Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in Tokyo on March 21
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2024
U.S. and Japan to discuss joint defense equipment production
Japan and the United States are set to discuss the launch of a new project for the joint production of defense equipment at an upcoming summit meeting.
Russian Army servicemen stand near a mobile recruiting center in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 4, 2024
Russia says concert attack has spurred army recruitment
Russia is relying on a steady stream of new recruits to the armed forces as it seeks to push deeper into Ukrainian territory.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell
WORLD / Politics
Apr 4, 2024
Senior U.S. diplomat links AUKUS submarine pact to Taiwan
The project involves Australia acquiring nuclear-powered attack submarines as part of the allies' efforts to push back against China's growing power.
A Ukrainian soldier loads ammunition into an M2 Browning machine gun.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
Moscow is outpacing Ukraine’s allies in the race for ammunition
The flow of military aid has dropped dramatically, and some Ukrainian guns are firing just a single round a day in order to save their dwindling stocks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the first test-fire of the Hwasong-16B, a new-type intermediate-range, solid-fueled ballistic missile outside Pyongyang in this image released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
North Korea aims to adopt solid-fuel missiles for faster launches
Analysts say solid-fuel missiles can be faster to deploy than liquid-fuel variants, but it's unclear if the North can or will adopt these exclusively.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as he guides a training of the fire division in this picture released on March 19. Pyongyang has spent decades stockpiling millions of rounds of artillery and thousands of rockets in the terrain north of the demilitarized zone, which sits some 40 kilometers away from Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
Kim Jong Un faces annihilation in nearly all Korea war scenarios
Although North Korea has a manpower advantage, the bulk of its forces rely on "increasingly obsolete equipment” dating back to Soviet era.
The Osprey provides vertical takeoff and landing like a helicopter but is also capable of flying at high speeds over long distances when operating as a conventional plane.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
The Japan-U.S. alliance needs the versatile Osprey
In Japan, there has been an outsized and lingering concern about the aircraft’s safety. That concern is, frankly, misplaced,
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's defense minister and president-elect, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
Kishida and Prabowo agree to strengthen Japan-Indonesia ties
Prabowo, who is set to take office as president in October, said that the two countries have built a good cooperative relationship so far.
It would be dangerous for Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow at this stage of the war as Russia occupies 18% of Ukraine's territory.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
Negotiating with Putin now won’t end the war
The surest way to end the war is for Japan, and others, to support Kyiv militarily. Negotiating with Putin at this stage is dangerous and unrealistic.
Virginia-class attack submarine USS Hawaii passes by Diamond Head crater on Oahu in Hawaii in July 2009.
WORLD
Apr 3, 2024
U.S. attack submarines to counter China are up to two years late
Delivery dates for Virginia-class subs are an estimated 24 to 36 months past the contracted dates
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Izumo destroyer docked in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in November 2021
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2024
Online video of Japanese destroyer may be fake: Defense Ministry
Video seemingly shot by a drone, which are banned around the military base.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presents the alliance's annual report at NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 14.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2024
NATO ministers mull €100 billion military fund for Ukraine
The plans will be discussed during a two-day meeting in Brussels.
The top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Adm. John Aquilino, has said that Beijing is maintaining its goal of being able to invade Taiwan by 2027.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 2, 2024
Will China truly be ‘ready’ to invade Taiwan by 2027? It’s complicated.
The most important factor shaping any plan will not be based on just military readiness, but rather on political and strategic objectives, analysts say.
A woman walks past a TV showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on March 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 2, 2024
North Korea launches intermediate-range missile as elections loom for South
The Defense Ministry said the weapon had traveled some 650 kilometers before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Chinese Coast Guard ships fire water cannons at a Philippine boat during a supply mission near Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on March 5. This incident highlights the danger that such confrontations could have for sparking a wider conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024
Beware the steady creep toward crisis in the South China Sea
The Philippines is pushing back. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has adopted a policy of “assertive transparency” to show the world what China is doing.
A boy watches Self-Defense Forces live-fire drills in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in 2017. Japan’s defense posture is shifting, as the government’s recent approval of new arms export regulations signals.  
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2024
Is Japan leaving pacifism behind?
How a previous generation of Japanese leaders, those who made defense budget and arms export limits a national credo, would view the current shift.
Smoke rises from Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, on March 17. Ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and deterring conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region is a key global goal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 31, 2024
How should Japan deal with Ukraine, Gaza and the Indo-Pacific region?
The power, institutions and values that underpin the international security order are being compromised worldwide.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attend a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur region last September.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024
What does Russia's veto on North Korea sanctions monitoring mean?
Ending the U.N.'s monitoring will provide North Korea's Kim Jong Un with a major win, experts say.
With emerging headwinds in the U.S. and Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will have their work cut out for them next month as they look to maintain the momentum driving change in the alliance between both countries.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024
Kishida heads to U.S. with a mission — maintain alliance momentum amid challenges
Defense and security will likely top the agenda, though it is unclear how the PM will handle the issue of Ukraine assistance amid a split U.S. Congress.
Self-Defense Force soldiers search for survivors after a landslide swept through a residential area in Asaminami Ward, in the city of Hiroshima, in August 2014. Despite the nation’s numerous natural disasters, the government needs better contingency planning.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 28, 2024
Is Japan ready for the worst-case scenario?
Is the nation ready for massive disasters? Based on my studies of Japan’s crisis management system, I say “no” and unfortunately not.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?