The Russian military has reportedly taken control of the insurgent Wagner mercenary organization. This would include the group’s overseas operations in Africa and Syria, it said. wall street journalreporting on Wednesday.

Russian authorities have also reportedly detained the top commander. Over the last 24 hours, multiple media outlets have reported on allegations that Aerospace Forces Commander Sergei Slovikin knowingly failed to stop Wagner’s “baby coup” last weekend. Moscow Timesand the financial times.

Slovikin is the general that US officials have alleged likely colluded with Wagner. According to Evgeny Prigogine, new york times, reporting on Tuesday. According to the Washington-based Institute for War Studies, “If Russian authorities arrest Slovikin, the Kremlin will likely use Slovikin and his associates as scapegoats, while the Russian military and Russian internal security services will provoke an insurrection and Russian internal security.” It will publicly explain why the agency’s response was inadequate” to justify a potential overhaul of the Russian military leadership. “

NEW: Russian occupation forces in southern Ukraine appear to have dammed rivers and flooded access roads to eastern cities. Tokmak, The Ukrainian military is eyeing this as part of an ongoing counteroffensive. The Center for Journalism Research was the first to notice the apparent new impediment, which Bellingcat carefully assessed on Thursday.

“The temporary dam is located within the defensive line surrounding Tokmok City, itself behind a few more lines of defense,” wrote Bellingcat. “Since the dam was built in early May, the Tokmachka River has widened significantly east of the city, flooding some of the fields closest to the dam.” Flooding can be observed here through satellite imagery.

Tokumak has several “21 miles of obstacles” laid by the Russian army On Wednesday, in an elaborate defense scheme meticulously detailed by the station’s multimedia team, new york times. This report is one of the most impressive accounts we’ve seen so far in the 490 days of this ongoing invasion. I’ll just pick out the details here, but there’s so much to read, I encourage you to read the full report in the next few days. It’s a long report, but it’s worth your time.

Okay baby boomers, take it seriously, come back. Raytheon called in a retired engineer to teach employees how to build the Stinger missile, which is commonly used by the Ukrainian military, using blueprints drawn up during the Carter administration. defense oneMarcus Weissgerber reports.

Background: The United States has sent about 2,000 heat-seeking missiles to Ukraine, which are being used to shoot down Russian aircraft. All these missiles come from US military stockpiles. And the Biden administration announced this week that it would be sending more Stingers to Ukraine.

When the U.S. Army ordered 1,700 Stingers in May 2022, the Pentagon said the missiles would not be delivered until 2026. Kramer said it would take about 30 months for Stingers to go off the production line, largely because it takes time to set up a factory and train workers.

The Stinger has been out of production for 20 years, and suddenly in the first 48 hours [of the war]it’s the star of the show and everyone wants more,” Wes Kremer, president of RTX’s Raytheon division, said in an interview at the Paris Air Show last week.

“I was reinstating retired employees in their 70s.” …to teach new recruits how to actually make a stinger,” Kremer said. “We’re pulling test equipment out of the warehouse and blowing out the cobwebs on it.”

Moreover, the electronics used in the missile are outdated and RTX CEO Greg Hayes told Weissgerber: Read the rest here.

• by the way: Join Weigerber for a behind-the-scenes look at the Paris Air Show in the latest Defense One Radio Podcast featuring policy and equity analysts Roman Schweitzer and Kai von Lemohr. They will uncover the latest defense industry trends impacting not only the major U.S. defense contractors who own chalets at this year’s Paris Air Show, but also the European market.

In Development: Added weapons for Poland and Norway. The United States is about to sign two major new arms export deals with European nations. This includes the likely sale of an integrated air and missile defense combat command system to Poland for an estimated cost of $15 billion, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The agreement will provide Poland with the second stage of the two-stage Patriot air defense system, the first part of which was first announced in 2018.

Poland will get 48 Patriot M903 launch sites and about 650 Patriot air defense missiles. And there is a lot of related gear as well. The DSCA said Wednesday, “This proposed sale will support U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives by improving the security of NATO allies, a force for political stability and economic development in Europe. ‘ said. Massachusetts-based Raytheon and Texas-based Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Controls are the prime contractors.

Another deal would send about 600 small-diameter bombs to Norway. Estimated cost is $293 million. According to DSCA, the sale is intended to support Oslo’s new F-35A fleet, thereby enhancing the country’s “air defense and defense capabilities.” Raytheon Missile Systems of Tucson will handle production. Click here for details.

Additional resources:

Welcome to The D Brief Thursday Editionprovided by Ben Watson Kevin Barron. On this day in 2007, Apple released its first-ever iPhone in the US at a base price of $499, but that required a two-year contract with AT&T.

Farewell photo: Retiring Marine Commander Gen. David Berger has defended his Force Design 2030 plan from critics. He said Wednesday in one of his final interviews before stepping down and retiring on July 10, alongside the Hyundai Ocean Expo.
context: Berger’s first Force Design 2030 effort prioritized key equipment decisions over people, as gear changes take the longest. defense onereports by Caitlin Kenny of With these equipment changes underway, the incoming commander will be able to focus more on what Berger believes is the most important part of force design: people and training.
“No regrets at all” Berger said Wednesday. The danger of not changing the Marine Corps to prepare for future threats was “very clear, not just intuition,” he said, adding that “every exercise, every war…if that happens, the future outcome is not good.” ” he pointed out. We didn’t make any changes. You can read more about Kenney’s dispatch here.

Deliveries of new F-35s are on hold until December, and could be as late as April next year. break through the defense reported this week, defense one‘s Audrey Decker confirmed Wednesday. This is because Lockheed Martin’s contract stipulates that technology upgrades must be delivered to nine aircraft a month, so if the delay was extended to December, it was extended to 45 aircraft and to April. That would mean having to operate 81 jets.
Background: Decker reports that the Pentagon is updating some technology for its F-35 fighter fleet in an effort known as Block 4. But before the aircraft receives an upgrade, the jet needs a series of hardware and software improvements known as Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3), already a year behind schedule.
Despite the April warning, Lockheed said it still plans to deliver by December. Read more here.

That’s it for this week. We will be back again right after Independence Day.
Have a safe and happy weekend wherever you are. And see you again on Wednesday.