President Joe Biden is set to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington to upgrade a decades-old security alliance in response to China’s growing threat in the Pacific. The two leaders are expected to unveil a plan to restructure the U.S. military command in Japan on April 10, during Kishida’s state visit in Washington. People...
Tag: United States
US, Lithuania Defense Leaders Meet to Discuss Weapons Acquisitions, Military Industry Development
Defense leaders from the United States and Lithuania have agreed to cooperate on defense industry development. Greta Monika Tuckute, Lithuania’s vice minister of national defense, met with James Hursch, director of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, on Thursday to discuss Vilnius’ increased defense spending. The northeastern European nation confirmed state budget guidelines last week...
Australia Passes Bill Eliminating Licensing Requirements for AUKUS Tech Transfers; Richard Marles Quoted
Australia has removed the requirement for the local defense industry to secure export licenses for delivering technology and information to the United Kingdom and the United States. The Australian Parliament on Wednesday passed the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Act 2024, which amends the Defence Trade Controls Act 2012, to reduce technology transfer, collaboration, research and...
Report: US Stalls AMD Bid to Supply China With AI Processor
The United States has reportedly stalled Advanced Micro Devices’ bid to sell an artificial intelligence chip with lower performance capability to China. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that U.S. officials informed AMD that the AI processor was still classified as powerful. They advised the chipmaker to secure a license from the Department...
US, Poland Finalize $2.5B IBCS Purchase Agreement
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...
Lockheed Martin, Navatia Extend Partnership to Explore Emerging Ship, Submarine Opportunities; Joe DePietro Quoted
Lockheed Martin will continue collaborating with Spanish shipbuilding company Navatia to explore emerging commercial opportunities in surface ships and submarines. The companies finalized a new deal Friday to extend their partnership for another three years. Joe DePietro, C6ISR vice president at Lockheed Martin, said the agreement will support ongoing joint efforts to equip defense customers...
Austal Drops Hanwha Ocean’s Acquisition Proposal
Austal, a global shipbuilding company and defense prime contractor based in Australia, has rejected a $2.82-per-share acquisition offer from Hanwha Ocean. According to Austal, it considered the proposal with its advisers and concluded that Hanwha may encounter difficulties securing regulatory approvals as part of the acquisition process. In a press release, Austal explained that the...
Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket to Deliver US, S. Korean Satellites Into Separate Orbits
Rocket Lab has scheduled a 14-day launch window starting on April 24 to deploy two satellites from U.S. and South Korean space agencies. The “Beginning Of The Swarm” mission in Mahia, New Zealand, will send Electron into space for the 47th time to deliver payloads from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology’s Satellite...
US, UK Sign Agreement to Collaborate on AI Safety Testing; Gina Raimondo Quoted
Artificial intelligence safety institutes in the United States and the United Kingdom will work together to develop tests designed to mitigate safety risks associated with AI models, systems and agents, including those related to national security. The partnership was established with the signing of a memorandum of agreement on Monday by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina...
US, Japan Partner to Advance Large Language Model Training; Paul Kearns Quoted
Argonne National Laboratory and the Japanese national scientific research institute Riken have agreed to cooperate on a project focused on training large language models on scientific data. Under the AuroraGPT project, ANL and Riken will collaborate with researchers from the Trillion Parameter Consortium to identify solutions to the challenges of large-scale AI system development. The...