NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — China sent coast guard vessels to patrol the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan in June and weeks later test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile from the South China Sea to the Pacific. While the two maneuvers answered different security-related activities by U.S. allies in Asia, experts say China used both to…
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then China’s embrace of stealth aircraft technology is a compliment to American ingenuity. Both awed by — and apprehensive about — U.S. stealth capabilities, China has invested heavily in developing stealth aircraft, as well as anti-stealth air defenses. But China has learned the wrong lessons from America’s…
SINGAPORE — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Asian allies on Saturday to ramp up military spending to counter China’s growing power and prevent its dominance in the region, warning of “rightful alarm” over its rapid military buildup. Hegseth, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia’s premier forum for defense leaders, militaries and diplomats,…
After a federal watchdog found a staff of two overseers insufficient to vet 27,000 research awards for ties to adversaries, namely China, the Pentagon says computers will now screen military-funded academics, including artificial intelligence experts. The move has stakeholders urging not to lean too hard on algorithms to distinguish, for instance, a scientist-spy sharing secret…
SYDNEY — China is conducting a vast undersea mapping and monitoring operation across the Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans, building detailed knowledge of marine conditions that naval experts say would be crucial for waging submarine warfare against the United States and its allies. In one example, the Dong Fang Hong 3, a research vessel operated…
The U.S. Navy on Friday salvaged an F/A-18F Super Hornet and MH-60R Seahawk helicopter that went down in the South China Sea on Oct. 26, the U.S. 7th Fleet said this week. Task Force 73 — along with Task Force 75, Naval Sea Systems Command’s supervisor of salvage and diving and CTG 73.6’s Mobile Diving…
BANGKOK — The United States and the Philippines have announced the creation of a joint task force aimed at further deterring what U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called Beijing’s “coercion” in the South China Sea. It is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, where not only the Philippines but also Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia…
The U.S. Marine Corps has deployed a unit equipped with MQ-9A Reaper drones to the South China Sea to provide support to Philippine forces there amid a series of clashes with Chinese vessels. The unit is deployed on a temporary basis and the drones are unarmed, a Marine Corps spokesperson told Defense News in a…
Even as China embarks on a massive military buildup, America comforts itself with an ironclad belief: As with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, superior Communist numbers will be undercut by rigid command and clumsy tactics that can be exploited by more agile U.S. forces. But what if China embraces the more flexible Western…
Editor’s note: This is a developing story. A U.S. Navy helicopter and a fighter jet assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz crashed in the South China Sea on Sunday in separate incidents less than an hour apart, the Navy said. “All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition,” U.S. Pacific Fleet said in…