Current Events in Asia-Pacific

From Australian ABC news service: The way Australia buys weapons and defence gear is getting a major overhaul, with former Rio Tinto chief Kellie Parker hired to run the country's new Defence Delivery Agency. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy will announce today that Parker will become the new National Armaments Director — effectively making her Australia's chief weapons buyer. For decades, defence procurement has been bogged down by massive budget blowouts and severe delays. To fix this, the Albanese government is transforming its purchasing division into an independent agency — known as the Defence Delivery Agency — starting J…

From the Australian ABC news service https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-19/ghost-shark-fleet-aerial-drones-sea-mines-defence/107283746?utm_source=abc_news_web&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link

'It's an absolute Ferrari to fly on': ADF retires attack...After more than two decades in the air, the Australian Defence Force's $1.1 billion fleet of attack helicopters, known as the Tigers, will be retired this month. "It's unknown yet where the Tigers will be retired to, although last year the Albanese government considered offloading them to Kyiv to aid in Ukraine's war efforts"

"AUKUS has forced the United States to confront its "profoundly lacking" capacity to build and maintain naval submarines, but recent progress should inspire confidence in the defence deal, a former top White House official says." AUKUS felt 'too hard' at times, former White House offici...Five years after the pact between Australia, the US, and the UK was announced, three of its key architects assess its progress toward its goals, including arming Australia with nuclear-powered submari

Not totally new info but interesting in combination. https://www.edrmagazine.eu/pas-2025-schiebel-presented-updated-specifications-of-the-camcopter-s-300-uav https://lockheedmartinau.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=2429&item=122701

The 20 countries taking part in this year's exercises include New Zealand, the United States, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, India, Singapore, Germany, France, Spain, Fiji, Canada, Brunei, Malaysia, Finland and Sweden Aust abc news

From australian abc news service https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/australia-canada-sign-billion-dollar-over-horizon-radar-deal/106827724?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-01/us-navy-interest-in-nt-darwin-ship-lift/106736536?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-31/australia-to-buy-second-hand-united-states-submarines-aukus/106742496?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-30/aukus-announcement-to-develop-undersea-vehicles/106741398?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

From ABC news service https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-19/planned-upgrades-to-collins-class-submarines-scaled-back/106698460?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Days after the announcement, Japan loosened decades-old restrictions on defence exports, in a long-anticipated change that will allow it to further ramp up arms sales, with analysts predicting some US allies — including Australia — will increasingly turn to Tokyo for key defence equipment ... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-27/us-allies-turn-to-japan-defence-supplies-as-iran-war-drags-on/106607656?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-26/netherlands-buys-bushmaster-fleet-australia-commits-to-more/106608000?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-24/us-navy-awards-contract-for-aukus-submarine-deal/106601042?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Australia enters homegrown missile race — but can it really stand alone? SBS NewsAustralia enters homegrown missile race — but can it real...As Australia ramps up missile production, experts say supply chain gaps and export challenges could limit its independence.

From Australian ABC news service: By Tom Lowrey Germany's defence minister is continuing his tour of Australia, taking the opportunity to check out some of Australia's newest military hardware. Boris Pistorius will join Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy at RAAF base Amberley this morning near Brisbane, checking out Australia's 'Ghost Bat' aerial drones. Last year, the federal government signed contracts to acquire six Australian-made Ghost Bats from Boeing Australia. More than $2.34 billion has been committed to the ghost bat program since 2019. Ghost Bats are designed to operate as wingmen for manned Australian fighter jets, such as the F-35 or F-18. They are fully…

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-06/adf-helicopter-evasive-action-chinese-military/106426388?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

From Australian ABC news service https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-05/aukus-review-pentagon-donald-trump-administration/105588512

From Australian ABC news service https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-20/chinese-fighter-jet-released-flares-close-to-australian-aircraft/105913308?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

From aussie ABC news service https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-02/australian-army-apache-helicopters-arrive-in-townsville/105833650?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web