Horizon Cutting-room Links: Friday, 10 January 2025

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC area are Open. Employees are expected to begin the workday on time. Normal operating procedures are in effect. Mostly clear, with a low around 17. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

“New threats pushing Air Force and Army to rethink approach to base defense,” Defense One

“Pentagon officials are devising new plans to defend air bases worldwide—plans that prioritize collaboration across all the military services, rather than relying solely on the Army for protection. The growing threat of long-range missiles from China, along with the proliferation of drone swarms, has complicated the Army’s long-held mission to defend air bases. At the same time, the Air Force is building more small bases in the Indo-Pacific to reduce reliance on a handful of large installations, which becomes too expensive to protect with ‘traditional Army air defense systems like Patriot and THAAD’.”

“A new report from the Hudson Institute, released Tuesday, underscored the need for new air base defense plans—arguing that China has made major investments to defend, expand, and fortify their airfields, while the U.S. has done very little in the region. “

One of the Horizon’s favorite Chinese propaganda pieces is this rap about THAAD found on YouTube.

“Forthcoming executive order seeks to plug holes in federal cyber practices,” NextGov

“The document, which has been in the works for months, is expected to be signed Friday or early next week, according to people familiar with the matter. It builds on cyber lessons learned throughout the Biden administration following the signing of a flagship executive order in 2021 that was fueled by the well-storied Colonial Pipeline and SolarWinds hacks.

“Since then, the government has faced myriad hacking incidents from nation-state operatives. A recent Chinese hack into the Treasury Department’s systems was likely carried out by a Beijing-backed hacking unit dubbed Silk Typhoon, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bloomberg News first reported the presumed identity of the hackers Wednesday night.”

“American Airlines Quietly Ends Second Drink Runs on Long Domestic Flights –It’s Now Just ‘On Request’,” View from the Wing

On domestic flights over 1,500 miles, the airline whose mission is not spending a dollar more than they have to will no longer have flight attendants perform a second pass through the aisle with drink service later in the flight – second drinks are on request only. … First class receives a change, too. On the Airbus A321, flight attendants are permitted to deliver meals from a cart. And the order in which meal requests are supposed to be taken has been standardized at front to back on every flight.”

“Delta’s giving its in-flight screens a major 4K HDR upgrade,” the Verge

“Delta Air Lines announced plans to install new 4K HDR QLED screens in its commercial airplanes, so passengers can experience ultra high-definition entertainment at ultra-high altitudes.”