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I can still remember, as a young Air Force officer, sitting in the cockpit of my B-1 bomber knowing that we could deliver nuclear weapons virtually anywhere in the world.

I also remember watching President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1986 to negotiate nuclear arms reductions. The whole world was watching. The nuclear arms race was a global threat, and the world’s two most powerful nations had a responsibility to confront it.

Now imagine that, as Reagan sat across the table from Gorbachev, American companies were selling Moscow the technology it needed to make its nuclear arsenal even more powerful.

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The idea would have been absurd.

Yet today, as the United States enters another potentially historic technological arms race, we are entertaining a remarkably similar proposition: selling China the advanced computer chips it needs to build the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence.

CHINA IS BUILDING AN AI WAR MACHINE. WASHINGTON MUST WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

Advanced AI chips are not nuclear weapons. But in the emerging competition over artificial intelligence, they may be the closest equivalent we have to the strategic materials that powered the last great arms race. In short, they are the fuel.

Without enormous quantities of advanced chips and computing power, China cannot train frontier AI systems at the same scale or speed as the United States. That is precisely why Beijing wants them, and precisely why Washington should think very carefully before selling them.

TRUMP'S AI RACE WITH CHINA COULD BECOME THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF OUR TIME

When President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House this month, there will be no shortage of issues to discuss. Trade. Security. Technology. The future of the world’s most consequential relationship.

But Trump should make one principle clear: America will not help China build the technology that could erase one of our greatest strategic advantages.

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The United States currently possesses enormous leverage. America remains at the center of the world’s most advanced AI ecosystem, and China still depends heavily on access to American-designed chips and the broader technological infrastructure surrounding them. We should not give that leverage away.

Earlier this year, the United States began allowing some advanced AI chips, including Nvidia’s H200, to be sold to China on a case-by-case basis. Those sales come with restrictions and security requirements. But the strategic question is more fundamental: Why should we accelerate China’s ability to compete with us in the first place?

US ADVERSARY TURNS UP THE HEAT ON AMERICA’S AI LEAD WITH AN UNDERESTIMATED EDGE

Supporters of chip sales argue that keeping China dependent on American technology preserves our influence and supports American companies. They also argue it disincentivizes China from developing its own capabilities. But there is great evidence that it has exactly the opposite effect. China is using our chips to accelerate their own capabilities. And national security should never be reduced to an argument over market share.

An advanced AI chip sold to China does not simply power a search engine or make a factory more efficient. At sufficient scale, these chips provide the computing power required to train increasingly capable AI systems with applications in intelligence, cyber operations, military planning, autonomous weapons, scientific research and countless other fields.

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We would never have looked at Soviet demand for strategic nuclear technology and concluded that the important question was whether an American company could make the sale. We understood that some technologies were too consequential to treat as ordinary commerce, and AI chips increasingly belong in that category.

This does not mean America should retreat from AI development. Quite the opposite. We should build faster, innovate more aggressively and maintain as large a technological advantage over China as possible. But there is a difference between racing ahead and helping your adversary catch up.

Trump should use the Xi meeting to turn America’s chip advantage into negotiating leverage. If China wants greater access to advanced American computing power, then Beijing should have to accept meaningful, verifiable limits on the most dangerous forms of AI development. We should demand transparency around massive compute clusters and clear restrictions on capabilities that could threaten U.S. national security or escape meaningful human control.

And any agreement must be enforceable. China has given us little reason to rely on promises. The standard should be simple: Trust nothing. Verify everything.

This is where Reagan’s example matters. He did not negotiate with the Soviet Union because America was weak. He rebuilt American strength first, then used that strength to secure limits on a dangerous arms race.

He understood something we should remember today: You do not surrender your leverage before negotiations begin. Trump should apply that lesson to the defining technological competition of our time. America should lead in AI. America should win. And America should negotiate from strength to keep this race from carrying both nations somewhere neither can control.

