Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks to the press during the NATO 75th anniversary summit in Washington on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 12, 2024
South Korea to deploy 'StarWars' lasers against Pyongyang's drones
The new laser weapons are apparently invisible and noise-free, require no additional ammunition, operate solely on electricity and are cheap to use.
The Defense Ministry in Tokyo
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024
Defense Ministry hands out rare mass punishment over SDF issues
The ministry has disciplined a total of 218 Self-Defense Force members and senior officials following a wide-ranging investigation.
Members of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces take part in a military review at Camp Asaka in October 2018. The nation’s public is currently favorable to the SDF, but if scandals aren’t handled correctly, that opinion may change. 
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2024
A multitude of scandals threaten Japan’s national defense
Individually, recent scandals are troubling. Together they are reflective of a problematic culture within the defense forces and bureaucracy.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops conduct a military drill on the uninhabited island of Irisuna in Okinawa Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 12, 2024
Japan’s new defense white paper delivers strongest words yet on Taiwan
Tokyo pins the blame squarely on China's large-scale military exercises around the democratically ruled island for continued tensions in the region.
An Air Self-Defense Force base in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2024
Image of likely ASDF missile model posted online
The ASDF is currently investigating whether any of its personnel were involved, officials said.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center-left) meets with Samoan Prime Minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mata’afa (center-right) in Samoa in February. Like other Pacific island and Global South states, Samoa is caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China rivalry.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 11, 2024
Japan can help Global South navigate U.S.-China clash
As Washington and Beijing adopt more inward-looking foreign policies, Japan can be a bridge to Global South countries, whose main concerns are security and growth.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivers remarks at NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 11, 2024
Why Indo-Pacific countries are joining the NATO summit
This is the third successive NATO summit for four countries from the Indo-Pacific region to attend.
U.S. and Philippine soldiers participate in a live fire exercise at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, on May 6. The Philippine Air Force embarked on its first overseas deployment in six decades on Wednesday alongside U.S. and Australian fighter jets.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 11, 2024
Philippines air force joins multination war games in Australia
Four Philippine FA-50 fighter jets and 162 personnel are taking part in the Pitch Black war games.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi in February 2019. At the summit, Trump lost his patience and cut negotiations with Kim short just as they were gaining momentum.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2024
Blame Trump for North Korea’s saber-rattling
What would have happened if Donald Trump hadn't failed to capitalize on Kim Jong Un's willingness to deescalate by losing his patience on that fateful February day?
Ground Self-Defense Force members participate in a seminar to prevent harassment at Camp Asaka in Tokyo in April.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 10, 2024
Spate of scandals threaten to tarnish Defense Ministry and SDF’s reputation
The emergence of multiple scandals is the latest challenge for the Defense Ministry as it seeks to strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities.
U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a 75th anniversary celebratory event for the alliance on Tuesday, the opening day of its summit in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024
NATO offers Ukraine more air defense systems as summit kicks off
The move came as fresh assessments indicate the conflict with Russia is headed toward an indefinite stalemate.
Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, on June 25.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2024
Boeing in talks with U.S. Defense Department on impact of guilty plea
The plea in relation to two fatal crashes involving its planes in 2018 and 2019 potentially threatens the company's ability to secure lucrative government contracts.
Japanese troops during an amphibious landing exercise on Tokunoshima island, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan is letting go of old assumptions about the reliability of the rules-based international order and is making efforts to boost its military capabilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024
As militaries are rebuilt, are we turning American?
Some countries stopped investing in their militaries and defense under the illusion that the rules-based order would prevail. Now, they're facing tough, new realities.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force conduct drills in Shizuoka Prefecture in May.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024
Japan SDF hiring falls far short of target in fiscal 2023
The number of Self-Defense Forces personnel hired in fiscal 2023 totaled 9,959, only 51% of the Defense Ministry's target.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel take part in a joint amphibious landing exercise with Philippine and U.S. troops in San Antonio, in the Philippines' Zambales province, in October 2018.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2024
Japan and Philippines ink key military pact in defense ties upgrade
The agreement — Tokyo's first with a Southeast Asian nation — will facilitate mutual military visits.
Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a meeting in Brussels last month.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2024
NATO turns 75 with Ukraine and future on line
Leaders will meet in Washington in the shadow of setbacks in Ukraine and electoral headwinds on both sides of the Atlantic.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida listens to U.S. President Joe Biden as they hold a joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Biden again takes credit for pushing Japan to boost defense spending
The U.S. president said for the second time in just over a year that he had pushed Japan to its hike defense budget — comments likely to upset Tokyo.
An unarmed AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile is released from a B-52 bomber over the Utah Test and Training Range during a Nuclear Weapons System Evaluation Program sortie in September 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Trump advisers call for U.S. nuclear weapons testing if he is elected
A number of nuclear experts reject a resumption as unnecessary and say it would threaten to end a testing moratorium that has been honored for decades.
An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile is launched during an operational test at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in August 2017. Surging costs for the U.S. Air Force's new Sentinel ICBM may further embolden arms control advocacy groups who argue that the Sentinel should be scrapped in favor of extending the life of Minuteman III missiles.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
Cost of U.S. Sentinel ICBM swells again to $214 million per missile
The program is now expected to cost taxpayers $141 billion, or 81% more than forecast four years ago.
A Ukrainian national flag is pictured in front of the NATO emblem, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, in July last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024
NATO allies at summit to unveil Ukraine 'bridge to membership'
A senior U.S. official described the plan as quite substantial, saying that it will include training coordination, logistics and force development.

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