WASHINGTON: Neither President Trump’s transition in DC nor President Duterte’s eruptions in Manila will derail America’s 70-year military commitment to the Pacific, Adm. Harry Harris said today. US-Philippine cooperation continues unabated despite Duterte’s denunciation of the alliance, the head of Pacific Command said. (The senior State Department official for the Pacific, Daniel Russel, recently dismissed… Keep reading →

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James traveled through Asia, visiting Indonesia, India, Singapore, and the Philippines at the end of the summer. We didn’t hear a great deal about the trip in the US at the time but her meetings with her defense counterparts clearly impressed. In this op-ed, James shares the lessons she learned. China… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Israel and Japan are likely to get their first F-35 Joint Strike Fighters on schedule, and the Air Force‘s operational F-35s should be flying by the end of this year without faulty insulation in fuel pipes that could damage the aircraft, the F-35 Joint Program Office says. “Rapid progress is being made in fixing… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Adds Excellent CSIS Study On International Support For Chinese Claims WASHINGTON: What are China’s intentions in the South China Sea? It’s a question intelligence analysts, diplomats and the senior leadership of the United States and its Pacific allies are all asking in the wake of a range of increasingly belligerent and threatening comments and… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: America’s Pacific partners are building up their amphibious forces, but they can’t storm a beach against a high-tech adversary like China. Even the most advanced allies — Australia, Japan, and South Korea — would need US support for a raid against a well-armed terrorist group, especially in command & control, logistics, and helicopters, reports the… Keep reading →

Japan and the US just threw open the door to arms sales between the two longtime allies, something Japan had long resisted. The deal is the latest sign of how fear of a rising China is pushing Japan away from its post-World War II pacifism. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Japanese counterpart Gen Nakatani quietly… Keep reading →

SINGAPORE: In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue here, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter laid out a cautious and carefully crafted vision for security in Asia. Carter called for an “inclusive (and) principled security network,” one that would try to include China and encourage it to abide by international law, rather than seeking to confront and… Keep reading →

CORRECTION: Multi-year contract three aircraft number restated WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) isn’t just wooing foreign customers for the V-22 Osprey. Deputy Program Manager Scott Hite revealed here Thursday that NAVAIR has also been talking to Air National Guard units about the tiltrotor transport as a search and rescue… Keep reading →

The decline in V-22 Osprey orders from the U.S. military in coming years means the tiltrotor transport’s manufacturers are likely to spend a lot of time wooing foreign military officers at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition May 16-18 at National Harbor, Md. – especially Britain’s new First Sea Lord, Adm. Sir Philip Jones. Representatives from Bell Helicopter… Keep reading →

Secretary of State John Kerrry visited Hiroshima’s Peace Park on April 10, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the city we pulverized with the first use of an atomic weapon to help end World War II. Kerry seemed to indicate President Obama might visit the site, a diplomatically, strategically and emotionally fraught decision for America, Japan and much… Keep reading →