The INSIDER daily digest -- Nov. 8, 2022

This Tuesday INSIDER Daily Digest has news on the implications of today's congressional elections plus the Air Force seeking industry input for a homeland defense radar and more.

With Election Day being today, we have a look at the implications for the U.S. military depending on which party comes out on top on Capitol Hill:

Elections set to reshuffle Capitol Hill's key defense committees

Midterm elections this week are poised to set off a political game of musical chairs on Capitol Hill that could have significant impacts on defense issues ranging from topline spending to Ukrainian military aid to U.S. shipbuilding.

The Air Force has announced plans for an industry day for a new-start project dubbed Homeland Defense Over-The-Horizon Radar for placement in up to four locations in the continental United States:

DOD wants new Over-the-Horizon Radar operational by 2027 at up to four CONUS sites

The Defense Department wants a new over-the-horizon radar to be operational by 2027 to detect and decrease risk from potential Russian and Chinese cruise missile strikes against U.S. critical assets and plans to brief industry in early December on a new homeland defense sensor competition that will launch next summer to support this goal.

Washington and Tokyo are in discussions about work on a hypersonic defensive missile, likely the Missile Defense Agency's Glide Phase Interceptor project:

U.S., Japan exploring possible co-development of hypersonic-killing guided missile

The United States is exploring the possibility of teaming with Japan to develop a counter-hypersonic interceptor, a project that could allow the Pentagon to share the cost of developing a new guided missile and build on the 16-year collaboration that produced the newest Aegis weapon: the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA.

The Navy is conducting a preliminary study that will analyze the capability of existing shipyards to determine whether an additional yard is warranted:

Navy to launch 'scoping study' for a new shipyard as it works to reduce maintenance delays

The Navy plans to launch a "scoping study" within the next year that will begin exploring the possibility of establishing a fifth public shipyard for submarine maintenance, according to a top service official.

In the view of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, China is currently seeking to "apply coercive pressure on Taiwan," as well as "establish a new normal" and convince "the international community to acquiesce" to its Taiwan policy, but that doesn't necessarily mean an invasion of the island anytime soon:

DOD policy chief doesn't anticipate Taiwan invasion in 'near term'

The Pentagon's policy head said he doesn't anticipate that China will invade Taiwan in the "near term" but he cautioned there could be an "incident" involving China in the coming years given a recent series of "unsafe and unprofessional activities."

A recent Air Force request for information regarding testing and training capabilities identifies eight areas the service is seeking to strengthen, topics the notice says must be addressed to fulfill Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s seventh operational imperative to transition the service to a wartime posture:

Air Force seeks industry solutions to test and train for 'high-end fight'

Air Force officials are searching for an advanced test and training infrastructure that can fill capability gaps and equip U.S. troops to keep pace with China, according to a request for information posted by the service.