But we cannot negotiate from strength while handing China the fuel it needs to catch us.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Selling advanced AI chips to Beijing while worrying about China overtaking us makes about as much strategic sense as selling nuclear technology to the Soviets during the Cold War.

Reagan would have understood that immediately. Our current leadership should too.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY CHRIS STEWART

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The mugshot of a Minnesota woman arrested for allegedly stealing batteries is going viral after social media users noticed her resemblance to a famous pop superstar.

Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, was arrested Aug. 30 on a theft charge in Monticello after she allegedly stole two double packs of power tool batteries valued at around $580 from a store, according to a criminal complaint obtained by TMZ.

But it was Quast's booking photo that had the internet doing a collective double take.

JENNIFER LOPEZ'S BOLD WIMBLEDON HAT DIVIDES FANS OVER ROYAL BOX ETIQUETTE

Social media users quickly pointed out that the mugshot appeared to bear a striking resemblance to Jennifer Lopez.

"It really does look like her!" one user exclaimed, while others suggested the two could even pass for twins.

Another referenced Lopez's 2002 hit "Jenny from the Block," declaring Quast, "the real Jenny from the block."

Others had a little more fun with the comparison, with one saying Quast looked like J.Lo if the global superstar "had a really rough week."

JENNIFER LOPEZ SENDS FANS INTO A FRENZY AS SHE SHOWS OFF CHISELED ABS IN GYM SELFIES

Another suggested Quast might have a future as Lopez's stunt double.

Still, not everyone was seeing double, with plenty of social media users pushing back on the supposed "uncanny" resemblance.

"She looks absolutely nothing like her," one user quipped.

Her alleged return visit raised red flags when an employee recognized Quast from a similar theft days earlier and alerted police, according to the complaint.

Quast was arrested and booked into the Wright County Jail on a gross misdemeanor theft charge.

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FIRST ON FOX: A report released this week examining America’s election-law pipeline found law schools that are overwhelmingly left-leaning, leaving conservatives outnumbered in both law-school classrooms and election litigation, which has resulted in a real world effect on courtroom outcomes, the report says.

After reviewing election-law courses and faculty at all 198 ABA-accredited law schools, The Public Interest Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group, found that liberal professors outnumber conservative professors nearly 7-to-1.

"Among those few law schools that make election law classes available, leftist and liberal election professors outnumber right of center and conservative ones 76 to 12," the report states, adding that most of the election law centers are based in universities in blue states like New York and California.

"There are so many left-wing lawyers in election law that it creates policy outcomes, election law changes, adapts, and election integrity statutes get struck down because there's so many lawyers on the other side," PILF President J. Christian Adams told Fox News Digital.

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"So nobody ever studied what's going on in law schools. We just always assumed, oh, there's just so many of them, but we never asked why. So, for the first time ever, Public Interest Legal Foundation went in and quantified the election law professors in the country and figured out if they're liberal or conservative and it's overwhelming. An absolute dangerous imbalance."

PILF also examined curriculum at the top schools and characterized 70% of election-law classes as taught by professors with a left-leaning ideological bias.

The report argues that students are being trained to challenge voter ID laws, citizenship-verification requirements, redistricting maps, voter-roll maintenance and other election-integrity measures. As a result, the law school graduates then move into liberal nonprofits and major law firms that litigate those issues.

EXCLUSIVE: BAD BUNNY, MARXISM AND 'NASTY WOMEN' AMONG COURSES OFFERED AT IVY LEAGUE, ELITE COLLEGES

The report cites examples from course descriptions that include references to "voter suppression," racial and partisan gerrymandering, felony disenfranchisement, the Electoral College and "election subversion."

The report also highlights what it describes as ideological course offerings at several law schools, including Harvard’s "Bonobo Sisterhood" class, which examines what bonobos can teach humans about creating a society free of male sexual coercion. PILF points to election-law courses at Harvard, Michigan, UC Berkeley and other schools that address social justice, racial inequity, voter suppression, election subversion and proposals to restructure the Electoral College.

