The cold front on the northern tier is heating up: Weapons and Warfare

Hello and welcome to Weapons and Warfare

For Straight Arrow News, I'm your host, Ryan Robertson, and welcome to April

Spring is here, another winter is behind us, time to get outside and do some camping

But before I do, we should probably get to the episode. With the world's attention on conflicts in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip, and the Red Sea

one could be forgiven for overlooking Russia and China's growing interest in North America's

northern tier. This week we examine why American defense leadership is urging investment in Arctic

capabilities for homeland defense. Don't eject, eject, eject just yet. In our Weapon of the Week

we take a look at the Martin Baker ejection seat, an aviation breakthrough that saved

thousands of lives and just got better. But first, some headlines you may have missed

The wait is over. President Donald Trump tabbed Boeing to build the U.S. Air Force's most

sophisticated fighter jet yet, dubbed the F-47. The Next Generation Air Dominance Program

also known as ENGAD, will replace Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor with a crewed aircraft

built to enter combat alongside drones, something the Air Force's Director of Force Design, Integration, and Wargaming

advocated for at this year's Warfare Symposium. We asked ourselves some hard questions

We said, hey, is air superiority dead? What does air superiority look like in the future

Does the Joint Force need air superiority? And what we found is not only in the past, not only in the present

but in the future, air superiority matters. you know the the results of the study well well bluntly what the study told us is we tried a whole

bunch of different options and there is no more viable option than engad to achieve air superiority

in this highly contested environment but we also found that if we want to be with our joint partners

which we do we've got to achieve air superiority so past present future it changes the character

to fight despite some artist renderings that are commonly available the plane's design remains a

closely held secret. The visuals you see now puts our own weapons and warfare spin on those possible

designs, but we know the new fighter will include stealth, advanced sensors, and cutting-edge

engines. ENGAD was conceived as a family of systems centered around a sixth-generation fighter

to counter adversaries like China and Russia. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is on its

way to U.S. Central Command, where it'll team up with the Harry S. Truman carrier strike group in

the area. The Carl Vinson is the third carrier from the West Coast to head to Central Command

since the Houthis started their attacks on commercial shipping back in November of 2023

It's the latest development in the new administration's efforts in the Red Sea

You might remember back in mid-March, the U.S. launched strikes in Houthi territory in Yemen

Following that, the Houthis announced they would start targeting American warships in the Red Sea

They even attempted some attacks on the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, but those efforts did not pan out

And finally, as the Army gets ready to celebrate its 250th birthday

a Army historian named Fury, the 2014 World War II drama starring Brad Pitt

as one of five movies that most accurately portray U.S. soldiers and combat operations

Dave Hogan, who recently retired after 37 years at the U.S. Army Center for Military History in Washington, D.C.

also named Black Hawk Down, From Here to Eternity, Cold Mountain, and The Thin Red Line to his list

In a bit of a stunner, the Steven Spielberg epic Saving Private Ryan was not included

Hogan argued that while the Omaha beach scenes are realistic, the film felt like, quote, a typical World War II movie

You came on the way out here to tell me that? Looks like old Matt Damon could not earn this after all

When it comes to the activities of the Chinese and Russian militaries

your initial reaction could be to automatically turn your attention to Russia illegal invasion of Ukraine and China consistent boundary pushing in the Indo And while we forgive you for doing that limiting your field of view to those regions would be a mistake

That's because both countries are increasingly intent on developing a presence in the Arctic

So much so, this deepening collaboration between the world's second and third largest militaries

has the full attention of those charged with defending North America's northern tier

And that's the subject of this week's debrief. In mid-September of last year, Russia and China launched Ocean 24

a large-scale naval and air exercise that spanned the Pacific and Arctic Oceans

It involved over 400 warships, submarines, and support vessels, with more than 120 aircraft and 90,000 troops

