Friday, April 28, 2023
Friday, April 14, 2023
Airman suspected of leaking secret US documents hit with federal charge
BOSTON, April 14 (Reuters) - A 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard accused of leaking top secret military intelligence records online was charged on Friday with unlawfully copying and transmitting classified material.
Jack Douglas Teixeira of North Dighton, Massachusetts, who was arrested by heavily armed FBI agents at his home on Thursday, made his initial appearance in a crowded federal court wearing a brown khaki jumpsuit.
At the hearing, Boston's top federal national security prosecutor, Nadine Pellegrini, requested that Teixeira be detained pending trial, and a detention hearing was set for Wednesday.
During the brief proceeding, Teixeira said little, answering "yes" when asked whether he understood his right to remain silent.
The judge said Teixeira's financial affidavit showed he qualified to be represented by a federal public defender, and he appointed one.
After the hearing, three of Teixeira's family members left the courthouse, with a group of reporters trailing them for several blocks. They entered a car without making any comments.
The leaked documents at the heart of the investigation were posted online on a social media website weeks earlier, but news of their existence did not come to light until it was reported by the New York Times last week.
It is believed to be the most serious U.S. security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. The Pentagon has called the leak a "deliberate, criminal act."
U.S. officials are still assessing the damage done by the leaks, which included records showing purported details of Ukrainian military vulnerabilities and embarrassed Washington by revealing its spying on allies.
Fallout from the case has roiled Washington. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has requested a briefing for all 100 senators next week while Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed to investigate.
"The Biden administration has failed to secure classified information," McCarthy said on Twitter. "Through our committees, Congress will get answers as to why they were asleep at the switch."
Democratic President Joe Biden said he was taking steps to tighten security. "While we are still determining the validity of those documents, I have directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information," he said in a statement.
A criminal complaint made public on Friday charges Teixeira with one count of violating the Espionage Act related to the unlawful copying and transmitting of sensitive defense material, and a second charge related to the unlawful removal of defense material to an unauthorized location.
A conviction on the Espionage Act charge carries up to 10 years in prison.
The charges are connected to just one leaked document so far, a classified record that described the status of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and included details about troop movements on a particular date.
Experts expect more charges as investigators examine each leaked document, confirm its classification status and decide which can be shown to a jury without damaging national security. Teixeira could also face more counts depending on the number of times he separately uploaded and transmitted each document.
"They are going to pick the ones (documents), I would imagine, that foreign governments have already seen," said Stephanie Siegmann, the former national security chief for the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston and now a partner with the Hinckley Allen law firm.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/man-suspected-leaking-secret-us-documents-appear-court-2023-04-14/
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
CENTCOM Forces Capture ISIS Operative in Helicopter Raid
TAMPA, Fla. – U.S. Central Command forces conducted a helicopter raid in eastern Syria late on the evening of April 8, capturing Hudayfah al Yemeni, an ISIS attack facilitator, and two of his associates. No civilians were killed or injured.
The capture of Hudayfah al Yemeni and his associates will disrupt the organization's ability to plot and carry out operations.
“Operations against ISIS are important for the security and stability of the region,” said Col. Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson. “ISIS remains a threat to the region and beyond – the group retains the capability to conduct operations in Iraq and Syria with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East, and its vile ideology remains a threat. Operations such as this one reaffirms our commitment to the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
The capture of Hudayfah al Yemeni and his associates will disrupt the organization's ability to plot and carry out operations.
“Operations against ISIS are important for the security and stability of the region,” said Col. Joe Buccino, a CENTCOM spokesperson. “ISIS remains a threat to the region and beyond – the group retains the capability to conduct operations in Iraq and Syria with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East, and its vile ideology remains a threat. Operations such as this one reaffirms our commitment to the enduring defeat of ISIS.”
GRU agent and former head Russian cyber-espionage unit known as “Fancy Bear” or “APT28 hacked.
