The Daily-Ish Update

Coverage: last 24 hours

• Additional details released August 13 showed that a PLAN Type 054A frigate and an Indonesian Navy warship conducted a passing/navigation exercise in waters east of Taiwan, including communications and replenishment-at-sea training. The exercise had taken place August 12 and was part of the latest round of China-Indonesia naval cooperation in the Western Pacific. Sources: PLA Daily/81.cn; USNI News. (USNI News)

• The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security put into effect a final rule loosening export controls on a range of U.S.-made unmanned aircraft systems, raising the national-security control threshold for UAV endurance from 30 minutes to three hours and removing associated controls on some software, technology, parts, and components. Military end-use and military end-user restrictions remain in place. Commerce said the changes are intended to make U.S. drone manufacturers more competitive overseas and reduce incentives for partner countries to procure systems from foreign competitors. Source: Federal Register/Bureau of Industry and Security. (Federal Register)

• The U.S. Army disclosed “Project Strike,” an effort to expand the rocket and missile industrial base by bringing more nontraditional suppliers into production and providing industry with a more predictable demand signal. Army briefing material describes the effort as a plan for rapid expansion of the rocket and missile market and acceleration of production capacity. Source: Inside Defense. (Inside Defense)

• Taiwan’s legislature cleared approximately NT$63.4 billion (about US$2 billion) in drone-related development and procurement spending without reductions or freezes. The package includes NT$44.2 billion for a comprehensive drone-industry development program and another NT$19.2 billion in drone spending. Kuomintang lawmakers withdrew proposed freezes after initially seeking cuts to portions of the funding. Source: Taiwan News. (Taiwan News)

• President Trump signed a national security memorandum, “Rebuilding the United States Navy and America’s Shipbuilding Industrial Base,” directing a series of major changes to naval procurement and maintenance. The memorandum authorizes use of a “Finland Model” under which qualified foreign shipbuilders investing in U.S. yards could build the first two vessels of as many as three ship classes in their overseas parent yards, with subsequent ships built in the United States using an American workforce and supply chain; orders the Pentagon within 90 days to develop a new competitive acquisition approach for surface combatants capable of ASW, surface warfare, and convoy escort, as well as CONSOL tankers and roll-on/roll-off ships; and directs development of a fifth public Navy shipyard, with potential sites near the Pacific Fleet and capacity for up to three submarine drydocks. It also orders creation of a centralized submarine component repair center, a review and proposed restructuring of NAVSEA aimed at reducing design changes and accelerating deliveries, and a plan to replace EMALS and the Advanced Weapons Elevators with steam catapults and hydraulic elevators aboard the future Ford-class carrier USS Doris Miller (CVN-81). (The White House) Sources: White House | Reuters

• RAND released results from ten iterations of its “Camp(ai)gn” operational-level wargame examining AI-enabled warfare in a hypothetical 2035 U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan. Among the hypotheses generated by the games were that autonomous systems could create new pathways for relatively low-intensity robotic conflict; AI-enabled autonomous mass becomes increasingly important as a conflict becomes protracted and could favor China; commanders gain more options but face greater decision burdens; and allies could assume expanded roles in autonomous defense, combat, and coalition production. The games also suggested that attacks on an opponent’s AI data centers would not necessarily produce decisive operational effects. RAND describes the findings as hypotheses generated through gameplay rather than established conclusions. Source: RAND.(RAND Corporation)

• The Australian Strategic Policy Institute published an assessment of Russia’s eight nuclear-powered attack submarines assigned to the Pacific region and their potential role in a wider U.S.-China conflict. The analysis examines potential Russian operations against undersea cables, maritime supply routes, ports, and logistics infrastructure, with particular attention to Japan and the western Pacific, and considers the possibility that Moscow could support Beijing without fully integrating its forces into a Chinese campaign. Source: Australian Strategic Policy Institute. (ASPI)

• Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet met U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby in Phnom Penh on August 14, with both sides emphasizing expanded U.S.-Cambodian defense relations. Preparations for Angkor Sentinel 2027 and U.S. support for Cambodian military capacity-building were among the subjects discussed. Colby described Cambodia as an important U.S. partner and said Washington sought further defense cooperation based on sovereignty and mutual interests. Source: Office of the Council of Ministers of Cambodia. (PressOCM)

• During his Asia-Pacific trip, U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby said the Pentagon was pleased with progress on AUKUS, praising Australia for moving forward with “energy and focus” and describing close alignment between Washington and Canberra on collective defense and deterrence. Colby said the Pentagon remained focused on U.S. submarine production and maintenance and highlighted the planned rotational deployment of U.S. and UK nuclear-powered submarines to Australia as important to regional security. He also cautioned that cooperation among regional “middle powers” should strengthen defense capabilities rather than become an effort to exclude the United States. Sources: Breaking Defense; Australian Financial Review. (Breaking Defense)

• President Trump signed a Section 232 proclamation establishing sharply higher tariffs on imported drones and critical drone components, including a 100 percent tariff on drones weighing more than 25 kilograms, drones incorporating thermal imaging, docking stations, and certain sensitive components; smaller or less sensitive drones and additional components face a 25 percent tariff. Qualifying products from several U.S. allies receive lower rates. The White House framed the measure as a national-security and supply-chain action, with Chinese drone technology and components a principal target of the effort to shift production toward the United States and allied suppliers. Most of the new duties take effect 21 days after signing, with some component measures delayed 180 days. Sources: White House; Wall Street Journal; China Ministry of Commerce trade-remedy information service. (The White House)

• Prices for erbium, a specialized rare earth used in telecommunications equipment and AI-related data-center infrastructure, rose sharply amid concern that Beijing could again tighten rare-earth export controls when the current U.S.-China trade arrangement approaches expiration in November. European prices have risen by more than 50 percent since June and Chinese prices by roughly 40 percent. Source: Financial Times. (Financial Times)

• Record rainfall struck Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo, causing severe flooding and transport disruption and leaving thousands of travelers stranded, including at Narita International Airport. More than 360 millimeters of rain fell in parts of the prefecture over 24 hours; the latest reporting put the death toll at eight. Power outages affected tens of thousands of homes, and Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force assisted with evacuations. Sources: Reuters; Associated Press. (Reuters)

• Heavy rain associated with the remnants of Typhoon Dolphin triggered a mudslide in Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, early August 14, collapsing a house, killing at least one person, and leaving three missing. Separately, a riverbank breach in Zhoukou, Henan Province, prompted the evacuation of 781 people, while Chinese authorities warned of major flooding in the Lake Tai basin as additional rainfall was forecast through the weekend. Source: Reuters. (Reuters)

• China’s Defense Ministry issued its first official response to Taiwan’s latest 10-day Han Kuang military exercise, attacking the drills as a costly political performance by the Democratic Progressive Party and accusing Taipei of increasingly integrating cities and civilians into preparations for conflict. The ministry said the PLA remained on alert and prepared for combat operations directed against Taiwan independence and outside intervention. Source: Reuters. (Reuters)

This update was generated using artificial intelligence, which can make mistakes.

The use of a source in this update does not reflect endorsement of that source’s position or credibility, only its part in the ongoing national security discussion