Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- October 10, 2017

The Chinese navy has visited Djibouti previously, with a ship docking at the tiny African nation's port in 2015. China News Service

Ralph Jennings, Forbes: China Might Look To These Countries For Its Next Foreign Military Base

China and the small African nation of Djibouti reached an agreement in July to let the People’s Liberation Army establish up its first overseas military base there. The base on Africa’s east coast will help China ferry aid and peacekeeping personnel to other parts of the continent, per this China Daily news website report. It will also smooth joint military exercises and maintain “security of international strategic waterways,” the website says.

It's just one base, and Beijing isn’t expected to follow the United States in opening bases in 16 countries around Asia, Europe and beyond. But we should expect a few more. China is most likely to put more military bases on the African east coast, as well as along the Indian Ocean or Arabian Sea. Those bases would do more of what China Daily talks about, especially protecting Chinese citizens offshore and ensuring that West Asian waterways stay open to facilitate trade in crucial goods such as crude oil.

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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- October 10, 2017

Against the Tide: A Look at Chinese and Indian Strategies to Become Superpowers -- Melly Hu & Kyle W. Johnson, RCD/Strategy Bridge

Israeli Air Force eyes 3-D printing as a hedge against wartime disruptions -- Defense News

Pakistan no more reliant on US for military needs: Prime Minister Abbasi -- DAWN

Russian military jet crashes on takeoff in Syria, crew killed: agencies -- Reuters

NATO’s Worst Fear: Losing to Russia in a War -- Scout Warrior

Finland debates joining NATO despite Russian warnings -- DW

No Angst Over Turkey's Air Defense Deal With Russia, Says NATO Chief -- US News and World Report
NATO launches Black Sea force as latest counter to Russia -- Reuters

Here are the UK defense programs that could land on the chopping block -- Defense News

N. Korea hacked Seoul's war plan: report -- AFP

Britain 'draws up battle plan for war with North Korea' -- The Telegraph

Mattis: Army 'must stand ready' in face of North Korean threat -- The Hill

US Sends Nuclear Submarine To Korean Peninsula For More Military Drills -- Zero Hedge

Airstrikes in Afghanistan increase after new Trump strategy -- The Hill

Trump's Military Dropped 751 Bombs on Afghanistan in September, Highest Number in Seven Years -- Newsweek

Russia remains the greatest near-term threat to the US, intel official says -- Army Times

Army to establish special forces-like teams after Green Beret deaths in Niger -- The Hill

‘I now hate my ship’: Surveys reveal disastrous morale on cruiser Shiloh -- Navy Times

Oshkosh makes Joint Light Tactical Vehicle more lethal -- Defense News

The Air Force is facing a 'quiet crisis' of manpower, but recruitment isn't the problem -- Business Insider

Pentagon Pushes for Faster F-35 Cost Cuts -- Fiscal Times

U.S. military to become 'giant armed nervous system' -- WND

Size of the Army and F-35 purchases top NDAA negotiations -- Washington Examiner

The US Army’s Reset Is Underway — and Threatened by Budget Chaos -- Defense One

Despite outcry over military accidents, DoD still enters new fiscal year without a budget -- Sofrep

Mattis: ‘I Want Congress Back in Driver’s Seat of Budget Decisions, Not in Spectator’s Seat of Automatic Cuts’ -- Washington Free Beacon

Mattis: Splitting DoD's Acquisition and Research Will Aid Warfighting -- Military.com

Mattis urges closer ties between Pentagon, defense industry -- The Hill

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis encourages military to talk to media more -- New York Daily News

Trump's 'Band of Brothers' stirs interest -- The Hill

Is the Pentagon Headed for a Military Readiness Crisis? -- Michael O`Hanlon, National Interest

The World’s Biggest Military Contractors Don’t Encrypt Their Websites -- MotherBoard