A group of Ukrainian hacktivists claim to have successfully hacked the email of Sergey Alexandrovich Morgachev, a Lieutenant Colonel with Russia’s military intelligence service, GRU, and alleged former head of the infamous Russian cyber-espionage unit known as “Fancy Bear” or “APT28.”
First reported by the open-source intelligence website Info Nampalm, the hack was supposedly carried out by the Ukrainian-based hacktivist group Cyber Resistance sometime in March.
By infiltrating his personal email through undisclosed means, hacktivists say they uncovered a wealth of personal and professional information on Morgachev.
Some items seized included copies of Morgachev’s driver’s license, vehicle registration, residential lease agreements, family photos, and scanned copies of security clearance renewal applications.
Additionally, hacktivists say they accessed the GRU officer’s AliExpress account, where they carried out “a symbolic act of moral humiliation.” by ordering numerous sex toys and gay pride flags in Morgachev’s name.
The Debrief was able to examine some of the documents seized in the email hack but cannot independently confirm their authenticity. However, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak on the record, an official with the U.S. Department of Justice told The Debrief that some of Morgachev’s personal information disclosed in the emails appeared to be valid.
Morgachev is currently wanted by the FBI following a federal grand jury indictment of him and 11 other Russian intelligence officers for crimes related to their alleged roles in interfering with the 2016 U.S. elections.
A federal indictment filed by the Department of Justice states that Morgachev and his GRU cohorts “knowingly and intentionally conspired…to gain unauthorized access into the computers of U.S. persons and entities involved in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
In the recent email hack, hacktivists say they found scans of a recent security clearance renewal application showing Morgachev as the “Deputy Head of Directorate-Head of Department in military unit #26165” from August 2019-August 2022.
The 2018 indictment by the U.S. Special Counsel and Western intelligence reports have identified GRU Unit 26165 as being Fancy Bear.
On the clearance application, Morgachev lists his current job role as “Category 1 Programming Engineer” at the Special Technical Center LLC, at 21 Gzhatskaya Street, Apt. 53, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
According to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention of Ukraine, the Special Technical Center LLC is a defense company that provides equipment to the Russian military. The nonprofit organization which tracks entities providing support to Russia’s war against Ukraine lists the Special Technical Center as being sanctioned by the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, and Ukraine.
Monday, April 10, 2023
U.S. Strategic Command Commences Annual Nuclear Command and Control Exercise
U.S. Strategic Command Commences Annual Nuclear Command and Control Exercise
By USSTRATCOM PA
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. –
U.S. Strategic Command will commence its annual nuclear command and control exercise, Global Thunder, April 11, 2023.
Global Thunder 23 (GT23) involves personnel throughout the strategic enterprise including USSTRATCOM components and subordinate units. The purpose of GT23 is to enhance nuclear readiness and ensure a safe, secure, and reliable strategic deterrence force.
This is an annual exercise and is not in response to actions by any nation or other actors.
In addition to U.S. personnel, GT23 will involve key allied personnel and partners, including United Kingdom personnel, who will integrate into senior leadership teams and work across a broad spectrum of areas offering policy support and operational insight.
USSTRATCOM has global responsibilities assigned through the Unified Command Plan that include strategic deterrence, nuclear operations, joint electromagnetic spectrum operations, global strike, missile defense, and analysis and targeting.
As in previous years, Global Thunder 23 will include an increase in bomber aircraft flights throughout the exercise.
For more information, contact the USSTRATCOM Public Affairs Office at 402-912-0020 or USSTRATCOMPA@mail.mil or visit www.stratcom.mil.
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Lockheed loses protest of Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program to Bell's V-280 Valor
By Jen Judson
WASHINGTON — Textron’s Bell can move forward with building the Future Long-Range Assault
Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky filed a protest late last year. Boeing, Sikorsky’s teammate, also filed a protest.
