Defense Secretary James Mattis has said the Pentagon has launched several initiatives to advance the National Defense Strategy’s three lines of effort, Defense.gov reported Saturday.Mattis told the audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California that the Defense Department has initiated the recapitalization of the nuclear deterrent in order to increase lethality.
“Our Close Combat Lethality Task Force is integrating human and technological factors to ensure our close-combat units never enter a fair fight,â€Â he added.
Mattis also mentioned the country’s efforts to strengthen alliances in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific region as well as the 5.2 percent increase in allies’ defense budgets.
“Combined, our twenty-eight NATO allies have increased spending by $41B in the last two years, and it is now clear to every observer, including Moscow that NATO is strong and growing stronger,†he added.
He noted that DoD has started to implement corrective measures on issues raised in the first departmentwide financial audit that covered $2.7T in assets and advance tech development across artificial intelligence, hypersonics and space areas.
“The work goes on – in changed tactics, heightened incorporation of space and cyber operations, training and readiness, equipment and maintenance,†Mattis said.
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