The top defense officials of the United States, Australia and Japan expressed their opposition to “concerning and destabilizing” activities in East Asia during the 13th Trilateral Defense Ministerial Meeting in Hawaii on Thursday. Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd...
The United States and the United Arab Emirates have vowed to boost cooperation on technology security under the Cooperative Technology Security Program Execution Plan. The program mandates the U.S. Defense Technology Security Administration’s International Cooperation Directorate to guide other nations’ defense and security sectors in safeguarding critical local and U.S.-origin military technologies. DTSA Director Michael...
NATO’s Allied Maritime Command has launched Dynamic Manta 24, this year’s iteration of the annual anti-submarine exercise testing its response capabilities against underwater threats. NATO said the advanced anti-submarine warfare exercise, scheduled from Feb. 26 to March 8 off Sicily’s eastern and southern coasts, complements the alliance’s largest exercise, Steadfast Defender, demonstrating simultaneous alliance operations...
German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has announced an additional order of its Skynex air defense system from an unnamed European buyer, which is also adding purchases of associated Rheinmetall trucks as with the initial procurement. The company did not specify the new order’s value but noted that it ranges in the lower three-digit million euros, with...
Rheinmetall intends to build a 155 mm ammunition factory in Lithuania to support the country’s security partnership with Germany. On Tuesday, Maximilian Froch, coordinator for strategic program management at Rheinmetall, signed a memorandum of understanding with Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovations Ausrine Armonaite and Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasciunas to begin the processes...
The U.S. government has signed an Integrated Battle Command System purchase agreement with the Polish Ministry of National Defence worth $2.5 billion, with deliveries to begin later in 2024. According to a Defense News report, Poland plans to use the IBCS to operate Patriot missile launchers under the Wisla and Narew defense programs. At the...
Sweden is increasing its military presence in the country’s northern areas in response to Russia’s growing defense footprint in the Arctic region, according to Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson. At the Warsaw Security Forum on Wednesday, Jonson bared that his country is also expanding on existing defense collaborations with Norway and Finland to bolster response...
Newly appointed Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday to discuss the congressional approval process for Japan’s planned Tomahawk cruise missile purchase. According to Kihara, the Japan Ministry of Defense decided to purchase the U.S. Tomahawks to beef up its counterstrike capabilities while still working on completing the...
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has appointed a group of independent experts to study the alliance’s relationship with countries and stakeholders in the Middle East, North Africa and Sahel regions. Stoltenberg selected Ana Santos Pinto of Portugal to lead the group. The organization designated the following as members: Katja Lindskov Jacobsen (Denmark) D. Elie Tenenbaum...
The United Kingdom and its partner nations Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have commenced a two-week military exercise under the Five Power Defence Arrangements the countries signed in 1971. The Bersama Lima 2023 exercise, which began on Wednesday with Malaysia as the host country, aims to strengthen cooperation between participating countries to maintain regional...