The report makes the case that the political imbalance in law schools makes its way into courtrooms across the nation. Adams, who litigated a redistricting case in Galveston County, told Fox News Digital that the left brings "a swarm of lawyers" to court, outnumbering conservatives "five, six, seven times" in some hearings.

"In that trial, it was so many lawyers on the other side, not only at the regular lawyer table, they filled the jury box," Adams said. "It was like 25 to five." Adams added that "anytime voter ID hangs in the balance, the left sends an army," while "conservatives defending election integrity just don’t have the horses."

Adams told Fox News Digital that the current political culture on campuses exacerbates the divide and that part of the solution is law schools in red states establishing election law centers.

"There’s definitely a culture on campuses that makes it hard," Adams said. "I’ve spoken at 75 law schools, and at many of them, conservatives show up as an anomaly rather than as active participants. But that’s not true everywhere."

"A lot of schools that aren’t ideologically driven still don’t have election law programs. There’s no reason almost none of the law schools in Texas should teach election law. That’s something the legislature could fix by funding an election law chair at one of the state’s public universities."

The report does not argue that every professor it identified as left-leaning advocates for a particular legal outcome or that ideology alone determines the result of election cases. Rather, PILF makes the case that the imbalance shapes the pipeline of students and lawyers entering election litigation, leaving conservative attorneys with fewer specialized colleagues, fewer academic resources and less experience to draw on when defending election-integrity laws.

The result, according to PILF, is a self-enforcing imbalance where left-leaning professors shape how students are introduced to election law, those students move into voting-rights nonprofits and major law firms, and they eventually become the attorneys challenging election-integrity laws in court.

According to report, that translates into more than just an ideological disparity on campus but a nationwide advantage in the lawyers, research and resources available to each side of election litigation.

"We can solve this problem of this dangerous imbalance in election litigation, but we have to start to solve it," Adams told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard, UC Berkeley, and University of Michigan law schools for comment.

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The House Democrats' campaign arm is embracing a far-left candidate with a long trail of controversial and inflammatory comments — along with an arrest record — who won their party's nomination in a crucial congressional swing district in battleground Michigan, after holding off on helping him for over a month.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) this week expanded its target list of GOP-controlled House seats it is aiming to flip as Democrats work to recapture control of the chamber in the midterm elections. One of the three candidates added to the committee's "Red to Blue" program is Will Lawrence of Michigan.

Lawrence was arrested in 2013 on charges of resisting police during a protest. Documents obtained by Fox News showed Lawrence was charged with trespassing and with resisting and obstructing an officer. He has said the conviction was later expunged.

Lawrence has also deleted hundreds of past controversial social media posts, including support for scrapping police and prisons, open borders, abolishing the Senate, calling for a Democratic Party "civil war" and bashing the nuclear family, which he characterized as part of a "violent way of organizing society."

HOUSE DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE'S 2013 ARREST RESURFACES IN PIVOTAL RACE FOR CONGRESS

A former Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member who says he let his membership lapse, Lawrence has walked back many of his previous statements, including once calling for defunding the police.

He told Fox News Digital in a statement last month, "I don't support defunding the police. I follow the lead of first responders and gun violence prevention advocates I have met with here in the district, who support increased funding for youth programs, mental health resources, and community violence intervention, working in collaboration with law enforcement."

Lawrence has also distanced himself from some of his other comments, telling CNN, "Like many millennials, I’ve done my fair share of thinking out loud on the internet."

Lawrence, a co-founder of the progressive Sunrise Movement, topped two establishment-backed rivals in last month's Democratic primary in Michigan, in a heated nomination showdown that further fueled the party's civil war between the far-left and the center-left.

He's now challenging first-term Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in Michigan's 7th Congressional District, a Lansing-anchored seat that President Donald Trump carried by just one point in the 2024 election.

