NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — China’s navy has introduced a new guided-missile frigate designed for coastal as well as open-sea attacks after 20 years in the making, according to Chinese state media. Not quite a technological breakthrough, military analysts say. But the 054A frigate has advantages that are expected to raise the People’s Liberation Army…
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…
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…
Trae Stephens, co-founder of defense technology firm Anduril Industries, sharply criticized American lawmakers on Tuesday, warning that congressional dysfunction and Silicon Valley arrogance were handing China a strategic opening in the race for military and technological supremacy. Speaking at the Hill and Valley Forum in Washington, Stephens told hundreds of executives and policymakers that the…
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…
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy has confirmed that an armed Chinese corvette engaged its fire control radar against a Philippine frigate this month, marking the latest escalation between the two nations in contested areas in the South China Sea. The guided missile frigate BRP Miguel Malvar was conducting a routine sovereignty patrol near Sabina…
SINGAPORE — Beyond China’s ostentatious display of its J-35A fighter jet at the Singapore Airshow was a lower-profile piece of equipment, the new Wing-Loong X combat drone, which experts say is far more likely to find international success. Beijing banked on Asia’s largest aerospace event, organized here from Feb. 3-7, to flex its aviation muscle,…
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…
Worried by China’s growing arsenal of ballistic missiles, India is responding with a plan to create a joint rocket force that would control and expand the country’s non-nuclear missiles. But the proposed Integrated Rocket Force, or IRF, has been beset by delays and may be outgunned by Chinese missiles. The mismatch could place India in…