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by Thomas WATKINS WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — The US Navy is quietly pushing ahead with a radical new cannon that one day could transform how wars are fought, even though some Pentagon officials have voiced concerns over its cost and viability. Named the railgun, the weapon in question represents a paradigm shift in ballistic technology. Instead of using gunpowder and explosive charges to shoot a shell from its barrel, it employs vast amounts […]
BEIJING ,China (AFP) — Beijing on Thursday rejected Pentagon accusations that a Chinese aircraft made an “unsafe” intercept of a spy plane in international air space, as tensions rise in the strategically vital South China Sea. Rivalry between China and the United States is mounting in the disputed waterway, an important shipping route thought to be home to vast energy deposits, and which Beijing claims almost in its entirety. The US Department of Defense (DoD) […]
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — Two Chinese fighters have conducted an “unsafe” intercept of a US spy plane in international air space over the South China Sea, the Pentagon said Wednesday. “The Department of Defense is reviewing a May 17 intercept of a US maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft by two tactical aircraft from the People’s Republic of China,” Pentagon spokesman Major Jamie Davis said in a statement. “Initial reports characterized the incident as unsafe,” […]
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — The Islamic State group has continued losing control over territory across Iraq and Syria, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday, including almost half of what it had once held in Iraq. The Defense Department had previously estimated that IS fighters had lost control of about 40 percent of the territory they claimed in Iraq and about 10 percent of the land they held in Syria. Those tallies had gone up […]
BEIJINg, China (AFP) — China on Sunday accused the US of deliberately distorting the facts in a report on the Asian giant’s defence policy, warning Washington it had “severely damaged” trust between the superpowers. The Pentagon on Friday said Beijing had been building up military facilities on reefs and islets in a bid to assert its claims to the contested waters of the South China Sea. China’s military has also been using “coercive tactics” to […]
by Thomas WATKINS WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Johnny Matheny’s handshake is friendly, confident and firm — though not in the bone-crushing manner favored by some of the alpha types here in the Pentagon. What is remarkable is that Matheny’s proffered hand is not actually his. It is part of a robotic prosthesis researchers hope one day could help transform the lives of countless amputees. “In the beginning, you had to think pretty hard about […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China has denied the US aircraft carrier USS Stennis and accompanying naval vessels permission to make a port call in Hong Kong, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday, April 29. It was not immediately known what prompted the Chinese action, but it comes amid growing tension between the two countries over Beijing’s moves to assert its claims to much of the South China Sea. “We were recently informed that a request […]
by Laurent Barthelemy ABOARD the USS John C. Stennis, Undefined (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited a warship close to flashpoint waters of the South China Sea on Friday, as Beijing reacted defiantly to an American military build-up in the area. Carter’s trip to the USS John C. Stennis was the latest effort by the United States to show its commitment to maintaining security in the hotly contested waters, where China has rattled nerves […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said he spoke with Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Tuesday (April 5) about how the Pentagon should be organised to meet global threats, including from Islamic State. “We’re investing in capabilities that of our military to deter aggression and defend our security and that of our allies, and this includes increases in our posture in Europe, to reassure NATO allies, in light of particularly increased […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A top Islamic State group commander known as “Omar the Chechen” is dead after suffering injuries in a US-led coalition strike in northeastern Syria, the Pentagon confirmed Monday. The announcement would appear to clear up the fate of the notorious Omar al-Shishani, a week after a US official said the most-wanted militant had been targeted in a March 4 attack on the jihadist’s convoy. “We believe he subsequently died of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China is on its way to securing “de facto” control of the South China Sea, a top US admiral warned Thursday, amid growing unease over Beijing’s continued military build up in the contested waterway. By building air bases and hardened bunkers on tiny islands, some of which are reclaimed from the sea, and by installing sophisticated radar and missile defense systems, China has shown it is determined to achieve military primacy in […]
The cost of making the US military’s futuristic F-35 fighter jet — already the most expensive weapons project in history — is on the decline, the officer in charge of the program said Wednesday. “Production costs continue to come down,” US Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan told a news briefing. “When it comes to the price of the airplane and the price of the engine, it continues to come down lot after lot.” The […]