Lawrence's addition to the DCCC program came more than a month after his primary victory. That's not out of the ordinary, as the DCCC and the rival National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) sometimes take a few weeks before elevating primary winners, as they consider polling, fundraising, and other considerations

But Democratic sources told Fox News Digital that some progressives had grown frustrated with the delay. The DCCC waited, in part, out of deference to Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) leaders, according to a CNN report, as Lawrence faced criticism over past comments about Black politicians.

The CBC has yet to endorse Lawrence, in part because of his 2024 podcast comments criticizing Black political leaders, calling them a "pillar" of the "capitalist, imperialist" American establishment. Lawrence has apologized for those comments and for also charging that Black political leaders "defang the White left."

Fox News Digital reached out to the CBC, but didn't receive a response at the time this article posted.

Adding Lawrence to the DCCC list is getting some pushback by centrist Democrats.

"I think they waited so long because he is a pretty far-left candidate running in a swing district that is currently held by a Republican and two, he has said something very, very controversial about African-Americans and that’s not great combination when you’re trying to win a swing district," Matt Bennett, co-founder and executive vice president of the Democratic centrist think tank Third Way told Fox News Digital.

"It could further exacerbate tensions within the party" if Lawrence hasn't been able to patch up his relationship with the CBC, Bennett added.

SUNRISE MOVEMENT CO-FOUNDER DEFEATS ESTABLISHMENT-BACKED DEMS IN KEY MICHIGAN RACE

In making her announcement on Tuesday, DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene said that Lawrence and the two other candidates added to the 'Red to Blue' program, Democrat Mitchell Berman of Wisconsin and independent Bill Hill of Alaska, "represent the very best of their communities—unbought, practical leaders who know what it takes to win in tough districts."

"While Tom Barrett sides with Trump and the corporate special interests, Will Lawrence sides with the people. He stands up to anyone trying to take advantage of Michigan, and in Congress he’ll keep fighting to give the community that raised him a fair shot," DelBene added.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

But NRCC Spokesman Zach Bannon pilloried the move by the DCCC to add Lawrence to its list.

"D.C. Democrats are embracing Socialist William Lawrence, who wants to abolish the police, abolish prisons, ban fossil fuels, allow sex changes for kids, and advance every other far-left liberal policy in mid-Michigan," Bannon charged.

Meanwhile, NRCC National Press Secretary Mike Marinella took to social media to post a long list of Lawrence's past controversial comments.

With the additions of Lawrence, Hill, and Berman, the DCCC now has 40 races on its target list.

"This is just the latest sign that MI-07 is one of the most competitive races anywhere in the country," Lawrence said on X as he commented on the DCCC's move. "And it’s a vote of confidence that our people powered campaign fighting to bring down the cost of living and standing up to corporate power is gaining momentum."

Fox News' Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

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A West Virginia woman is accused of leaving her frail and ailing husband on the toilet for 19 hours, an act investigators say contributed to his death.

Margaret Rog, 75, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the death of her 76-year-old husband. She was charged with abuse or neglect of an incapacitated adult.

Authorities allege Rog had left her husband, who suffers from dementia, Alzheimer’s and legal blindness, on the toilet overnight last month, leading to serious health conditions that contributed to his death, the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office said, according to WDTV.

Her husband went to the bathroom at around 3 p.m. on Aug. 20, but when he was finished doing his business, Rog was unable to help him off the toilet.

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According to investigators, instead of calling for help, the woman left her husband unattended and unresponsive for 19 hours without food, water or his prescribed medications, the sheriff's office said.

Deputies allege Rog watched her husband groan in pain but did not call anyone for help and later went to bed as her ailing husband remained stuck on the toilet, according to deputies.

At around 10 a.m. the following day, a speech therapist arrived for an in-home visit with Rog’s husband and found the man unresponsive and in dangerously poor condition, according to WDTV, citing court records.

The speech therapist then called an ambulance and the man was rushed to the hospital.

