06:02in 1947 to the Department of Defense when it incorporated the Department of War, which
06:07oversaw the Army plus the Department of the Navy and the newly created Independent Air Force.
06:14So, Brett, you and I had talked about this last week because we kind of knew this was
06:18probably coming down the pike.
06:20Yeah, it was kind of floated out there.
06:23And sure enough, it turned out to be the case.
06:25You know, interesting thing.
06:27You actually need congressional approval to change the name of the department.
06:31So to get by that, it is apparently a secondary name.
06:35So it still is the Department of Defense for all intents and purposes.
06:41Uh, this is just a language thing that they're, uh, you know, jazzed up about.
06:48Uh, I, I don't really understand it, but it is what it is.
06:53Yeah, it's definitely a marketing and branding thing.
06:56It kind of reminds me of when businesses are incorporated under one LLC, but they, uh,
07:01operate under a DBA, a doing business as like a different name.
07:05Um, but it's essentially all, it's all the same folks doing the same stuff.
07:10Uh, but the Secretary of Defense did update a lot of his social media handles to now, uh,
07:16reflect the new title that he's operating under the Secretary of War.
07:20Um, but to your point, Brett doesn't necessarily change much, uh, from a logistics standpoint,
07:26necessarily, but we'll see how this, uh, plays out in the weeks, months, and years ahead.
07:33Hey, remember that, uh, U.S. missile strike, uh, in the Caribbean that killed 11 people?
07:38The White House said they were drug smugglers and drug traffickers and part of Venezuela's
07:44trendy Aragua gang.
07:45Well, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is warning other would-be traffickers
07:50more could still be in store.
07:52If you're on a boat full of cocaine or fentanyl or whatever headed to the United States,
07:56you're an immediate threat to the United States.
07:58And the president under his authority as commander in chief has a right under exigent
08:02circumstances to eliminate imminent threats to the United States.
08:06Rubio faced some pretty pointed questions from a few media members about the legality of
08:11the operation.
08:12He did defend the strike, but didn't really go into any details about it.
08:16Like whether those aboard the boat were warned before being fired upon, uh, Brett, the strike
08:22on the boat kind of reminded me of all of the drone strikes from back in the Iraq and Afghanistan
08:27wars under the Obama administration.
08:29What do you think?
08:31Yeah, for good reason.
08:32Um, it's, it looks a little like a video game, right?
08:35Uh, rarely you see, uh, an individual, uh, you know, that high up in, in, you know, our
08:42political chain, uh, our government chain put out a video of 11 people being wiped out of existence.
08:49Um, yeah, it's, I, it's an interesting, you know, position to take, uh, not giving them any kind of
08:56heads up, any warning, not trying to maybe apprehend them.
09:01Uh, you know, that's one that they're going to have to deal with.
09:04Um, it, it wouldn't be my play, but that's, you know, one of those things that, uh, is, is going
09:10to happen with this administration.
09:13I will say after talking with a couple of folks, a couple of contacts that we have, um, what,
09:18however it's being portrayed, uh, you know, in, in the headlines or in the media or anything like
09:23that, uh, these military contacts did say that the strike from a military, like kill chain perspective
09:30would not have been authorized without positive identification on the individuals on the boat.
09:36Um, so take that for what it is.
09:39Uh, but yeah, this is definitely, uh, the Trump administration, the white house really upping
09:44the game against the cartels, um, at a, at a time when he's campaigned upon, you know, getting
09:51fentanyl back, uh, you know, stopping it from coming across the border, stopping drug trafficking,
09:55human trafficking. And he points to the Nicolas Maduro, uh, regime as being one of the primary
10:01players in that game. So, uh, that's why there's so much of a concerted effort to stop Venezuela
10:07and the Maduro regime in its alleged ties, uh, to narco-terrorist states.
