USS Benfold (DD-65) is at anchor off Koror, Republic of Palau in 2012. US Navy Photo
Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite visited Palau during a weeklong swing through the Pacific, making him the second high-ranking Defense Department official to visit to the small island nation in the last two months as the Second Island Chain is being eyed to play an even larger role in military plans and operations going forward. Read More
Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group 7, and Royal Australian Army Major Gen. Roger Noble, deputy chief, Joint Operations, Australian Defense Force, salute as the color guard parades the colors during the closing ceremony of the eighth U.S. and Australian exercise Talisman Sabre 2019 on July 27, 2019. US Navy Photo
A senior State Department official stressed the strengthening economic, diplomatic and security bonds between the United States, Japan, Australia and India as an example of regional cooperation for other nations who share their values. Read More
Shinzo Abe on April 7, 2020. Japanese Government Photo
Japan’s next prime minister is expected to follow Shinzo Abe’s path in tightening Tokyo’s military ties with the United States and expanding the nation’s definition of “self-defense” to counter China’s and North Korea’s threats, four Indo-Pacific security experts said Tuesday. Read More
USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93) transits the Pacific Ocean during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2020 on Aug. 22, 2020. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy and partner nations have so far not encountered a Russian or Chinese maritime presence during the Rim of the Pacific 2020 exercise, according to a Navy official. Read More
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Aug. 18, 2017. DoD Photo
Japan is looking at offensive counter-strike as one way of deterring China’s and North Korea’s expanding missile threats, as Tokyo re-examines its future defense needs after backing away from building two Aegis Ashore sites, an author of a recent report on emerging defense technologies said Wednesday. Read More
Aircraft fly in formation over the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), on Aug. 5, 2020. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, as well as the collective maritime interests of its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. US Navy photo.
The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is conducting drills off the coast of Northern Japan with land-based Navy and Air Force units this week. Read More
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03 (FTI-03). MDA photo.
The head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command told reporters today he wants the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system to bolster the defense of Guam from Chinese missiles. Read More
Sailors perform pre-flight checks on an E-2D Hawkeye from Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 125 on the flight deck aboard the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) during flight operations on Aug. 16, 2019. US Navy Photo
The State Department approved a possible sale of three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to France, in a deal that would bring the U.S. and French carrier air wings even closer together. Read More
Romanian Aegis Ashore site. U.S. Missile Defense Agency Photo
Japan has formally ended its plans to procure two Aegis Ashore missile defense sites, citing concerns that the booster on the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor missile couldn’t be guaranteed to land on military property instead of nearby civilian communities. Read More
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force assault amphibious vehicle drives on the beach during an amphibious assault as part of Exercise Iron Fist 2020 on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., on Feb. 12, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – With dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) in the hazy horizon, a procession of green-and-tan camouflaged amphibious assault vehicles pushed onto the sandy beach and headed north as Marines with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, held their positions. Read More