He was then diagnosed with several conditions, including heart failure, respiratory failure, pulmonary embolism, hypernatremia, sepsis and rhabdomyolysis.

The man was also found to have wounds on his backside, shortness of breath and an altered mental status, according to court records.

He died in the hospital on Aug. 31.

Investigators said the elderly man’s condition and injuries linked to being left on the toilet were "significant contributing factors" to his death, WDTV reported.

7 NEW DEMENTIA RISK FACTORS REVEALED — INCLUDING ONE MILLIONS STRUGGLE WITH

Rog allegedly made statements investigators described as self-incriminating to law enforcement, adult protection services and family members over the course of the investigation, according to court documents.

The woman allegedly suggested she was aware of her husband’s need for assistance but deliberately opted against offering any help.

She pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday and posted a $75,000 bond.

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More than 20 states are suing the Trump administration over a new Department of Homeland Security rule that would give immigration officials wider discretion in determining what constitutes a public charge, a statute that allows the government to deny visas or green cards to applicants it determines are likely to become dependent on government assistance.

The rule, which is set to take effect on Friday, would expand the list of possible government aid that officials could point to when deciding to disqualify an applicant.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 21 states and Washington, D.C., in suing the administration over what they describe as punishment for immigrants' law use of public assistance. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani led a separate lawsuit filed by a coalition of cities challenging DHS' rule.

James said the rule would allow immigration officials to consider an immigrant's use of benefits like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and participation in school meal programs when determining whether they could become dependent on government aid. She also said it could lead to more fear of interacting with the government for people who are part of an immigrant family.

TRUMP ADMIN PAUSES VISA APPOINTMENTS WORLDWIDE AMID HEIGHTENED SCREENING FOR APPLICANTS

"Hardworking families should not be forced to go without the support they need because they fear asking for assistance will get them deported," James said in a statement. "This rule preys on that fear and counts on families forfeiting the food assistance, health care coverage, and other public benefits to which they are legally entitled. My office fought this exact policy once before and won, and we are leading the nation to ensure the Trump administration cannot inflict this harm on families again."

The public charge ground applies to certain immigrants seeking admission or adjustment of status. Most undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federal means-tested public benefits, although limited exceptions exist under federal and state law.

The states argue they would lose billions of dollars in federal funding if immigrants pull from programs over fears about the public charge rule.

Immigration officials under the Biden administration's 2022 public charge rule generally considered only cash assistance for income maintenance, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), along with government-funded long-term institutionalization, when determining a public charge.

The rule does not specify a fixed list of public benefits that immigration officials may consider. Instead, it states that officers may consider the receipt of any means-tested public benefits as part of a public charge determination, giving them broader discretion in evaluating applicants.

The states' and cities' lawsuits asked the courts to declare the rule unlawful and prevent DHS from using it.

"It's very hard to predict how courts will look at this issue. It is very unusual regulation though," Cato Institute Director of Immigration Studies David Bier told Fox News Digital. "I think from that standpoint the states have a good argument that we had a well defined public charge rule and the administration didn't replace it with some other well defined rule, it replaced it with nothing. So now there's just discretion to the officers to do whatever they want with the underlying statute. There's no regulation that clearly says this is what it means to be a public charge in the United States."

"The rule as it was before this new regulation was you had to be primarily dependent on certain government benefit programs. This rule removes that definition and doesn't replace it with anything. So now people and applicants, lawyers who are applying to the government on behalf of applicants, they don't know really what the law is," he continued.

The states' lawsuit argues that DHS is exceeding its authority because Congress did not approve a broader interpretation of what it means to be a public charge. The states say the new rule is arbitrary and that the agency ignored the harmful consequences of the change.

DOJ THREATENS TO CUT BILLIONS IN WELFARE FUNDING FROM STATES FOR FAILING TO REPORT ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

"Cruelty is the point," James said at a press conference on Monday. "Having a chilling effect on immigrants is the point. Letting individuals know that they are not welcome here is the point. Immigration animus is the point. The fact that you’re going to deny individuals who are sick and hungry and homeless benefits just is beyond the pale."