“In denying the protest, GAO concluded that the Army reasonably evaluated Sikorsky’s proposal as technically unacceptable because Sikorsky failed to provide the level of architectural detail required by the [request for proposal],” an April 6 statement from the office reads. “GAO also denied Sikorsky’s various allegations about the acceptability of Bell’s proposal, including the assertion that the agency’s evaluation violated the terms of the solicitation or applicable procurement law or regulation.”
The FLRAA competition pitted head-to-head Bell’s V-280 Valor, a tiltrotor aircraft with Sikorsky and Boeing’s Defiant X, which features coaxial rotor blades. Both aircraft were designed to fit into the same footprint as a Black Hawk.
WASHINGTON — Textron’s Bell can move forward with building the Future Long-Range Assault
Aircraft the Army’s largest helicopter procurement in 40 years, after the Government Accountability Office rejected a competitor’s protest.
Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky filed a protest late last year. Boeing, Sikorsky’s teammate, also filed a protest.
“In denying the protest, GAO concluded that the Army reasonably evaluated Sikorsky’s proposal as technically unacceptable because Sikorsky failed to provide the level of architectural detail required by the [request for proposal],” an April 6 statement from the office reads. “GAO also denied Sikorsky’s various allegations about the acceptability of Bell’s proposal, including the assertion that the agency’s evaluation violated the terms of the solicitation or applicable procurement law or regulation.”
The FLRAA competition pitted head-to-head Bell’s V-280 Valor, a tiltrotor aircraft with Sikorsky and Boeing’s Defiant X, which features coaxial rotor blades. Both aircraft were designed to fit into the same footprint as a Black Hawk.
video (C) Steve Douglass
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Monday, April 3, 2023
NATO PLANS HUGE MILITARY EXERCISE IN JUNE
NATO’s largest ever aircraft deployment exercise is set to take place in June this year involving more than 200 aircraft.
The German Ministry of Defence has released information on Exercise Air Defender 2023 stating that 210 aircraft will be involved, spanning 23 different types. One hundred of these will come from the US Air National Guard, which will deploy aircraft to Europe from 35 states.
The exercise is expected to bring together 18 nations who will collectively deploy up to 10,000 personnel. The countries participating in Air Defender 2023 are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, UK and the US.
The focus of Air Defender is Germany, which the defense ministry press release states is exercising its role as a “collective defence hub” within Europe. Consequently, the majority of main air bases involved are in Germany: Schleswig-Jagel and Hohn in Schleswig-Holstein, Laage in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Wunstorf in Lower Saxony, Lechfeld in Bavaria and Spangdahlem in Rhineland-Palatinate. In the Netherlands, Volkel air base will be utilized as will Čáslav in the Czech Republic.
The main training airspace to be used for Air Defender 2023 will be over Schleswig/Hohn, Wunstorf and Lechfeld.
The German press release disclosed that the event is intended to serve as a “challenging training scenario” featuring air warfare operations for friendly and allied air forces.
“The aim will be to optimise and expand cooperation between nations and their armed forces. In addition, the capabilities and cohesion of NATO are to be accentuated,” the statement added.
Germany said the event is intended to “unite and bring together” the air forces of NATO and its allies in one exercise and Air Defender 2023 is “purely defensive” in nature.
The statement adds: “The ability to react and the combined strength in the air should be trained and demonstrated. At the same time, the transatlantic alliance is maintained with Air Defender 2023.”
Planning for the exercise started before the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The Chief of the German Air Force Lt Gen Ingo Gerhartz hosted Lt Gen Michael Loh, Director of the Air National Guard in October 2021 to discuss Air Defender 2023.
NASA ANNOUNCES FIRST ARTEMIS MOON MISSION CREW
NYT:
The four astronauts are: Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.
Reid Wiseman, commander
Until recently, G. Reid Wiseman, 47, served as NASA’s as chief astronaut, meaning that he would have been responsible for selecting the four astronauts that flew on Artemis II. But he stepped down from that post last November, and became eligible for assignment to the moon-bound crews of the Artemis missions.
