Tag - military

 
 

MILITARY

Philippine, Australian, Japanese and U.S. warships take part in the four nations' first-ever joint military drills in the South China Sea on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2024
Philippines, U.S., Australia and Japan hold joint military drills in disputed South China Sea
The exercises came as the Chinese military held a “joint maritime and aerial combat patrol” in an unspecified area of the waterway.
Military delegates leave the Great Hall of the People following the second plenary session of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 8.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 6, 2024
U.S. and China resume military meetings as diplomatic thaw continues
The two sides resumed a defense dialog aimed at preventing an inadvertent clash, part of a broader push to resume military contacts.
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.
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,
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 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.
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.
A U.S. military Osprey aircraft flies over the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the center of the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, in August 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2024
Japan designates U.S. bases in Okinawa as security-linked sites
The government has designated 184 sites in 28 of the country's 47 prefectures as critical to national security in the fourth round of such designations.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan Navy chief Tang Hua attend the delivery ceremony of six made-in-Taiwan Tuo Chiang-class corvettes at a port in Yilan, Taiwan, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 30, 2024
Taiwan's navy chief to visit U.S. next week, sources say
Tang Hua will visit the United States from next week to attend a military ceremony and discuss how to boost bilateral naval cooperation.
A U.S. Marine prepares to demonstrate the use of night vision goggles to Ground Self-Defense Force troops at the GSDF's Camp Somagahara in Gunma Prefecture in March 2017.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 25, 2024
U.S. eyes revamped military command in Japan, reports say
The allies are expected to announce the landmark agreement when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits the White House next month.
A screenshot from a video taken and released Saturday shows China Coast Guard ships deploying water cannons against a Philippine military-chartered civilian supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 24, 2024
After clash, China warns Philippines over escalation in South China Sea
China's Defense Ministry issued the warning a day after Manila accused Beijing of damaging a Philippine vessel and injuring its crew with water cannons.
A screenshot from a video taken and released Saturday shows China Coast Guard ships deploying water cannons against a Philippine military-chartered civilian supply boat near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 23, 2024
Philippines says China Coast Guard again injured crew with water cannon in South China Sea
Chinese vessels severely damaged a Philippine civilian resupply ship as it headed for a military base in the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. John Aquilino said that since he took command in 2021, the PLA has added over 400 advanced fighter aircraft and more than 20 major warships, and has more than doubled its inventory of ballistic and cruise missiles.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 21, 2024
China on track to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, U.S. commander says
All signs point to the People's Liberation Army meeting President Xi Jinping’s preferred timeline, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief says.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observs a ground test of a solid fuel engine for a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on North Korea’s western coast in this digitally altered image released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 20, 2024
North Korea's Kim oversees hypersonic missile engine test
The isolated country's leader compared "the military strategic value" of the new weapon as being on par with its powerful long-range missiles.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a rocket salvo firing drill at an unconfirmed location in the country in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2024
North Korea's Kim oversees 'super-large' rocket launcher drills
The North has claimed the weapon has the capability to be equipped with a tactical nuclear warhead.
Members of the U.S. Special Operations Command train with their South Korean counterparts during the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2024
U.S. commandos laud training for the 'unexpected' in North Korea's shadow
The Korean Peninsula joins the South China Sea and Taiwan as military flashpoints with the potential to involve the region and the world.
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.
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.
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.

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Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan