Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday will be leading the monthly meeting known as the Ukraine defense contact group (UDCG) of about 50 allies that have been militarily supporting Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2024
Out of money, Pentagon chief looks to convince allies of commitment to Ukraine
Lack of funding is already having an impact on the ground in Ukraine and Ukrainian forces are having to manage scarce resources, officials say.
Tokyo will forge ahead with a next-generation fighter aircraft it is jointly developing with Rome and London following an agreement last week between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, to revise Japan’s strict defense export guidelines.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 18, 2024
Japan’s eased defense export rules open door to more changes
The speed at which the Kishida administration has been pushing through defense reforms has stunned many even as the regional security environment worsens.
Members of the U.S. Special Operations Command train with their South Korean counterparts during the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2024
U.S. commandos laud training for the 'unexpected' in North Korea's shadow
The Korean Peninsula joins the South China Sea and Taiwan as military flashpoints with the potential to involve the region and the world.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter inspect a drill by the Korean People's Army at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this image released Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 16, 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees paratrooper drills
The exercises were aimed at showing his soldiers' ability to occupy an "enemy region at a stroke," state media said.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March 2023.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024
Japan's ruling coalition approves export of future joint fighter jet
The step removes a potentially critical hurdle for the multinational Global Combat Aircraft Program involving the U.K. and Italy.
A Ground Self-Defense Force UH-60JA helicopter
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024
GSDF fails to determine exact cause of fatal 2023 chopper crash
The incident was the deadliest ever involving a GSDF aircraft, killing all 10 personnel on board.
An image taken from video released by Roman Starovoit, governor of the Kursk region of Russia, last month purportedly shows firefighters working to extinguish flames at an oil depot after a Ukrainian drone strike.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2024
Ukraine, stalled on the battlefield, targets Russia’s oil industry
This year, Ukraine has claimed responsibility for nearly a dozen assaults on Russian oil infrastructure.
Modern advances in the production of missiles and drones such as those used by the Houthis have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024
The Houthis school the world in asymmetric warfare
Advances in missile and drone production have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states
During the last round of negotiations between Washington and Seoul, then-U.S. President Donald Trump requested steep increases in South Korea’s share of defense costs.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 14, 2024
South Korea, U.S. talk cost-sharing as Seoul girds for Trump 2.0
The agreement on an unusually early start of the defense cost-sharing deals reflects unease over a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa is expected to announce a plan by Japan to launch a new dialogue framework that aims to being negotiations for a multinational treaty banning the production of nuclear materials that might be used for weapons.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2024
Japan to launch new dialogue on banning nuclear material production
Japan has asked other nations to participate in the envisaged talks.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 flies near Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday morning.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2024
U.S. military resumes Osprey flights in Japan
The resumption came after Washington last week lifted a worldwide flight ban on the aircraft following a deadly crash last year.
Veteran peace activist Setsuko Yamazato warns of the gathering “clouds of war” in Chie Mikami’s eight-year chronicle of the militarization of Okinawa.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024
‘Clouds of War’: The real story of Okinawa is its people
“Clouds of War” is an unwieldy but heartfelt portrait of citizens fighting back against militarization in Okinawa.
China insists that for meaningful negotiations to occur, the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia must be reduced to levels comparable to its own.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024
China’s ‘minimum’ nuclear deterrence is still a threat
Estimates of the number of Chinese warheads range from 400 to 500, a striking contrast to the several thousand that the U.S and Russia possess.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also LDP president, told an Upper House budget committee meeting that the government would put in place rigorous hurdles that must be cleared before the fighter jet’s export is approved.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2024
Kishida agrees on need for strict rules to export of fighter jet
Concessions by the LDP president could pave the way for a deal with junior coalition partner Komeito on a revision to Japan's defense export guidelines.
Ukrainian soldiers who recently pulled out of Avdiivka, Ukraine, replenish supplies in a nearby village on Feb. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024
U.S. to send $300 million in weapons to Ukraine under makeshift plan
The package will keep advancing Russian troops at bay for only a few weeks, an official said.
The defense request is largely seen as a symbolic opening shot in what is expected to be a protracted spending battle in Congress ahead of a November presidential election that will almost certainly pit President Joe Biden against his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024
With eye on Indo-Pacific, Biden seeks record U.S. defense budget
But the $895.2 billion figure for fiscal 2025 is only about a 1% increase from the $886.3 billion proposal made last year — far below inflation levels.
An amphibious assault demonstration with joint forces of the Swedish, Finnish, Italian and French army during the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on Sunday near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway. Nordic Response 24 is part of the larger NATO exercise Steadfast Defender.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024
In frozen north, a stronger NATO prepares for Russia's threat
NATO's four-month Steadfast Defender exercise in its Arctic fringe are part of the largest drills staged by the alliance since the Cold War.
A China Coast Guard ship sails during a military drill near Fuzhou, in China's Fujian Province, near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands that are close to the Chinese coast.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
China trying to 'normalize' military drills near Taiwan: top security official
China runs "joint combat readiness patrols" near the democratic island every 7-10 days on average, Taiwan's National Security Bureau chief said.
The wreckage of a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter is salvaged by a vessel off Ikema Island in Okinawa Prefecture last May.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
GSDF probe fails to identify cause of deadly helicopter crash
The cause of the crash that killed all 10 on board could not be pinpointed because part of the flight recorder data was damaged.
Air Self-Defense Force F-35 stealth fighters are displayed at the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
Japan's arms imports up 155% over last five years, report finds
The Asian nation was the sixth-largest weapons importer in the world, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world