Selected as part of the 2009 astronaut class, Mr. Wiseman, a captain in the United States Navy, spent 165 days in orbit at the International Space Station in 2014. Before joining NASA, he served two deployments in the Middle East.
Victor Glover, pilot
Victor J. Glover, Jr., 46, was the pilot of the first operational mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station from November 2020 to May 2021. He spent 168 days on the space station. He was the first Black man assigned as a crew member on the station — and participated in four spacewalks. Mr. Glover, a captain in the United States Navy, was selected to be an astronaut in 2013.
Originally from Pomona, Calif., Mr. Glover graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1999. From 2007 through 2010, he earned three master’s degrees: in flight test engineering, systems engineering and military operational art and science.
Mr. Glover is often referred to by his counterparts as Ike, a nod to a call sign a former commanding officer gave him that stands for “I know everything.”
Christina Koch, mission specialist
Christina H. Koch, 44, holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman — 328 days — and she, with another active astronaut, Jessica Meir, performed the first three all-women spacewalks in 2019 and 2020. She also conducted three other spacewalks. Her six spacewalks totaled 42 hours and 15 minutes.
Before being selected as an astronaut in 2013, Ms. Koch worked as an electrical engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. She later became a researcher in the United States Antarctic Program, which included a yearlong stay at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Other places she has worked include the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spending time in Alaska and American Samoa.
Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist
Jeremy Hansen is one of four active Canadian astronauts. He was selected by the Canadian Space Agency to be an astronaut in 2009. He is 47 years old and was born in Ontario.
Col. Hansen, who served as a fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces, has yet to fly to space. In his time representing the Canadian Space Agency at NASA, he has served as a capsule communicator between mission control in Houston and the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. He was also the first Canadian tasked with leading an astronaut class.
 |
| NASA photo |
NASA on Monday announced a crew of four astronauts who will head to the moon within the next two years. The crew will travel around the moon and back on a 10-day mission.
The four astronauts are: Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.
Reid Wiseman, commander
Until recently, G. Reid Wiseman, 47, served as NASA’s as chief astronaut, meaning that he would have been responsible for selecting the four astronauts that flew on Artemis II. But he stepped down from that post last November, and became eligible for assignment to the moon-bound crews of the Artemis missions.
Selected as part of the 2009 astronaut class, Mr. Wiseman, a captain in the United States Navy, spent 165 days in orbit at the International Space Station in 2014. Before joining NASA, he served two deployments in the Middle East.
Victor Glover, pilot
Victor J. Glover, Jr., 46, was the pilot of the first operational mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station from November 2020 to May 2021. He spent 168 days on the space station. He was the first Black man assigned as a crew member on the station — and participated in four spacewalks. Mr. Glover, a captain in the United States Navy, was selected to be an astronaut in 2013.
Originally from Pomona, Calif., Mr. Glover graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1999. From 2007 through 2010, he earned three master’s degrees: in flight test engineering, systems engineering and military operational art and science.
Mr. Glover is often referred to by his counterparts as Ike, a nod to a call sign a former commanding officer gave him that stands for “I know everything.”
Christina Koch, mission specialist
Christina H. Koch, 44, holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman — 328 days — and she, with another active astronaut, Jessica Meir, performed the first three all-women spacewalks in 2019 and 2020. She also conducted three other spacewalks. Her six spacewalks totaled 42 hours and 15 minutes.
Before being selected as an astronaut in 2013, Ms. Koch worked as an electrical engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. She later became a researcher in the United States Antarctic Program, which included a yearlong stay at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Other places she has worked include the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spending time in Alaska and American Samoa.
Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist
Jeremy Hansen is one of four active Canadian astronauts. He was selected by the Canadian Space Agency to be an astronaut in 2009. He is 47 years old and was born in Ontario.
Col. Hansen, who served as a fighter pilot in the Canadian Armed Forces, has yet to fly to space. In his time representing the Canadian Space Agency at NASA, he has served as a capsule communicator between mission control in Houston and the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. He was also the first Canadian tasked with leading an astronaut class.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
