LAND MINES BACK IN THE US ARSENAL: The Pentagon will once again be free to use anti-personnel land mines to protect U.S. troops and thwart enemy ground offensives under a new directive from President Trump issued Friday.

“The President has canceled the Obama Administration’s policy to prohibit United States military forces from employing anti-personnel landmines outside of the Korean Peninsula,” the statement said, citing the need for U.S. troops “to defend against any and all threats.”

“The Department of Defense has determined that restrictions imposed on American forces by the Obama Administration’s policy could place them at a severe disadvantage during a conflict against our adversaries,” the White House statement said. “The President is unwilling to accept this risk to our troops.”

HIGH TECH MINES WILL LIMIT RISK TO CIVILIANS: “The United States remains committed to working to minimize risks to civilians posed by landmines and explosive remnants of war,” said Vic Mercado, who is currently performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for strategy, plans and capabilities.

Saying a Pentagon study determined that the U.S. military faced “a critical capability gap,” Mercado said the U.S. will nevertheless still ban “persistent” landmines, which don’t have a self-destruct or self-deactivation mechanism. “Technologically advanced safeguards are available that allow landmines to be employed responsibly to ensure our military’s warfighting advantage, and limit the risk of unintended harm to civilians,” he said in a statement . “These safeguards require landmines to self-destruct, or in the event of a self-destruct failure, to self-deactivate within a prescribed period of time.”

NOTE TO READERS: Today’s edition of Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense is a much abbreviated version, as both Jamie ( @jamiejmcintyre ) and his intrepid editor Susan Katz Keating ( @SKatzKeating ) are “on assignment,” which is a well-known journalistic euphemism that covers a wide range of activities, but in this case basically means we are both somewhat under the weather.

We hope to restore service to normal by early in the week, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. Meanwhile we hope you enjoy this faster than usual read, which still includes the handy calendar of national security related events and a rundown of relevant stories from the Washington Examiner and other publications.

Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com . If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense .

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HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Tashkent, Uzbekistan today for a meeting with his counterparts from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. He returns to Washington tomorrow.

QUARTERS FOR QUARANTINE: Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved a request Saturday from the Department of Health and Human Services for the U.S. military to provide temporary housing for up to 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined for two weeks upon arrival from overseas travel due to the novel coronavirus.

The initial request called for the Pentagon to provide facilities capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms through the end of the month. “Under the request, DOD will only provide housing support, while HHS will be responsible for all care, transportation, and security of the evacuees,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “DoD personnel will not be directly in contact with the evacuees and evacuees will not have access to any base location other than their assigned housing.”

The following installations were selected to assist HHS evacuation operations, if needed:



The 168th Regiment, Regional Training Institute, Fort Carson, Colorado

Travis Air Force Base, California

Lackland Air Force Base, Texas

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California

INDUSTRY WATCH:

Northrop Grumman has released an artist’s rendering of the new B-21 long range strategic stealth bomber, and surprise! It looks a lot like the last long-range strategic bomber, the iconic bat-wing B-2. You can see the image here .

Lockheed Martin is crowing about Poland’s completion of a deal to purchase 32 F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft worth $4.6 billion. “Poland is the 14th nation and 10th NATO country to join the program, a testament to the U.S. government’s confidence in the program,” said Greg Ulmer, vice president and general manager of the f-35 program for Lockheed. “We look forward to supporting the U.S. government in delivering the F-35 to meet Poland’s requirements.”

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Pentagon to prepare coronavirus quarantine housing for 1,000 people

Washington Examiner: 'The public has forgotten': 9/11 family members lament justice delayed at Guantanamo Bay

Washington Examiner: 'They’ve all grown up': Second CIA waterboarder testifies in 9/11 Guantanamo hearings

AP: Al-Qaeda in Yemen claims deadly Florida naval base shooting

AP: Uneasy quiet in Mideast, month after Iran strike against US

Washington Post: U.S. targets al-Qaeda chief in Yemen as it steps up goal to kill top terrorists

Breaking Defense: SecNav Tells Fleet Hypersonic Competition Demands ‘Sputnik Moment;’ Glide Body Test Set

Radio Free Europe: U.S. Jet That Crashed In Afghanistan Was No Ordinary 'Spy Plane'

AP: Judge refuses to vacate Somali pirate’s sentence

Calendar

MONDAY | FEBRUARY 3

11 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on "The UK's Post-Brexit Foreign and Security Policy and the Centrality of NATO,” with former British Defense Secretary Liam Fox; and Heather Conley, director of the CSIS Europe Program. https://www.csis.org/events

TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 4

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Maritime Security Dialogue "An Update on the Second Fleet at Full Operational Capability,” with Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander of U.S. Second Fleet; and Kathleen Hicks, director of the CSIS International Security Program https://www.csis.org/events

1 p.m. 58 East 68th Street, New York, N.Y — Council on Foreign Relations discussion on "The Road Ahead with Iran," with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Richard Haass, president of CFR. Livestream at https://www.cfr.org/event

9 p.m. House Chamber, U.S. Capitol — Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley, and other members of the joint chiefs of staff attend the annual State of the Union address by the President of the United States to a joint session of Congress..

WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 5

8 a.m. 2212 Rayburn. — House Armed Services Future of Defense Task Force Hearing: “Supercharging the Innovation Base,” with Eric Fanning, president & CEO, Aerospace Industries Association; Raj Shah, chairman & co-founder Arceo.ai, and Chris Brose, chief strategy officer, Anduril Industries. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

9:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion "Making the Case for Sustained U.S. Engagement in a Transitioning Afghanistan," with Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; Peter Bergen, vice president of global studies at New America; Rina Amiri, senior fellow at the New York University Center for Global Affairs; and former U.S. Agency for International Development Executive Vice President for Programs Earl Gast, executive vice president for programs at Creative Associates International. https://www.csis.org/events

10 a.m. 14th and F Sts. N.W. — Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie news conference on the Trump administration's plan to prevent veteran suicide https://www.press.org/events

10 a.m. 1779 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace book discussion on "Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East,” with author Kim Ghattas, nonresident senior fellow at CEIP; David Ignatius, foreign affairs columnist for the Washington Post; and former Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, president of CEIP. https://carnegieendowment.org

12 p.m. 1135 16th St. N.W. — American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security luncheon, with remarks by Jason Klitenic, general counsel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence https://www.americanbar.org

2:30 p.m. 2118 Rayburn. — House Armed Service Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces and Subcommittee on Readiness Joint Hearing: “Update on Navy and Marine Corps Readiness in the Pacific in the Aftermath of Recent Mishaps, with Vice Adm. Richard Brown, commander, Naval Surface Forces U.S. Pacific Fleet; and Marine Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, Deputy Commandant for Aviation. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 6

8 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies China Initiative Conference, with Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers; FBI Director Christopher Wray; National Counterintelligence and Security Center Director William Evanina; and keynote address by Attorney General William Barr. https://www.csis.org/events/china

8:30 a.m. 300 First St. S.E. — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies "Space Power to the Warfighter" seminar with Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Space Policy Stephen Kitay. http://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/

9 a.m. 3401 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Atlantic Council conference on "Looking North: Security in the Arctic,” with Norwegian Ambassador to the U.S. Kare Aas; Kim Holmen, international director of the Norwegian Polar Institute; Thomas Nilsen, editor of the Independent Barents Observer; Stephanie Pezard, senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation; Sherri Goodman, senior fellow in the Wilson Center's Polar Institute; Ali Rogin, foreign affairs producer for PBS's "NewsHour"; and Aaron Mehta, deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent at Defense News. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

12 p.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Cato Institute forum "Is War Over?" with Paul Poast, associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago; John Mueller, political scientist at Ohio State University; Christopher Fettweis, professor of political science at Tulane University; Bethany Lacina, associate professor at the University of Rochester; and John Glaser, director of foreign policy studies at Cato. https://www.cato.org/events/is-war-over

2 p.m. 1111 19th St. N.W. — Washington Institute for Near East Policy discussion on "The Persistent Threat from the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda: The View from the UN,” with Edmund Fitton-Brown, former coordinator of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team Concerning the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org

4:30 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. N.E. — Heritage Foundation Lecture on "Why the U.S. Needs a Strong NATO,” with Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. ambassador to NATO; and Kim Holmes, executive vice president of Heritage. https://www.heritage.org/europe/event

FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 7

10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Brookings Institution discussion on "The Air Force in 2020: A Strategy to Modernize,” with Thomas Ehrhard, vice president for defense strategy at the Long Term Strategy Group; Rebecca Grant, president of IRIS Independent Research; and Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/events

12:15 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. — Hudson Institute a discussion on "NATO and the New Decade: Assessing the Transatlantic Alliance,” with NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana; Peter Rough, senior fellow at Hudson; and Ken Weinstein, president and CEO of Hudson. https://www.hudson.org/events

8 p.m. 100 St. Anselm Dr., Manchester, N.H.— Democratic presidential primary debate, beginning at St. Anselm College to be aired on ABC.

WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 12

All Day Brussels, Belgium — Defense Secretary Mark Esper attends meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defense Ministers at the NATO Headquarters, chaired by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg https://www.nato.int

THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 13

All Day Brussels, Belgium — Day two of NATO Defense ministerial at NATO Headquarters, with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. https://www.nato.int

WEDNESDAY | MARCH 4

9 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. — McAleese Defense Programs Conference. Register at jmcaleese@mcaleese.com