Abe's plan for U.S. Aegis Ashore missile shield rattles Akita residents
The sleepy neighborhood of Araya in the city of Akita seemed like the perfect place for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to put a U.S. anti-missile system. The area has reliably backed the ruling party and has firsthand experience of a North Korean rocket flying ...
Japan's Defense Ministry to redo surveys for Aegis Ashore deployment after flawed data revealed
The Defense Ministry presented a detailed plan on Wednesday for new surveys at candidate sites for the deployment of the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system. The new surveys are being conducted because the ministry used flawed data when giving explanations to a local government ...
Japan considers moving up development of next-generation fighter jet to 2020
Japan is considering beginning development of next-generation fighter jet in fiscal 2020 — one year earlier than planned — to succeed the Air Self-Defense Force's F-2s, which are expected to be retired in the 2030s, governmental sources said Wednesday. The Defense Ministry had intended to ...
Taiwan sharply boosts defense budget amid tension with China
Taiwan unveiled its largest defense spending increase in more than a decade on Thursday amid rising military tensions with its neighbor China, which considers the self-ruled island its own and has not renounced the use of force against it. President Tsai Ing-wen's Cabinet signed off ...
Australia's Morrison says nation will spend $340 million on improving special forces' capabilities
Australia will spend 500 million Australian dollars ($340 million) to improve the capability of its special forces troops, the first stage of a AU$3 billion, 20-year plan that the government said Monday will enable a better response to security threats at home and abroad. The ...
47.7% of South Koreans favor scrapping intelligence pact with Japan, poll shows
Some 47.7 percent of respondents in a South Korean survey said Seoul should cease a defense information-sharing agreement with Japan, more than the 39.3 percent who opposed such a move, a poll by Real Meter showed Wednesday. The support for scrapping the General Security of ...
Pentagon chief Mark Esper urges Japan to help protect shipping in Persian Gulf
Washington has been struggling to secure support for its efforts to counter Iranian activities in the sea lane, through which much of the world’s oil passes.
Israeli army in no rush to go fully robotic as it puts sealed tanks through their paces
Israel, a world leader in hi-tech, is around 30 years away from its ambition of deploying robot forces, and for now will chose between three prototypes of semi-automated armored vehicles to cocoon its troops in battle, defense officials said on Sunday. Israel has long eyed ...
Defense chief Takeshi Iwaya to meet new U.S. counterpart Mark Esper in Japan on Wednesday
Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday he will hold his first face-to-face talks with U.S. counterpart Mark Esper next week in Japan. Iwaya told a news conference that during the meeting next Wednesday he wants to discuss ways to strengthen defense cooperation with the new ...
Trump's disquieting disdain for Japan
Rising tensions between China and the U.S. have put Japan in a uniquely privileged position vis-a-vis both countries.
Why Japan needs to build ties with Canada in the face of Trump's 'America First' agenda
Last month, on the eve of the G20 summit in Osaka, reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump was openly mulling a withdrawal from the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty as a result of an "unfair" sharing of alliance burdens. The reality is that there has been ...
Abe wins, no matter what Trump does
U.S. President Donald Trump's comments play into the prime minister's efforts at constitutional revision, particularly with regard to Article 9.
