DefenceTalkThe US Defense Department on Wednesday announced the approval of a potential $6.35 billion sale of 24 C-130J-30 transport aircraft and other equipment to Australia. “The proposed sale will improve Australia’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing the Royal Australian Air Force with replacements for its aging cargo fleet, guaranteeing a reliable […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-approves-6-35-bn-aircraft-sale-to-australia-79592/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea fired at least 23 missiles Wednesday, including one that landed close to South Korea’s waters in what President Yoon Suk-yeol said was “effectively a territorial invasion”. It also fired an artillery barrage into a maritime “buffer zone”, in what experts said was part of an “aggressive and threatening” response by Pyongyang to the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-fires-23-missiles-one-close-to-south-korea-79582/

DefenceTalkSweden’s new prime minister said Tuesday he was open to allowing nuclear weapons on Swedish soil once the country becomes a NATO member, a turnaround from the previous government’s stance. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who took over the reins in Sweden two weeks ago, was speaking in Helsinki at a press conference with his Finnish […]https://www.defencetalk.com/new-swedish-pm-says-open-to-nukes-under-nato-79586/

DefenceTalkChina and Vietnam agreed on Tuesday to “properly manage” territorial disputes in the South China Sea, rounding off a leaders’ meeting in Beijing as part of a diplomatic blitz by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The socialist neighbours both maintain sweeping claims to sovereignty in much of the contested waterway, parts of which are also claimed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-vietnam-pledge-to-manage-south-china-sea-dispute-79589/

DefenceTalkMarshall Islands officials say they are ready to resume talks with the United States this week on renewing a long-standing economic and security deal, provided Washington addresses grievances stemming from the testing of nuclear weapons on the Pacific archipelago more than 70 years ago. The United States detonated 67 nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pacific-nuclear-legacy-overshadows-us-talks-in-marshall-islands-79579/

DefenceTalkWarsaw and Seoul on Monday signed a letter of intent for South Korea’s KHNP to build Poland’s second nuclear power station, the partners involved said in a statement. The announcement comes three days after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said US firm Westinghouse had been selected to build the nation’s first nuclear power station at […]https://www.defencetalk.com/poland-south-korea-sign-letter-of-intent-on-nuclear-plant-79576/

DefenceTalkNorway, a NATO member that shares a border with Russia in the Arctic, will raise its military readiness, the prime minister said Monday, stressing no direct threat had been detected. “The military will as of tomorrow raise its preparedness in Norway,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters. “We currently have no reason to believe […]https://www.defencetalk.com/norway-raises-military-readiness-but-pm-says-no-direct-threat-79572/

DefenceTalkUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the rivalry between the two superpowers and Russia’s war in Ukraine in a call Sunday, the State Department and Beijing’s foreign ministry said. The top diplomats talked about the need to “responsibly manage the competition between our two countries,” Blinken said in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-china-discuss-relations-war-in-ukraine-79569/

DefenceTalkA former US fighter pilot detained in Australia under a shroud of secrecy will face court on Friday, with a fellow ex-Marine telling AFP the retired instructor trained flight crew in China before his arrest. Daniel Edmund Duggan was arrested in rural New South Wales on October 21, Australia’s attorney general’s department has confirmed, the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/former-us-marine-who-trained-chinese-crew-to-face-australian-court-79566/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Friday, the South’s military said, the latest in a blitz of launches that Washington and Seoul have warned could culminate in another nuclear test. The launch comes as the South wraps up 12 days of amphibious naval military exercises, involving key security ally America, and ahead of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-fires-ballistic-missiles-ahead-of-major-us-south-korea-air-drills-79556/