Login
iscover
The United States government is knuckling down on quick response to emerging bio-threats, according to a recently released Biodefense Posture Review and official commentary.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
The US faces an unprecedented number of complex biological threats posed by near-peer competitors, non-state actors, and naturally occurring pandemics, according to Deborah G Rosenblum, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs.
“These threats certainly impact the readiness and resilience of our military forces,” Assistant Secretary Rosenblum said.
“Biodefence is no longer something that’s the purview of just specialised units who have traditionally been worried about these threats.
“Integrated deterrence requires a combat credible force. To be combat credible, the whole joint force must be capable of fighting through biothreats and being resilient.”
An inaugural Biodefense Posture Review, directed by the US Secretary of Defense and released by the Pentagon earlier this month, details reforms needed to counter biothreats through to 2035. The review calls for an enhanced early warning, understanding of emerging biothreats, improved preparedness of the total force, speeding response to biothreats to mitigate their impact on DOD missions, improved strategic coordination and collaboration.
“The (Biodefense Posture Review) was built on the foundation laid out in the National Defense Strategy along with the National Biodefense Strategy, but it was also greatly informed by a number of lessons learned from the COVID-19 response,” Assistant Secretary Rosenblum said during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“We are at a pivotal point in biodefence. We must maintain our momentum to prepare for any number of complex potential biological threats.”
The Biodefense Posture Report found that emerging biotechnology could lead to the positive development of new vaccines and treatments, personalised medicine, biology-based sensors, and self-healing material. Alternatively, bio-tech may also produce a “dark promise” of novel biological agents, reconstituted extinct agents, timed release agents, agent targeting of specific organs or agents with enhanced transmission, virulence or host range.
“The Department of Defense is at a pivotal moment in biodefence as it faces an unprecedented number of complex biological threats,” the report said.
“Developments in biological technology are driving an increase in the scope and diversity of biothreats that DOD could face in the next decade.
“Additionally, as the planet’s climate continues to change and its population grows, emerging infectious diseases are expected to develop and spread more frequently and potentially threaten DOD’s readiness to achieve and maintain its national defence goals.
“The COVID-19 pandemic response presented opportunities for DOD to both improve its overall preparedness and posture, as well as to reinforce and reimagine its role in support of the broader US government and our allies and partners.”
The report states the department’s most important activities to improve biodefence include expansion of threat awareness, modernisation of biodefence capabilities, improved readiness through training, and establishment of a biodefence council to coordinate authorities.
Any reforms made in the report would also have to align with the US’s National Defense Strategy priorities to defend the homeland and pace with the growing multi-domain threat posed by the People’s Republic of China, deter strategic attacks, deter aggression while being prepared to prevail in conflict, and to build a resilient joint force and defence ecosystem.
