Current Events in Asia-Pacific

Taiwan slammed on lax defense By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES September 20, 2005 A senior Pentagon official yesterday sharply criticized Taiwan's government for not moving ahead with an arms buildup to counter a mounting threat from China. Edward Ross, a senior Pentagon security cooperation official, also suggested in a speech that the United States might not defend Taiwan in a conflict with China unless Taipei does more to boost its defenses and national will. "As the lone superpower, our interests are plentiful and our attention short," Mr. Ross said. "We cannot help defend you if you cannot defend yourself." With U.S. troops fighting and dy…

Australia dumps troubled European-designed Taipan helicopters for US Black Hawks and Seahawks https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-10/australia-dumps-troubled-mrh-90-taipan-helicopters/100688550

From DefenseNews Germany Stands Firm on Lifting China Arms Embargo By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BERLIN German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview released March 30 that he has no plans to drop his support for the lifting of a European Union arms embargo on China. “I have no intention of changing” my position, he said, as quoted in Die Zeit weekly. Schroeder’s ruling Social Democrats and their junior coalition partners, the Greens, disagree over whether the ban should be lifted on China, which is one of Germany’s major trading partners. Most of parliament opposes his stance and the conservative opposition has also urged him to change tack. …

China Military Power 2018 (pdf)

Taiwan President Presses for U.S. Subs Deal (DefenseNews)

Improving installations in Yap and other places https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-yap-airfield-upgrades-ace/

From The Diplomat [excerpt]

India Successfully Tests Indigenous Sub-Launched Missile (DefenseNews)

From Flight International DATE: 03/04/09 SOURCE: Air Transport Intelligence news Japanese carriers change flightpaths to avoid North Korea missile By Leithen Francis Japanese carriers are changing flightpaths to Europe and Hawaii in response to North Korea's planned missile launch later this month. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) have announced that all flights to Europe and Hawaii will operate on a different flightpath for the period 4-8 April. This is in response to the planned launch by North Korea, the carriers say. ANA operates to London, Paris and Frankfurt; while JAL operates to Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Milan and London. Nor…

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

From DefenseNews Singapore Mulling Purchase of Swedish Submarines By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, SINGAPORE Singapore’s Defense Ministry said Sept. 29 it is considering whether to buy second-hand Vastergotland-class submarines from Sweden to replace some units in its fleet. “The Swedish Navy is planning to stand down two of its submarines of the Vastergotland class,” the Ministry of Defense (Mindef) said in a statement. “Mindef is now considering whether this might provide the Republic of Singapore Navy an opportunity to enhance its submarine capabilities by replacing some of its Challenger-class submarines with the Vastergotland-class submarines.” Singapore…

More Westpac scenario fodder ... From DefenseNews Posted 03/20/06 10:08 S. Koreans See China as Long-Term, Threat, Not North: Poll By REUTERS, SEOUL South Koreans view China rather than North Korea as the biggest threat to their security 10 years from now, according to a survey. The two Koreas are technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North and South Korea have hundreds of thousands of troops stationed near the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula. In the survey by the state-funded Korea Institute for Defence Analyses (KIDA), 37.7 percent of respondents listed leading trading partner C…

China's first ARM breaks cover (Jane's)

China raises stakes in Japan oil row By Hamish McDonald China Correspondent Beijing October 4, 2005 TheAge A CHINESE warship trained its guns on a low-flying Japanese military patrol aircraft last month in the intensifying confrontation between the two Asian powers over disputed seabed oil and gas reserves. According to Japan's Kyodo news agency, the incident occurred on September 9 when the Japanese navy sent a P-3C aircraft to look at five Chinese warships that had sailed close to a contested boundary between economic zones claimed by both countries. One of the ships trained its guns on the aircraft, Kyodo quoted Japan Self-Defence Agency officials as s…

Submarines A Top Priority In China By Richard Halloran An American military intelligence officer, asked some years ago how far the Chinese could project their military power, answered only half-jokingly: "About as far as their army can walk." That is changing rapidly today as China's leaders fuel the budgets of the People's Liberation Army, which comprises all of their armed forces. Says a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations, the think-tank in New York, China is driven both by "a clear operational objective," which is to take Taiwan, the island Beijing claims, and "a clear strategic objective," which is to be a modern power. China's military p…

From DefenseNews Saab: Gripen Still in Race for Indian Contract By GERARD O'DWYER Published: 8 Jul 2009 18:21 HELSINKI - Saab has rejected a July 5 report by the Jerusalem Post that the Sweden-based company has been eliminated from India's multibillion-dollar combat jet competition. The newspaper reported that the United States refused to allow Israel to supply an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for Saab's Gripen fighter jet, prompting the elimination. "Our AESA focus is on our partnership with Selex Galileo, which we reached in March," a Saab spokesman said. "Together, we will jointly develop a new radar based on Selex's AESA Vixen and …

DPRK Resumes Construction at Tonghae Missile Site (The Diplomat, Flashpoints)

Submerged Deterrence: China’s Struggle to Field an SSBN Fleet (CSIS)

How Might North Korea Test an ICBM? (38 North)

Navy keeps very quiet while it waits for the last laugh August 4, 2007 Sydney Morning Herald WHEN Brendan Nelson announced last month a $3 billion order for two giant amphibious landing ships, it was widely seen as a victory for the "expeditionary force" school of strategy, emphasising overseas punch for the Australian Army. The Defence Minister himself went on to proclaim the "final nail in the coffin" for the "Defence of Australia" strategy adopted under Bob Hawke's Labor government in the 1980s, which stressed navy and air capability to fight off threats in the country's approaches and resulted in the army contracting to a niche force. Now the army wou…