A naval soldier of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) views through a pair of binoculars onboard China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning as it visits a military harbour on the South China Sea. Xinhua Photo
Australia has become “something of a test case” in China’s push to dominate the Indo-Pacific economically and militarily, the head of Australia’s National Security College said Monday. Read More
U.S. Army soldiers board a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft prior to departure for Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Allies Refuge at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on Aug. 13, 2021. US Air Force Photo
Russia’s Afghanistan failures in the 1980s are driving the Kremlin’s thinking of how to deal with the Taliban and the possible rise of religious extremism near its borders, two scholars on Central Asia said Wednesday. Read More
President Tsai Ing-wen reviews a Marine Corps battalion in Kaohsiung in July 2020. Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China
Taiwan needs to remind Washington of the island’s geostrategic role in maintaining a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific, one of its top diplomats said Tuesday. Read More
Soldiers from a M110A2 self-propelled artillery squad from the Republic of China (Taiwan) Army. CNA Photo
The Taiwan Strait is a key route of trade and is as important as the Malacca Strait, between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, for the free flow of commerce in the Indo-Pacific, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday. Read More
U.S. forces host a range day with the Danab Brigade in Somalia, May 9, 2021. US Air Force Photo
After leaving Somalia in December, U.S. forces are “commuting to work” from other parts of Africa and Europe to combat the rising terrorist threat in Somalia and across the region. Read More
An F/A-18E (left) of the ‘Royal Maces’ of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 27 flies in formation with two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15J Eagles during a dissimilar air combat training near Okinawa, Japan in 2015. US Navy Photo
The China Coast Guard’s aggressive behavior around the Senkaku islands, Beijing’s build-up of coastal military capabilities and this weekend’s transit of a People’s Liberation Army Navy carrier strike group near Okinawa underline Tokyo’s need for its own offensive military capability resources, a leading Japanese security expert said Monday. Read More
The launch of the Type 75 big-deck amphib in Shanghai. PLAN Photo
Questions about China’s defense spending, programs and systems – and the Pentagon’s response – dominated a Wednesday House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing on future U.S. defense spending trends. Read More
Chinese DF-26 missiles on display during a military parade in Tiananmen Square. Photo via globalsecurity.org
China, Russia, North Korea and Iran’s continued investment in modernizing cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missiles has left the United States “not in a very good position,” the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Tuesday. Read More
Deputy Defense Secretary nominee Kathleen Hicks. Center for Strategic and International Studies Photo
The nominee for the number-two civilian job in the Pentagon told a Senate panel on Tuesday the Navy’s proposed long-term shipbuilding plan would “require future analysis to validate the numbers.” Read More
USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) steams near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on July 14, 2020. US Navy Photo
Freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea puts stress on the fleet when the Navy could use that time more effectively “to train up for high-end conflict,” a national security expert who served in the Trump administration said Friday. Read More
