The D Brief: Ukraine-aid plan; US production woes; How Navy ‘wasted’ $1.8B; Jersey drone update; And a bit more.

The Biden administration intends to send more than a billion dollars in military aid to Ukraine by the end of the year, officials said Tuesday. That includes $1.2 billion still left from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, Defense One’s Meghann Myers reports. 

But there’s also $5.6 billion in weapons, vehicles, and other equipment the president could authorize to go to Ukraine, a U.S. official said in a call with reporters Tuesday. However, that “$5.6 billion is a substantial amount of authority,” the official said. “So I would certainly anticipate that there could be remaining authority that would transition and be available for the next administration to use.”

For the record: To date, the United States has sent more than $59 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. That ranks the U.S. 17th among aid-providing countries by percentage of gross domestic product. Continue reading, here. 

Moscow assassination update: Russian authorities have arrested a man from Uzbekistan who they allege confessed to planting and detonating a bomb that killed a top Russian general Tuesday in Moscow. The Uzbek man is charged with acting on instructions drawn up by Ukrainian intelligence officials, Reuters reported Wednesday. 

“The suspect, who is thought to have been born in 1995, is shown [in a video provided by Russian authorities] saying he remotely detonated the device when [the general] left the building” early Tuesday, according to Reuters. The Uzbek man reportedly claims Ukraine offered $100,000 in payment and the promise of residency somewhere in Europe.

Read more: The BBC tallied up several other top Russians believed to have been killed in Ukrainian intelligence operations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly three years ago. 

Developing: European officials are considering sending troops to Ukraine on the chance Kyiv and Moscow reach some kind of ceasefire in the months ahead. But there’s hardly any consensus on the decision, Reuters reported Wednesday from Paris. 

One big reason to hesitate: “Such a force would raise the risk of a direct confrontation with Russia and stretch European militaries, whose arms stocks have been depleted by donations to Ukraine and who are used to relying heavily on U.S. support for major missions.” More, here. 

Happening today: Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy is in Brussels this evening for dinner with NATO’s new chief Mark Rutte. The leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are also expected, the New York Times reports.

North Korean troop update: You may recall Vladimir Putin seems to need the help of North Korean soldiers as he continues his invasion of Ukraine. But according to one Ukrainian drone unit commander, “The North Koreans are running across the fields, and there are so many of them. They don’t understand what’s happening,” researcher Franz-Stefan Gady reported on social media Tuesday. 

“I don’t know if they don’t understand what’s going on or if the Russians are deliberately sending them like that. I can’t say,” the Ukrainian said. “We had never seen anything like it — 40 to 50 people running across a field. That’s a perfect target for artillery and Mavic [drone] operators. Russians never ran like that,” he said. 

“They’re different from the Russians, who have learned to run or hide from drones, only shooting at them from cover,” a different Ukrainian drone pilot said. “The [North] Koreans just shoot indiscriminately, standing there firing,” he told Gady. 

Additional reading: 

• “‘Several hundred’ North Korean troops killed fighting Ukraine, says US official,” Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday; 
• “What North Korea Gains From Its Alliance With Russia — and What It Risks,” the New York Times reported Tuesday;
• ICYMI, “Trump says it was ‘stupid’ for Biden to let Ukraine use US weapons to strike deeper into Russia,” AP reported Monday;
• And don’t miss, “The Crumbling Foundation of America’s Military,” via Mark Bowden reporting Tuesday on America’s lagging munitions industry in a #LongRead for The Atlantic (gift link). 

Welcome to this Wednesday edition of The D Brief, brought to you by Ben Watson with Bradley Peniston. Share your newsletter tips, reading recommendations, or feedback here. And if you’re not already subscribed, you can do that here. On this day in 2019, House lawmakers impeached Donald Trump for the first time after he withheld U.S. military aid to Ukraine in an effort to force Kyiv to investigate his political rival Joe Biden.

Around the Defense Department

‘Navy wasted $1.84 billion’: GAO slams cruiser-rehab effort. After the Navy sought to retire its Ticonderoga guided-missile cruisers, lawmakers balked and ordered the service to refit some of its remaining Ticos to serve several more years. Then the Navy botched it, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. 

Over a decade, the service spent $3.7 billion on a poorly planned, inconsistently managed effort that, GAO wrote, “wasted $1.84 billion” on four cruisers that never deployed again. Defense One’s Bradley Peniston and Meghann Myers report, here.

U.S. counter-drone policy, not technology, blocks a more robust response to New Jersey drone reports, officials say. Agencies and various levels of government have policy “gaps and seams” that can’t be closed without Congressional action, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told Defense One’s Patrick Tucker and other reporters Tuesday.

Kirby: “We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS—unmanned aerial systems—legislation that has been proposed and repeatedly requested by this administration that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to help identify and counter any threat that does emerge,” Kirby  said.

The drones reportedly sighted since mid-November pose no immediate threat, and do not appear to be part of any attack, officials said. Read on, here. 

Recoil, hold the smoke. Defense One’s Lauren C. Williams tried out simulators from jets, drones, and rifles to file this report from the recent I/ITSEC military training-and-simulation conference in Orlando.

Related reading: 

• “Opinions of lower-ranking troops could soon be considered in officer promotions,” Task & Purpose reported Tuesday; 
• “US sends home a Kenyan man held 17 years without charge at Guantanamo military prison,” the Associated Press reported Wednesday. 

Space industry

SpaceX hearts China’s regulatory regime. The U.S. government should be more like China when it comes to regulating space launches, the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX said Tuesday.

“We need to rethink very quickly the regulatory regime for space launch and space comms and other space capability to make sure that regulation, which is important…needs to keep up with technology,” Gwynne Shotwell said during an event at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

The Chinese government doesn’t restrict space launches, Shotwell said, complimenting China’s “extraordinary” work ethic and how all parts of their government support technology development, Defense One’s Audrey Decker reported Tuesday.

“I never hear Chinese companies complaining about China’s regulatory regime, right?” she said Tuesday. “I think it's quite the opposite, right? I think the government is incredibly helpful to push those technologies forward fast, so I think that's a lesson that we need to learn as well.” Read on, here. 

Related reading: 

• “Raytheon tests Ursa Major’s rocket motor in U.S. Army missile flight,” Space News reported Wednesday; 
• “Japanese space startup aborts 2nd satellite launch attempt minutes after liftoff,” AP reported Wednesday from Tokyo; 
• “Exclusive: Power failed at SpaceX mission control before September spacewalk by NASA nominee,” Reuters reported Tuesday; 
• And “NASA astronauts who flew on Boeing's spaceship to remain in space even longer,” NBC News reported Tuesday.