The largest U.S. diplomatic compound in all of Asia opened this month in a country with whom Washington does not even have an official diplomatic relationship.
On June 12, when the world was transfixed on the Trump-Kim Nuclear Summit in Singapore, a major ceremony was taking place in Taiwan’s capital Taipei with great fanfare to mark the opening of a huge new diplomatic complex of great geopolitical significance. Continue reading
A U.S. Senate committee swiftly passed the latest version of a $716 billion defense bill last week, including a hard-hitting measure to block Turkey from acquiring Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jets.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Thom Tillis are responsible for the new amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would eliminate Turkey from the F-35 program over its recent purchase of Russian S-400 anti-missile system.
In response, Turkey pivoted towards Russia, and is expected to acquire Sukhoi SU-57 fifth-generation fighter jets, if Washington chooses to suspend Ankara from the F-35 program. Continue reading
Chinese jets carried out “island encirclement patrols” around Taiwan
TAIWAN is “confident” in its defences and responded quickly to Chinese air force “island encirclement” drills, the self-ruled island’s government said.
On Monday, Chinese jets carried out “island encirclement patrols” around Taiwan, with state media showing pictures of bombers armed with cruise missiles.
Taiwan presidential spokesman Alex Huang said the defence ministry kept a close watch on the patrols and responded immediately and properly. Continue reading
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is launched / Getty Images
Industry officials say military won’t move fully to American-built engines until at least 2024
The Pentagon will remain dependent on Russian rocket engines to launch military satellites into space through at least the mid-2020s, despite the U.S. government allocating billions of dollars to defense contractors to produce an American-made replacement.
The projection adds several years to initial targets laid out in 2014 by lawmakers and senior Air Force officials, who ordered the United States begin phasing out Russia’s RD-180 engines amid national security concerns spurred by the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea. Continue reading
The Pentagon has failed to produce a legally mandated policy report that outlines to Congress its upcoming plans for overseas troop deployments and the allocation of military hardware, according to an oversight report.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is required by law to inform Congress about its plans and strategy for the military. However, officials have failed to issue any policy and it could be months before a concrete plan emerges, according to Department of Defense officials who spoke to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The Pentagon’s failure to craft a “warfighter support” plan for America’s military operations means that Congress cannot provide the required oversight over these critical plans.
As of mid-April, the DoD “has not established a policy or submitted an implementation plan to congressional committees as mandated by public law,” according to a newly issued GAO report.
The Pentagon says that the major policy document will not be ready until at least November 15, according to one “senior DoD official” who spoke to the GAO. Continue reading
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