And oh yeah, around the same time, NORAD tracked four Russian military aircraft

entering Alaska's air defense identification zone. This summer, we had the Alaska-Norad region

and myself countering the Combined Bomber Patrol with the Chinese and the Russians

conducting a bounce through Anadir to take a run at the air defense identification zone

for Alaska and Canada and the U.S. were shoulder to shoulder in that deterrent moment

and we were in position for that deterrent moment. Major General Chris McKenna, the Canadian NORAD region commander

was part of a panel at this year's AFA warfare symposium called Northern Tier Defense that addressed the looming threat

of Russian and Chinese incursions in the Arctic. Arctic security, in my view, is economic security

not just for Canada and the U.S., but for our Euro-Atlantic partners, fundamentally economic security

So these are the threats and this is the context that I sort of live and fight in

In 2018, China declared itself a near-Arctic state as part of its strategy to gain influence

We should note that this title is self-proclaimed and not officially recognized by Arctic nations or international bodies

Nonetheless, China's northward push appears to be part of a broader strategy to assert dominance at the top of the world

In my mind, I think my biggest concern is this, that we fail to recognize the urge to speed up the pace, to get back on track when it comes to the Arctic

When it comes to invest, invest in our capability, in our capability to operate in the Arctic as allied partners and fail to really assess the atmosphere in the Arctic

I think that's the assessment part and the operational part is to me the most important part right now for us

For Major General Jonas Wickman, Chief of Staff of the Swedish Air Force, whose country is one of the newest members of NATO

the timing of their inclusion is a critical factor in defending the northern tier from Russian and Chinese incursions

We also add geography when it comes to early warning capabilities. I mean, we cover from, I think, 55 to 69 degrees north

That's kind of a wide area for early warning. We bring in place geography when it comes to bases

We have air bases and we have spaceport north of the polar circle

And we know how to operate that. And it's that diversity of defenses, from the northern Pacific to the northern Atlantic

that potentially gives the United States and its allies an edge in the Arctic

Where Russia and China generally operate from a single system, they, in turn, will have to deal with far more than that

Now imagine an adversary having to approach it from, hey, what does Saab's system do

Maybe if there's, what is it that this system is going to look like

to my screen, to the sensing apparatus? They have to approach it from all of us

And I think that's very, very powerful. not only in terms of kind of the way we generate information or process information

but also the way that we can then attack the problem. Because you can't just get to one of us without bypassing the others, right

And so I think that, again, that to me seems like a great way to collaborate

and just something that, you know, again, being the retired guy, I'd love to see kind of that expansion of NATO bringing Sweden and Finland to the mix

If all of this sounds new to you, there's a reason for it. the Arctic hasn been a major focus for US defense spending in the past This is probably because except for Russia most countries with claims in the region were U allies

Beyond that, China only started developing its Arctic strategy in the last six years or so

While there's no denying the global politics in the Arctic are shifting

especially as climate change is making the waters easier to navigate, it might feel like the U.S. is falling behind in Arctic policy

But that's a perception that could soon be changing, especially as, at least for now, NATO continues strengthening its defensive plans in the region

Download the SAN app and turn on notifications to have straight facts delivered right to your phone or tablet

And get straight facts anytime at SAN.com. Eject, eject, eject. It's the last thing anyone strapped into a fast mover wants to hear

But if the moment comes and the decision is made, there's one manufacturer, pilot, and passenger we'll likely hope they're strapped into

Martin Baker. And that's why they're the subject of our Weapon of the Week

For 80 years, the name Martin Baker was one air crews could count on if things went wrong

We're proud to have recorded 7,777 ejections live saved to date, of which 3,600 are U.S. aviators live saved

The U.S. government, Air Force, Navy, Marines is our biggest customer numerically

We have about 3,000 seats in the U.S. Navy and 2,300 seats with the U.S. Air Force

In the eight decades since the English-based company got into the ejection seat business

the expectation of what an ejection seat can deliver changed right along with the aircraft it flies in

In its earliest iterations, it was all about surviving the ejection. Now, Steve Roberts, head of business development for Martin Baker, says that's not enough

It's about getting the pilot back in the flight, so escape and evasion, and they've now assigned a degree of risk

They're trying to make sure that there is a 5% risk of injury. Legacy seats in the past would have had a much higher risk of injury

Like any other engineering and manufacturing firm, Martin Baker continues to push for the kind of innovation that will continue to shrink that risk

