Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 19, 2021

A 2015 photo of a Dong Feng-26 missile after a parade in Beijing. ICEUNSHATTERED VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

Defense One: What Do We Know About China’s Newest Missiles? 

Much can be gleaned from open sources, from official announcements to commanders’ online bios. 

As “great power competition” becomes the lingua franca of American strategy, U.S. policymakers and analysts must build a greater familiarity with the Chinese strategic systems that increasingly worry combatant commanders and which would play an essential role in any Indo-Pacific crisis. 

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 Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- March 19, 2021 

Massive New Chinese Military Heliport Taking Shape Right Across From Taiwan -- Warzone/The Drive 

PLA’s Type 055 destroyer enters Sea of Japan for 1st time -- Global Times 

PLA commissions new type of infantry fighting vehicle -- Global Times 

China's Combat Drones Push Could Spark a Global Arms Race -- Bloomberg 

PLA warplanes hold drills despite sandstorm, showing combat readiness -- Global Times 

China military bans Tesla cars citing camera, sensor spy concerns -- Al Jazeera 

Army Pilots to Learn Bold New Tactics to Fly Future Helicopters -- Military.com 

Former SpaceX engineers propose two-stage eVTOL for regional, military use -- Flight Global

Estimated development costs for the F-35′s modernization program increased by $1.9B in a year -- Defense News 

Here’s the Air Force’s plan to diversify its pilot corps -- Air Force Times 

US military says a third of troops opt out of being vaccinated, but the numbers suggest it's more -- CNN 

Navy Wants Triple-Packed Hypersonic Missile Modules On Its Stealthy Zumwalt Destroyers -- Warzone/The Drive 

'Short on Details': Lawmakers Grill Navy, Marine Leaders on Big Plans for Drone Ships -- Military.com 

The US Navy is getting closer to relying on pilotless planes to keep its fighters flying -- Business Insider 

US Navy’s new unmanned plan has ‘buzzwords and platitudes’ but few answers -- Defense News 

NSA, Homeland Security Push Service to Mitigate Cyber-Attacks -- Bloomberg 

Lawmakers Confirm Former Ambassador as US Spy Chief -- VOA 

William Burns wins Senate confirmation as next CIA director -- CBS 

US intelligence report says election fraud claims 'will almost certainly' spur more violence by domestic extremists -- CNN 

CIA Headquarters Got Vaccinated in Early January, Rankling Intelligence Officers Abroad -- The Intercept 

Republicans Rebuke Call from 50 Democrats to Gut DoD Spending -- Military.com 

New Declassified Documents Reveal the Truth About Why the USS Thresher Sank -- Popular Mechanics 

US Pays Most of Shared Defense Costs with Japan, South Korea -- Air Force Magazine 

Catching Ever-Stealthier Submarines: French Navy To Get New Sonobuoy Technology -- Naval News 

French Navy New Rafale M F3-R Achieves Full Operational Capability -- Naval News 

Britain changes policy so it can use nuclear weapons in response to ‘emerging technologies’ -- CBNBC 

UK to buy Switchblade loitering munition -- Flight Global 

UK military to unveil shift towards hi-tech warfare as cuts bite -- The Guardian 

Europe spies alarmed after Estonia scientist caught spying for China -- Business Insider 

Bulgaria breaks military ring suspected of spying for Russia -- AP 

Russia Deploys All Black Sea Submarines as NATO Kicks Off Drills -- Moscow Times 

Sukhoi and MiG companies will cease to exist -- Pravda 

Black Sea Fleet sub to join Russian Navy’s Mediterranean Squadron -- TASS 

Taiwan’s Upgraded F-16V Fighter Jets Poised To Start Standing Alert Along The Taiwan Strait -- Warzone/The Drive 

A Top Woman in Canada’s Military Issues a Stinging Rebuke of Its Culture -- New York Times 

A politicized US military should horrify all Americans -- Matthew Walther, New York Post 

What the 18th anniversary of the Iraq War teaches us about the costs of war -- Dr. Neta C. Crawford and Dr. Catherine Lutz, Military Times