Okinawa Waits for King Kong

Typhoon Trami was the worst storm to hit Okinawa in six years. Now, less than a week later, Kadena Air Base is bracing for another major typhoon: Kong-Rey. Jennifer Hlad has the story from Okinawa.

US Offers Cyber Warfare Capabilities for NATO’s Collective Defense

The US military has offered its cyber warfare capabilities, both offensive and defensive, to NATO—a move NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said comes as the organization is defining cyber as a warfighting domain. The US made the offer Wednesday at the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels, as cyber attacks are increasing against western nations. Under the proposal, the US will keep control over its personnel and capabilities, but would respond to cyber attacks when asked, according to The Associated Press. “We see cyber being used to meddle in domestic political processes, attacks against critical infrastructure, and cyber will be an integral part of any future military conflict,” Stoltenberg said Wednesday. “So cyber is important. And that’s the reason why we have decided that a cyber attack can trigger Article 5—our collective defense clause.” The NATO Military Committee, as part of its realignment of its command structure, has established a Cyber Operations Center and is increasing its exercises to be better prepared for threats online, he said. —Brian Everstine

NATO Prepares for Its Biggest Exercise Since the Cold War

NATO is getting ready to launch its largest exercise since the Cold War—a sign the world has grown more dangerous, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday. Exercise Trident Juncture will kick off later this month in Norway, with about 45,000 participants from about 30 countries, including 150 aircraft, 60 ships, and 10,000 vehicles. “It is a big exercise, but that reflects that NATO has implemented the biggest adaptation of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War,” Stoltenberg said during a press conference at the NATO Defense Ministerial meetings in Brussels. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia “will take the necessary tit-for-tat measures to ensure its own security,” adding via state-run media that NATO’s actions “cannot be ignored. Russia is aggressively modernizing and bolstering its military capabilities, while increasing the number of its own big exercises, said Stoltenberg. This is the first time since 2015 NATO will host Trident Junction, and the exercise will include a large US military presence, but the specific breakdown has not been released. During the last Trident Juncture, USAF sent F-16s, KC-10s, B-52s, and C-17s, among other aircraft, to participate at several locations throughout Europe. “All NATO allies will participate, many partners will be there,” Stoltenberg said. “And we’ll exercise how we defend an ally against armed attack. And we will do that with air, naval, land forces, but also of course using cyber capabilities, and all of this working together.” —Brian Everstine

Red Flag-Alaska Kicks Off With Korean, Finnish Participants

Pacific Air Force’s main large-scale training exercise, Red Flag-Alaska, will kick off Thursday with more than 60 aircraft from more than a dozen units. Aircraft and aircrews from the US Navy, the Republic of Korea Air Force, and the Finnish Air Force will participate in the exercise, which will be conducted at Eielson Air Force Base, JB Elmendorf-Richardson, and the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex. The exercise will wrap up Oct. 19, according to a Pacific Air Forces release. The range complex is the main site for high-end training for PACAF units and visiting partners, and the command is working to expand its capability with improved emulators, targets, and decoys to keep it “capable,” PACAF commander Gen. Charles Brown said last month. PACAF needs to continue to “push the envelope” on its training to prepare for potential great power conflict under the National Defense Strategy, he said. Red Flag-Alaska also allows USAF and Republic of Korea aircrews to train together following the suspension of exercises on the Korean Peninsula earlier this year. —Brian Everstine

Strategic Command Inks Information-Sharing Pact with Royal Netherlands Air Force

The US Strategic Command has signed an agreement to share space situational awareness with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, the command said last week. Navy Rear Adm. Richard Correll, the command’s director of plans and policy, signed the agreement Sept. 21 as part of an effort to build a closer defense relationship with Netherlands. Netherlands now joins 15 countries, including the United Kingdom, South Korea, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, Israel, Spain, Germany, Australia, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Norway, Denmark, and Brazil, as well as the European Space Agency and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites and more than 70 commercial satellite owners, operators, and launchers already in such data-sharing agreements with the command. —Steve Hirsch

Clarification on Aerospace Corp Contract

An item in Tuesday’s Daily Report on a $1 billion Aerospace Corp. contract with the Space and Missile Systems Center incorrectly characterized the work under the contract, based on an erroneous Pentagon notice. According to a subsequent SMC release sent to Air Force Magazine, the contract covers “technical engineering knowledge-based services that assist the government in performing development planning, prototyping, and demonstration for systems and ‘system-of-systems’ enterprise engineering to rapidly develop a portfolio of capabilities to counter near-peer adversaries and outpace the threat.” Moreover, according to the release the contract is for “one base year with nine options” through Fiscal 2028.” —Steve Hirsch

RADAR SWEEP

—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet Sunday in North Korea to discuss denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula: Politico.

—SpaceX plans to land a rocket booster at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., for the first time, following Saturday’s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying an observation satellite for the Argentine space agency: Santa Maria Times.

—Roughly six percent of the Total Force, about 126,000 troops, must ensure they are deployable or face separation, under a new policy that went into effect on Monday: Military Times.

—Nine al-Shabab extremists that had attacked Somali government forces were killed in US airstrikes northeast of the port city of Kismayo: The Associated Press.