Distance is the first fact about this theater. Guam sits around 2,700 kilometers from Taiwan, which puts most of the region's military problems in one category: tankers, magazine depth at range, and airfields that can absorb damage and keep operating.
This section covers defense across East and Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Pacific. Naval expansion and the shipyard capacity behind it, submarine programs, long-range strike, integrated air defense, basing agreements, and the domestic industries several governments are building rather than importing.
Alliance arrangements here are looser than in Europe and more varied, running from treaty commitments to technology partnerships that avoid the word alliance entirely. Coverage describes what each agreement actually obliges its parties to do, which is often less than the announcement implies.
Japan and South Korea launched fighter jets Tuesday after Chinese and Russian military aircraft flew a coordinated patrol over international waters. Japan’s defense authorities tracked Russian Tu-95 bombers moving from the Sea of Japan into the East China Sea. The aircraft linked
Following overnight clashes that resulted in the death of a Thai soldier and the injuries of others, Royal Thai Air Force F-16 fighters attacked what Bangkok described as Cambodian military targets along multiple points of the disputed frontier early on Monday. Thai
Chinese forces sent new missiles, drones, and aircraft past Tiananmen Square, with all three legs of the nuclear force on display. Hypersonic anti-ship weapons, new families of intercontinental missiles, submarine drones, laser air-defense systems, and seven types of uncrewed aircraft appeared in
The U.S. Air Force reactivated the 431st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea, and assigned it an MQ-9 Reaper mission with permanent basing on the peninsula. A ceremony at Kunsan on September 29 marked the stand-up and assumption
Two diesel-electric submarines operated together for the first time in a publicly acknowledged China-Russia submarine patrol. Russia sent the Project 636.3 Kilo-class boat Volkhov from its Pacific Fleet. China paired it with a Kilo-class counterpart of the same basic lineage. The formation
Australia's plan to get nuclear-powered submarines with help from the U.S. and U.K. is on pause for now. U.S. defense officials say the Pentagon will get an internal report on July 29 that could change the cost, schedule, and rules for the
Tokyo and Manila are negotiating the transfer of six Abukuma-class destroyer escorts and additional Beechcraft King Air TC-90 maritime surveillance aircraft. Philippine Navy chief Vice Adm. Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta says discussions started after Japan signaled its plan to retire the 35-year-old
Raytheon, an RTX business, has clinched a $250 million direct-commercial-sale contract with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. The agreement sets the stage for licensed production of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile Block 2 (ESSM B2) at MELCO's Komaki-North complex. According to industry sources, the
China Eastern Airlines has unveiled a two-continent route that rewrites long-haul maps. The carrier will link Shanghai Pudong and Buenos Aires Ezeiza with a technical stop in Auckland, creating the world’s longest one-stop service when it launches in December 2025.
The Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) has approved a fresh contract for 12 additional FA-50PH light combat aircraft from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). The agreement, signed in the first week of June and publicly confirmed on 10 June 2025, is valued
Naval Systems carries the shipbuilding balance that shapes most planning here, and Aircraft the fighter and maritime patrol procurement that follows it. Long-range strike, air defense and unmanned systems are in Weapons & Technologies.
