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by Lisa MARTIN Australia’s defence minister aimed to reassure Thailand on Friday that plans to acquire a new fleet of nuclear submarines would enhance “collective security” in the region after neighbouring countries voiced concerns. The submarine issue came up during a visit to Manila earlier this week, Defence Minister Richard Marles told AFP in an interview, and was also on the agenda for Friday’s talks with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who is responsible […]
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Monday 2/13/2023 NATO needs “to ramp up production” of ammunition as Ukraine’s rate of usage is far outstripping current capacities and draining stockpiles, the defence alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday. “The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions, and depleting allied stockpiles,” Stoltenberg told journalists. “The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defence […]
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos hailed new defence and other deals signed with Japan in Tokyo on Thursday, as the nations seek to deepen ties, including on security in response to growing Chinese military pressure. The countries agreed on measures to speed up military deployments for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. They also signed several other deals, ranging from infrastructure loans to cooperation on agriculture and technology. “After our meeting, I can confidently say that […]
Japan and NATO must “remain united and firm” in the face of security threats posed by China, North Korea and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday in Tokyo. Stoltenberg, secretary general of the European and North American military alliance, warned that Beijing was keeping a close eye on developments in Ukraine and “learning lessons that may influence its future decisions”. He spoke alongside Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after the pair held […]
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) by Kyoko HASEGAWA / Sara HUSSEIN Japan’s government approved a major defence policy overhaul Friday, including a significant spending hike, as it warned China poses the “greatest strategic challenge ever” to the country’s security. In its largest defence shake-up in decades, Japan vowed to up security spending to two percent of GDP by 2027, reshape its military command, and acquire new missiles that can strike far-flung enemy launch sites. “Fundamentally strengthening […]
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) by Katie Forster Japan has laid out plans to expand its defence capabilities drastically over five years. The new security strategy marks a major shift, as Japan confronts China’s growing military might. – Why are the changes controversial? – Japan’s constitution, drafted by the United States after World War II, does not officially recognise the military, so moves to bolster its capacity are highly sensitive. The constitution limits spending on the […]
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) by Sara HUSSEIN Japan is expected to announce its biggest defence overhaul in decades this week, hiking spending, reshaping its military command and acquiring new missiles to tackle the threat from China. The policies, to be outlined in three defence and security documents as soon as Friday, will reshape the defence landscape in a country whose post-war constitution does not even officially recognise the military. “Fundamentally strengthening our defence capabilities […]
London, United Kingdom (AFP) by Jitendra JOSHI with Tomohiro OSAKI and Katie FORSTER in Tokyo Britain, Italy and Japan said Friday they will jointly develop a future fighter jet in a project that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said would guarantee national security and safeguard thousands of jobs. The three nations held out the prospect of cooperation with European and US allies, which are developing their own “sixth-generation” planes, vowing to maintain “interoperability” among all the […]
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed ministers on Monday to boost the country’s defence budget by 56 percent over the next five years to $318 billion. The government is overhauling its defence and security strategies in response to regional threats from nuclear-armed North Korea and an increasingly assertive China. Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Kishida told him that “the size of the medium-term defence programme for the next five years, which is […]
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Japan and the United States held joint military drills in the airspace over the Sea of Japan after North Korea fired a missile on Friday, Tokyo defence officials said. The announcement came after Japan said the ballistic missile was believed to have landed in waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) west of Hokkaido. The EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles from Japan’s coastline, beyond the limits of […]
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean forces said they would respond to joint exercises by the United States and South Korea with “sustained, resolute and overwhelming” military measures, its state media reported Monday. The warning came following a spate of missile tests by North Korea last week, including four ballistic missiles on Saturday, while the United States and South Korea conducted their biggest-ever air force drills. A statement from the General Staff of […]
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | by Claire Lee and Qasim Nauman North Korea fired four ballistic missiles on Saturday, the South Korean military said — the latest in Pyongyang’s testing blitz this week as Washington and Seoul concluded their biggest-ever air force drills. The flurry of North Korean launches has included an intercontinental ballistic missile and one that landed near the South’s territorial waters. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called the barrage “effectively […]
