Hands across the water. But no Storm Shadows across the sky.

(Originally published Sept. 27 in “What in the World“) The U.S. Navy is paying $179 million to upgrade one of its destroyers, the USS Halsey.

The USS Halsey is a destroyer built in 2005 and named in honor of the late Admiral William Frederick “Bull” Halsey Jr. And, yes, Bull Halsey is the Admiral that Paul and Linda McCartney were referring to in their 1971 single, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.” During World War II, Adm. Halsey led the U.S. fleet against the Japanese at the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942-1943 and then, 80 years ago next month, at the Battle of Leyte. Film buffs can see him portrayed in the 2019 film “Midway,” complete with psoriasis, by the actor Dennis Quaid.

Why McCartney singled Halsey out as a symbol of authority that ought not be taken too seriously remains a mystery. He later said the reference was meant as an honor:

Admiral Halsey notified me

He had to have a berth or he couldn’t get to sea

I had another look and I had a cup of tea

And a butter pie (A butter pie?)

(The butter wouldn’t melt, so I put it in the pie, alright?)

British company BAE Systems will be hauling the Halsey into drydock in San Diego, where it will upgrade the ship’s Aegis combat system and its the command-and-control systems, among other refurbishments. RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, is developing an improvement to the Aegis system that would allow it to track and intercept hypersonic missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington lobbying Congressional leaders and the White House to let him use long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia. In this, he has been joined by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who wants U.S. President Joe Biden to grant him permission to let Ukraine use British Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The Storm Shadows are made by Europe’s multinational defense contractor, MBDA, which is owned jointly by Airbus, BAE Systems, and Italy’s Leonardo. But because the Storm Shadows contain U.S. components, their use against Russia requires White House approval.

While White House leaks indicated Biden had already decided to let Kyiv have its way, firing Storm Shadows and long-range U.S.-made Atacms into Russia, Putin’s warning against doing so has apparently given him pause. Now U.S. intelligence agencies say firing the missiles wouldn’t actually do much other than raise the risk that Putin expands the war to attack the U.S. and its European allies, or launch nuclear weapons. And as Pentagon officials have been warning for a while, there aren’t a lot of the Atacms to fire and Russia has already moved most of its aircraft and missile launchers beyond their range.

Besides, Zelensky has plenty to worry about closer to home. After months of grueling stalemate, Russian forces are hurling themselves against a roughly 160km section of the front line in eastern Ukraine in a bid to gain territory.

And Zelensky won’t walk away from his White House empty-handed: Biden is handing him almost $8 billion in additional weapons as a parting gift.