10:14All right. Last headline for you today, and it's a big one. The outlet breaking defense reported the
10:20U.S. Air Force officially decommissioned its first Minutemen 3 missile silo at F.E. Warren Air Force
10:27Base in my old hometown of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It's part of the services modernization process
10:32of America's nuclear triad, where Minutemen 3 ICBMs are getting swapped out for the new Sentinel
10:38intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are made by Northrop Grumman. Uh, in the midst of this
10:43transition though, Air Force officials say the readiness and alert status of the remaining ICBMs
10:49will remain unaffected during this process. Uh, so basically saying just because one is down
10:54doesn't mean we don't have more pointed at you, whoever you may be. Uh, Brett, you and I have
10:59spoken to Lieutenant General Mark Weatherington before. He was one of the guys who used to oversee
11:03the, uh, Air Force's global strike program. And he told us the old Minutemen silos were originally
11:09going to be reused with the Sentinel program, but now it looks like it's going to be cheaper to just
11:14build new holes and, uh, you know, put the new missiles and new holes in the ground.
11:19Yeah. Unfortunately, there's no, uh, uh, home redo show, you know, flip this silo.
11:24Uh, but yeah, I mean, a lot of those, those silos, I mean, they're decades old. Um, technology has
11:32changed, uh, what the crews that operate them need has changed. Um, so it's, it's not that big a surprise.
11:40I think it would, it obviously would be a nice thing to, you know, probably maybe save some money
11:45to just be able to renovate those. But at a certain point in time, you have to like figure,
11:49okay, it probably is just cheaper to dig a new hole and start from scratch.
11:54Yeah. Yeah. When you have to like, you know, tear out all the old stuff. And if there's,
11:58you know, the mitigation for any kind of caustic chemicals or anything like that, I mean,
12:04throw some dirt on the top, start over. It's definitely a cheaper way. Environmentally
12:08speaking, I'm sure there's going to be some folks who, you know, protest about this, but from a,
12:14you know, protection of the country, um, we need these things. It is part of the nuclear deterrence.
12:20The nuclear triad is what has kept the world in a mostly peaceful state over the last, uh, 85 years
12:28or so. Um, so we need these, especially with China building more, uh, they are good to have. All right,
12:34Brett, the next time we do this, um, you know, we'll have some stories from Ukraine to tell.
12:40We'll be in Ukraine. So yeah, it'll be, it'll be fun. We're looking forward to it.
12:48In 1962, Hanna-Barbera offered a version of what life on earth might be like 100 years in the future
12:56with the Jetsons, showcasing all kinds of space age technology woven into everyday life,
13:03but nothing quite captured the audience's attention like the promise of flying cars.
13:10While 2062 is still 37 years away, that promise might be closer than you think.
13:16At this year's soft week in Tampa, Florida, we saw something that captured our attention
13:21like George Jetson's Daily Driver did 63 years ago. That's why Pivotal's Blackfly eVTOL is our weapon of the week.
13:33Okay, Cam, I'm ready for takeoff.
13:36Go for takeoff.
13:37When you first see it, the Blackfly kind of looks like a next-gen remote control drone.
13:43But a double take reveals something else entirely. An American-made all-electric flying vehicle
13:50capable of vertical takeoffs and landings. Made by Pivotal, the Blackfly and its successor,
13:57the Helix, were built for private use and emergency medical services. But now there's an eye on bringing
14:04this tech to the military. There are a number of missions that we think that we are ideally suited
14:10for. In the near term, that could be covert insertion, covert extraction. It could be a rescue
14:18of a downed pilot or stranded individual in a SAR or SEER situation. Ken Karklin, Pivotal's CEO,
14:25says their vehicles are also capable of uncrewed flight. You could send out a number of these
14:31aircraft autonomously because they're actually at an attributable price point. And then one of them
14:37comes back with that stranded individual who is able to fly themselves back or it's done remotely.
14:42If early signs are any indication, the military is interested as well. In 2024, Pivotal delivered
14:50four Blackflies to AFWERX, the innovation wing at the Air Force Research Lab. Karklin says that kind
14:57of interest is pushing Pivotal to develop the next evolution of their aircraft.
