Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

During the last round of negotiations between Washington and Seoul, then-U.S. President Donald Trump requested steep increases in South Korea’s share of defense costs.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 14, 2024
South Korea, U.S. talk cost-sharing as Seoul girds for Trump 2.0
The agreement on an unusually early start of the defense cost-sharing deals reflects unease over a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 flies near Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday morning.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2024
U.S. military resumes Osprey flights in Japan
The resumption came after Washington last week lifted a worldwide flight ban on the aircraft following a deadly crash last year.
Veteran peace activist Setsuko Yamazato warns of the gathering “clouds of war” in Chie Mikami’s eight-year chronicle of the militarization of Okinawa.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024
‘Clouds of War’: The real story of Okinawa is its people
“Clouds of War” is an unwieldy but heartfelt portrait of citizens fighting back against militarization in Okinawa.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is also LDP president, told an Upper House budget committee meeting that the government would put in place rigorous hurdles that must be cleared before the fighter jet’s export is approved.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2024
Kishida agrees on need for strict rules to export of fighter jet
Concessions by the LDP president could pave the way for a deal with junior coalition partner Komeito on a revision to Japan's defense export guidelines.
Modern advances in the production of missiles and drones such as those used by the Houthis have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024
The Houthis school the world in asymmetric warfare
Advances in missile and drone production have democratized extremely powerful weapons that until recently were available only to the richest states
China insists that for meaningful negotiations to occur, the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia must be reduced to levels comparable to its own.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024
China’s ‘minimum’ nuclear deterrence is still a threat
Estimates of the number of Chinese warheads range from 400 to 500, a striking contrast to the several thousand that the U.S and Russia possess.
Ukrainian soldiers who recently pulled out of Avdiivka, Ukraine, replenish supplies in a nearby village on Feb. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024
U.S. to send $300 million in weapons to Ukraine under makeshift plan
The package will keep advancing Russian troops at bay for only a few weeks, an official said.
The defense request is largely seen as a symbolic opening shot in what is expected to be a protracted spending battle in Congress ahead of a November presidential election that will almost certainly pit President Joe Biden against his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024
With eye on Indo-Pacific, Biden seeks record U.S. defense budget
But the $895.2 billion figure for fiscal 2025 is only about a 1% increase from the $886.3 billion proposal made last year — far below inflation levels.
An amphibious assault demonstration with joint forces of the Swedish, Finnish, Italian and French army during the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on Sunday near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway. Nordic Response 24 is part of the larger NATO exercise Steadfast Defender.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024
In frozen north, a stronger NATO prepares for Russia's threat
NATO's four-month Steadfast Defender exercise in its Arctic fringe are part of the largest drills staged by the alliance since the Cold War.
A China Coast Guard ship sails during a military drill near Fuzhou, in China's Fujian Province, near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands that are close to the Chinese coast.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
China trying to 'normalize' military drills near Taiwan: top security official
China runs "joint combat readiness patrols" near the democratic island every 7-10 days on average, Taiwan's National Security Bureau chief said.
The wreckage of a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter is salvaged by a vessel off Ikema Island in Okinawa Prefecture last May.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
GSDF probe fails to identify cause of deadly helicopter crash
The cause of the crash that killed all 10 on board could not be pinpointed because part of the flight recorder data was damaged.
Ground Self-Defense Force members disembark from a V-22 Osprey aircraft during an annual live-fire exercise at East Fuji Maneuver Area, in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
Osprey safety concerns linger in Japan, despite U.S. reassurances
Critics have decried the lack of specifics about the cause of the deadly November crash as Tokyo and Washington tout "unprecedented" information-sharing.
Air Self-Defense Force F-35 stealth fighters are displayed at the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
Japan's arms imports up 155% over last five years, report finds
The Asian nation was the sixth-largest weapons importer in the world, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
French President Emmanuel Macron greets Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Feb. 26.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 9, 2024
Macron and Scholz, never close, spar over policy toward Ukraine and Russia
A fraught relationship has recently turned bitter, with insults and barbs threatening European unity at a critical moment.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes a campaign stop at Strath Haven Middle School in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 9, 2024
Providing both bombs and food, Biden puts himself in the middle of Gaza’s war
Biden's decision to send aid by air and sea represents a shift prompted by the growing humanitarian crisis. But it also raised uncomfortable questions.
An image taken from video of a U.S. Navy F/A-18 jet crew’s encounter with an unexplained anomalous phenomena
WORLD / Politics
Mar 9, 2024
Pentagon review finds no evidence of alien cover-up
But the new report suggests that the public’s belief that the government is hiding what it knows will probably continue.
A U.S. V-22 Osprey lands on the USS Mesa Verde ship during excercises in the Baltic Sea in September.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2024
U.S. lifts Osprey flight ban, eyeing aircraft's return to Japan's skies
Tokyo and Washington will closely coordinate a timeline for resuming flights of Osprey V-22 aircraft in Japan, three months after a deadly accident.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters that the U.S. formally made the request on Thursday evening.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2024
U.S. asks Japan to lift ban on Osprey flights
The tilt-rotor aircraft was grounded after one of them crashed into the sea off Yakushima, Kagoshima, in November, killing all eight U.S. airmen on board.
Swedish soldiers take part in the changing of the guard ceremony at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2024
Sweden’s NATO accession unlocks defense options to fend off Russia
Becoming a full member removes any ambiguity about whether the alliance would defend Sweden in the event of an attack, and vice versa.
Both China and Russia may believe there will never be a more opportune moment to overthrow American dominance than now. And should the two combine their forces, they could represent the most serious challenge to the global economic and strategic order since 1945.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2024
The threat to American hegemony is real
Russia and China might be tempted to threaten America's hegemony with a simultaneous and coordinated challenge.

Longform

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