Japan, Australia look to hammer out status of forces pact in June
With Tokyo seeking to build regional defense cooperation as China increasingly flexes its muscles, joint military drills with countries like Australia will become more frequent.
SDF on Diamond Princess get more protection after 'chaos' claim in video
The Defense Ministry has bolstered protective measures for its medical staff on the Diamond Princess, applying a stricter protocol for using gear on the infected cruise ship, Defense Minister Taro Kono said Friday. About 50 staffers from the Self-Defense Forces are working on the vessel ...
Japan and the U.S. should co-develop an anti-ship cruise missile system
In the face of growing Chinese maritime capabilities, the U.S. and Japan cannot simply sit idle.
Former ASDF colonel indicted over defense leak involving E-2D early warning plane
Tokyo prosecutors indicted on Friday a former Air Self-Defense Force officer for allegedly leaking confidential information on a U.S.-made military aircraft to unauthorized individuals. According to the indictment, former ASDF Col. So Kanno, 58, showed two people including a trading house employee data on the ...
MSDF to not take part in any exercise of force by the U.S. in Middle East: Abe
A Maritime Self-Defense Force unit currently deployed in the Middle East will not take part in any exercise of force by the U.S. military there, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday. While the MSDF unit will provide information to the U.S. military around once in ...
Add a gun that can't shoot straight to the problems dogging Lockheed Martin Corp.'s $428 billion F-35 program, including more than 800 software flaws. The 25 mm gun on U.S. Air Force models of the Joint Strike Fighter has "unacceptable" accuracy in hitting ground targets ...
Japanese destroyer leaves for Middle East intel-gathering mission
The decision to deploy the MSDF assets has been met with criticism by opposition parties amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran.
Japan defense data likely stolen in years of cyberattacks on NEC
Hot on the heels of the Mitsubishi Electric hack, NEC reveals that cyberattacks from 2016 to 2018 exposed 27,445 files that include work related to the Defense Ministry.
Article 9, ittaika and Japan's liaison officer corps
The Constitution's Article 9 has shaped the SDF in ways that are deeper than most observers, analysts and policymakers realize.
The Ground Self-Defense Force and U.S. Marine Corps held a ceremony on Sunday to mark the occasion of their joint exercises taking place in Hokkaido. The drills began last Wednesday and will continue until Feb. 8. Two of the Marine Corps' Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft, ...
First woman enters Japan's submarine academy after end of restrictions
The first female student was admitted to Japan's national naval submarine academy Wednesday after the end of a ban on women on the country's submarines. Risa Takenouchi, 26, entered the academy in Hiroshima along with about 20 men, after the Maritime Self-Defense Force overturned previous ...
Opposition parties lay into Abe over scandals and Mideast dispatch
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano used parliamentary debates to go after Prime Minister Abe on allegations of cronyism over an annual taxpayer-funded cherry blossom viewing party.
