National Apr 25, 2018
by Nobuhiro Kubo
In a bid to win its first major foreign arms deal since World War II, Japan proposes its P-1 submarine hunter for a French-German project to develop a marine surveillance aircraft.
NEWSWORTHY
National Apr 20, 2018
Lockheed Martin to offer Japan stealthy hybrid of F-22 and F-35 fighters to upgrade ASDF: sources
by Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo
U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. plans to offer Japan a stealth fighter design based on its export-banned F-22 Raptor and advanced F-35 Lightning II aircraft, two sources said. Lockheed has discussed the idea with Japanese defense ministry officials and will make a formal proposal ...
National Apr 13, 2018
Britain to have three warships in Japan by year's end, envoy Mark Field says
by Eric Johnston
Two more British warships will join a Royal Navy frigate in Japan by the end of the year to help enforce sanctions on North Korea, while plans are underway for British ground troops to conduct an exercise with their Japanese counterparts to assist in ...
Asia Pacific Apr 12, 2018
China to carry out live-fire exercise in Taiwan Strait next week
Chinese authorities announced Thursday that a live-fire military exercise will be held in the Taiwan Strait next Wednesday, which Taiwan immediately criticized as a "provocative act." The exercise will be carried out off the coast of Quanzhou City, between 8 a.m. and midnight, according to ...
National / Politics Apr 12, 2018
U.S. to conduct next test of antiballistic missile co-developed with Japan by end of 2018: Pentagon
The United States will conduct its next test of an antiballistic missile it has jointly developed with Japan by the end of the year, following a test failure in January, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. The Standard Missile-3 Block IIA is "an extremely capable interceptor," ...
National / Politics Apr 9, 2018
Abe to ask Trump to press North Korea on short- and medium range missiles as well as ICBMs
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that during his trip to the United States next week he will ask Donald Trump to seek the elimination of all North Korean missiles that could reach Japan.
National / Politics | FOCUS Apr 4, 2018
by Masakatsu Ota
Japan's dependency on the U.S. nuclear umbrella and the bilateral "nuclear bond" have been strengthened through under-the-table discussions, according to a 2009 Japanese government memo recently obtained by Kyodo News and interviews with officials. The secret memo, written by strategists nine years ago, demonstrates why ...
National / Politics Mar 29, 2018
Suga says Japan-U.S. alliance stronger under divisive 2016 security laws
The government said Thursday that the Japan-U.S. alliance has become "stronger than ever" as the Tokyo marked the second anniversary of the enforcement of controversial security legislation that has expanded the role of the Self-Defense Forces. "The deterrence force has improved," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide ...
National / Politics Mar 18, 2018
Abe repeats maximum pressure mantra at defense academy's graduation ceremony in Yokosuka
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his determination to continue pressuring North Korea into abandoning its nuclear and missile development programs in a speech at the National Defense Academy's graduation ceremony Sunday as the crisis on the Korean Peninsula cools. "An international society must be united ...
National Mar 16, 2018
Japan should develop ability to strike enemy missile bases, LDP to urge government
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to urge the government to develop the ability to strike enemy missile bases amid North Korean nuclear and missile threats, a draft outline of a party proposal on security issues showed Thursday. The LDP is hoping to finalize the ...
World Mar 16, 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned a former Navy sailor who served a year in prison for taking sensitive pictures of the reactor inside a nuclear submarine, according to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Trump repeatedly invoked the sailor, Kristian Saucier, during his presidential ...
World Mar 15, 2018
Britain will invest £48 million in a new chemical weapons defense center and vaccinate thousands of British soldiers against anthrax, the nation's defense minister said Thursday in the wake of the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the country with a potent nerve ...