DHS did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment in time for publication.

Bier said the rule does not prohibit immigrants from receiving welfare and is only used as an officer's projection about someone's likelihood of future welfare use in the U.S., warning that it could lead to self-sufficient applicants being denied.

"Whether someone is currently using benefits or not doesn't matter under this evaluation. It's this probabilistic determination of the future that they're using in order to deny people legal status and legal permanent resident status in the United States. That's a much more difficult assessment to make. That's going to result in arbitrary denials. It's just not possible to do this type of assessment and not result in people who would be self-sufficient being denied status," he said.

This comes as President Donald Trump pursues a broader immigration crackdown that has extended beyond illegal immigration to legal immigration pathways. While Trump campaigned in 2024 on curbing illegal immigration, his administration has also imposed additional restrictions on legal immigration, including higher fees for certain work visas and new limits on how long some foreign students and journalists can remain in the U.S.

The administration has also pursued visa revocations and removal proceedings in cases involving political activity and speech, including some anti-Israel activists. Those efforts have prompted court challenges in which plaintiffs allege violations of First Amendment free speech and Fifth Amendment due process protections.

"It's very clear that this administration wants to restrict both illegal immigration, which obviously it's done at the border, and through deportations, but also legal immigration," Bier said.

Last month, the administration directed U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to postpone immigrant visa interviews while consular officers complete training on new public charge guidance, temporarily stalling applications that had reached the interview stage.

"The primary population that's going to be affected by this public charge rule are spouses of U.S. citizens and their kids who are trying to receive green cards so they can live with their American spouse or parent here in the United States. That's the overwhelming majority of the people who are going to be affected by the rule. It's going to result in many of those immigrant families being separated from their American spouse or parent," Bier said.

MAMDANI BLASTS FEDS FOR WAGING 'CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AND TERROR' AGAINST NYC'S IMMIGRANTS

The public charge provision stems from the Immigration Act of 1882, when federal lawmakers sought to ensure that immigrants would be able to take care of themselves and not become a public burden.

After years of only considering cash benefits, the first Trump administration widened the categories of benefit programs that could be considered a public charge, including Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers. But the Biden administration in 2022 published a rule that returned to the previous guidance. The rule set to take effect this week would rescind the Biden administration's rule.

The new rule is more broad than the one from the first Trump administration, as it does not specify which safety nets should be considered and only states that DHS "will consider the receipt of any means tested public benefits."

"One of the most important things to understand is that during the first Trump administration, they had a public charge rule that was well defined that really did explain exactly what you were supposed to do in order to not be deemed a public charge or who was a public charge. This is completely different from that. It's essentially the Wild West. No one knows what's going on, no one knows what the law is now," Bier said.

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The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is heading for home port in San Diego, while the USS George H. W. Bush and USS George Washington remain on station in the North Arabian Gulf executing strikes and upholding the steel wall naval blockade. America’s aircraft carriers are more important than ever and Lincoln and her crew of 5,000 will get a warm welcome.

But, back in Washington, DC, stormy weather is brewing for the carrier fleet. And one rogue wave coming directly from the White House could imperil the Navy in a future fight against China.

First, a shout-out to Lincoln's combat success in the Middle East, including taking out 200 Iranian drones threatening commercial shipping. And oh yes, the Iranians tried and failed to target the Lincoln. "Since we’ve gotten here, and during Operation Epic Fury, the Iranians were looking for opportunities to attack this ship," Captain Daniel J. Keeler, commander of the Lincoln, told CNN in a hangar deck interview in July. "We’re very well-defended," said. Iran’s shots "don’t get close." In fact, an F-35C stealth fighter from Lincoln shot down one Iranian drone near the carrier back in February.

USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CAPTAIN SAYS MORALE IS HIGH FOR NEW MIDEAST MISSION

Brilliantly as they’ve performed, it’s high time for some major upgrades to naval aviation to prepare the force to take on China’s navy. I’m not talking about chow menus or what’s in stock at the ship stores. Here are four important moves.

Drones. Carrier air wings need their own drones. First to arrive will be the MQ-25 Stingray refueling and reconnaissance drone. With wings that spread to 75 feet unfolded, the Stingray’s job is to deliver fuel from its orbiting post 1,000 miles away from the carrier, and to stay aloft for hours. Look for smaller wingman collaborative combat aircraft drones with extra weapons and electronic spectrum warfare effects to join the airwing in the future, too. The sky’s the limit for carrier-based drones on ships with adjustable catapults. Speaking of which…

PENTAGON CONSOLIDATES DRONE OVERSIGHT AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PUSHES RAPID UNMANNED WARFARE EXPANSION

New catapults. President Donald Trump understands the value of carriers, yet he’s worried for years about the new catapults — where magnets instead of steam shoot planes down the deck. So a White House National Security Presidential Memorandum on Aug. 13 tasked the Navy to present options for going back to steam catapults. Big mistake. This, after the USS Gerald R. Ford has proven the new electromagnetic system with over 12,200 launches just from their most recent 326-day deployment. Combat data on the new "cats" looks good. Here’s something else you need to know: the magnetic catapults recharge faster than steam. FORD ran an all-out, multi-day surge exercise earlier this year, and the airwing was able to generate 25% more sorties with the new catapults, compared to the old steam type.

"I think there’s overwhelming support in Congress and in the Pentagon for moving forward with EMALS," Senator Roger Wicker, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Aug. 18. Ripping out combat-proven catapults and weapons elevators will slow shipyards and leave the U.S. Navy short of aircraft carriers to fight China. Also, there’s no going back. The aircraft carrier industrial base includes over 2,000 firms, many of them small businesses, across America. Switch the design of major systems, and you are looking at years of churn and delay.

By the way, France ordered the new system for their next aircraft carrier, and China’s already building their own electromagnetic system, which they probably stole from us.

Faster elevators. Not for the crew, they have up and down ladders. I’m talking about advanced weapons elevators. Made in Cincinnati, the new weapons elevators on Ford are rated for 24,000 lbs. instead of 12,000 lbs. for the old type, and they move 50% faster. Lower stage elevators move ordnance from the magazines in the aft and forward sections of the carrier while upper stage elevators lift the bombs and missiles up to the flight deck. All vital when the crew is rearming aircraft during combat operations. Once again, the White House is wavering, but consider that the Navy’s newest long-range weapons are big and heavy. The Malice air-to-air missile, unveiled just last month, weighs 1500 lbs. Best to stick with the advanced weapons elevators.

PENTAGON RACES TO BUY 10X MORE MISSILES AS IRAN WAR DWINDLES ARSENAL, THREATENS READINESS FOR CHINA AGGRESSION

A stealthy new fighter jet. Long in the works, the Navy’s sixth-generation F/A-XX is ready to move ahead. Boeing and Northrop Grumman both have secret demonstrator planes. The new fighter-bomber is crucial to adding more range for carrier strike operations. Besides, the clock is ticking. Production of the mainstay Navy F/A-18EF Superhornet is shutting down, and China’s already flown two sixth-generation aircraft prototypes, including one for their navy. Congress instructed the Pentagon to pick a winner and get moving, so point your finger at the Department of War for the delay.

Aircraft carriers are unique because the President does not have to gain local-nation permission to launch strikes from their decks. They are also moveable bases for massive strike power. China has three aircraft carriers today and the Pentagon expects them to have nine by 2035 versus a U.S. fleet of 11. That’s a significant challenge. The Navy has the advanced technology to keep the edge. But holding up F/A-XX, going back to steam, taking out the fast elevators: all this risks a gaping hole in U.S. military power.

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