15:03We're going to be working very diligently on the big brother to the Helix, which is very defense
15:07focused. It's called the Spyro. It's the same fundamental architecture, same building blocks.
15:12It's our platform, but about an order of magnitude up on the gross takeoff weight. So rather than
15:20something north of 500 pounds, you'd be something just north of 5,000 pounds capable of carrying 2,000
15:25pounds of cargo, 300 nautical miles. Pivotal also landed a two-year deal with the Air Force and AFWERX
15:32agility prime that gives them access to testing facilities, expert resources, and several sites
15:39within restricted airspace. With that kind of support, Pivotal can speed up both crewed and
15:45uncrewed flight testing and system verification, boosting the chances for getting a Pivotal aircraft
15:52into operation. Where we really want to focus is in the defense space because we sincerely believe
15:58that there are some missions out there we can do better than anyone else can at a better cost point
16:02and solve real problems for the warfighter. So that's why we're here.
16:07Time now for comps check and hat tip to Air Force Chief of Staff General David Alvin
16:12for the heads up on a pretty significant milestone in the competition between General Atomics
16:17and Anduril to build the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft, also known as CCA.
16:27In late August, the General posted this to one of his social media accounts.
16:32CCA is in the air less than two years after the program began. Your Air Force is moving fast and
16:39learning fast. CCA will help us rethink the battle space, extend reach, and optimize warfighter
16:46performance through human-machine teaming. Developed with General Atomics, the YFQ-42A's recent flight
16:55in California gathered important data on air worthiness and flight autonomy. It's all part of
17:02a larger plan to introduce modular, cost-effective, uncrewed aircraft that will operate alongside
17:10next-generation crewed aircraft. The CCA is part of the next-generation air dominance family of systems,
17:19focusing on modular, software-defined air power. And as far as we know, Anduril's entry in the
17:25competition, the YFQ-44A, also known as the Fury, hasn't flown quite yet, though it is expected to
17:33enter flight testing in the very near future. All opinions expressed in this segment are solely
17:41the opinions of the contributors. All right, folks, for my wrap this week,
17:45we're doing something a little different. We're talking about jobs, specifically manufacturing jobs.
17:51As far back as I can remember, presidents and political leaders have been promising
17:56to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States. And for as far back as I can remember,
18:04the number of people employed in the manufacturing sector has been on the decline. It peaked in 1979,
18:12with just shy of 20 million U.S. citizens employed in that sector. In August, that number sat at 12.7
18:20million. There are some hard truths to swallow when it comes to bringing back manufacturing.
18:26For starters, for a lot of things like consumer electronics, it's cost prohibitive. Americans demand
18:33too high a wage for it to make financial sense to build cell phones or stereos in the United States.
18:40A thousand dollar iPhone would quickly become a four thousand dollar iPhone. But when it comes to
18:46defensive manufacturing, the industry is growing by leaps and bounds. Startups like PDW are building
18:53new facilities, former startups like Anduril are expanding at breakneck speeds, and even the prime
19:00contractors are building new production lines and expanding existing ones to meet the demands
19:07for things like HIMARS launchers, Patriot missiles, and other platforms. Which leads us to a second hard
19:14truth. The U.S. can bring back thousands of manufacturing jobs, maybe millions, but it means making weapons,
19:22something many Americans are uncomfortable with. But the world is headed for some rocky times ahead.
19:29All the major American adversaries just had a get together in China, celebrating all the latest
19:35weapons designed to keep America out of their way. So when it comes to protecting American lives and
19:42American livelihoods, to me, the answer to both is building more American made defensive products.
19:50And that's going to do it for us this week, folks. If you like what you saw and or heard,
19:55please like and subscribe to our social media feeds, download the Straight Arrow News app,
20:00and maybe more importantly, share our stories. We're on a mission to help people have a more
20:05informed conversation about the U.S. military and our national defense, and we are recruiting volunteers
20:11to help. So until next time, for senior producer Brett Baker, video editor Brian Spencer, and motion designer
20:19Dakota Patio, I'm Ryan Robertson for Straight Arrow News, signing off.
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