This is the US-16E ejection seat developed specifically for the F-35. It pioneered new technology with electronics, with a new parachute, with airbags we call neck protection device

And again, it allowed a wider range of aircrew to be accommodated and also allowed safe ejection at high speed and also for a much smaller and much larger range of aircrew

I want to kind of double tap on that a little bit, because for the longest time, you know, the ejection seats, the planes themselves were made for a certain model of a person

Obviously, things have changed. And so the ejection seat needs to be able to accommodate different body types

How does it do that? So we do that by the seat of chair

So we have whole seat tilt. So the seat can tilt from 22 degrees to 16 and a half degrees

and the seat bucket moves up by about seven and a half inches

So it's a combination of, for the very large male, the seat will tilt fully back with the bucket fully down

For the very small female, the seat is tilted fully forward with the seat bucket in top position

Add that all up and it comes out to the same piece of equipment

being able to handle a six foot five airman geared out to 300 pounds

and a four foot 11 airman weighing as little as 103 pounds

And one quick update to a number you heard earlier in the story

Since our visit with Steve, the number of lives saved by a Martin Baker ejection seat grew by 4 to 7,781

The last three happened during a practice demonstration when two patrol Alpha Jet aircraft collided about 130 miles east of Paris Both pilots and a passenger successfully ejected using Martin Baker F seat

Last summer, we told you about a deal the U.S. Navy inked with Japan, South Korea, and India

to take on some long-needed maintenance, repair, and overhaul projects for Navy vessels

Well, now we're starting to see some of the results, and that's the subject of this week's comms check

USNS Wally Sherrah, a Lewis and Clark class dry cargo ship from the Military Sealift Command, completed a seven-month overhaul at Hanwha Ocean in South Korea last month

The overhaul addressed hull corrosion and included a full rudder replacement. The Shira is part of the U.S. Navy's Combat Logistics Force

providing essential supplies to the Navy ships at sea. This marks the first large-scale maintenance effort of a U.S. naval vessel in a South Korean shipyard

aligning with the U.S. Navy's strategy of conducting ship repairs within the Indo-Pacific region

to minimize downtime and operational costs. All opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors

To follow the rules, I was raised on Star Wars and Raphael was my favorite Ninja Turtle

so I learned to foster my inner rebel at a very young age

But with time came experience, and I learned some rules are there for a good reason

And it's best for all of us if I just follow them. And while I've never been in the military, I know that same mantra holds true when it

comes to rules that deal with things like, oh, I don't know, operational security

The individual may not know all the reasons why a rule is the way it is, and they don't need to

They just need to follow it. But that was not the case when a group of individuals discussed U.S. combat operations on the Signal messaging app a few weeks ago

And by now, I'm sure you've all heard the details. The Vice President, Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, and others in the U.S. government, with top-secret clearances who should know better, were talking about the U.S. strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen through an encrypted messaging app

And a journalist was on the chat as well, although no one with a security clearance seemed to notice

The White House confirmed the text exchange was real, and according to the DoD's own guidelines

apps like Signal are not to be used when discussing sensitive and classified intel

So I'm not going to play the blame game here because personally I think they are all to blame

What struck me afterwards, though, was several GOP lawmakers saying the incident will lead to new protocols

to make sure this never happens again. And to that, my question is what more new protocols do we need

Every enlisted service member, officer, and DOD employee knows not to discuss any sensitive or classified information on anything other than government-approved devices and software

If they don't follow the rules, they face serious penalty, up to and including incarceration

So again, the rules are already there, and the people in charge need to follow them

I could make a similar argument about gun control in this country. We have plenty of laws on the books regulating firearms

Imagine how many shootings we could stop if we just followed the rules we already have

As of recording time, I don't know what sort of punishment or fallout any of those high-level officials will face

or are facing as a result of what I'm calling the signal snafu

But I do know if the rules were followed, I'd be rapping about something else this week

For senior producer Brett Baker, video editor Brian Spencer, and graphics artist Dakota Patio

I'm Ryan Robertson with Straight Arrow News, signing off