Military News

Canada's Liberal government will pour extra billions into its armed forces and hit NATO's 2% military spending target this fiscal year, five years earlier than promised, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday.Canada has been under pressure from the United States and other NATO allies for years to increase military funding. Canada currently spends about 1.4% of GDP on defense."Now is the time to act with urgency, force, and determination," Carney said in a speech in Toronto…

Taiwan accused China on Friday of raising tensions in the region with a "provocative" military patrol involving warplanes and warships near the island, an unusual public rebuke in what are typically routine accounts of Chinese military activity.Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has complained of repeated Chinese military drills and patrols nearby. Since President Lai Ching-te took office last year China has held three major rounds of war games.Taiwan's defence ministry said that starting mid-afternoon Friday…

New Zealand is seeking to expand Asia-Pacific military deployments in its quest to show it was now "pulling our weight" with increased spending on its armed forces, the South Pacific nation's defence minister said in Singapore on Friday.Defence minister Judith Collins raised the prospect of welcoming increased warship visits to the country, deepening joint training and other cooperative efforts with its traditional defence partners including ally Australia, the United States, Singapore…

The Philippine Navy said a Chinese aircraft carrier battle group had passed near its northern maritime boundaries in the run-up to a six-day maritime exercise with the U.S. that began on Thursday as part of their annual Balikatan military drills.The coordinated naval drills, focused on enhancing interoperability, maritime domain awareness, and regional security, would be carried out within Philippine waters, spanning from the vicinity of Subic Bay up to the Northern Luzon, the Philippine military said.Japan and other regional partners are increasingly taking part in Balikatan, which means "shoulder-to-shoulder," amid tensions with China over its activities in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

More than 14,000 Filipino and American soldiers kicked off annual military exercises on Monday for a "full battle test" between the two defense treaty allies in the face of regional security concerns, including tensions in the South China Sea.The annual "Balikatan" (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises will run for three weeks until May 9, showcasing an array of U.S. weapons that include the NMESIS anti-ship missile system and HIMARS rocket launchers.The Philippines will test its own modern missiles in live-fire exercises with American counterparts…

The Philippines is exploring the possibility of converting two islands that were once part of a U.S. navy base into a military reservation, its defence department said on Thursday, a move to bolster its presence in waters facing the South China Sea.Grande and Chiquita islands are located in Subic Bay, which was once a sprawling U.S. base until the Philippines rejected a lease extension in 1991. The U.S. military pulled out a year later and the strategically located facility has…

Intellian Technologies, a provider of global satellite communication (SATCOM) antennas and ground gateway solutions, has open its first manufacturing line in the United States, to produce ARC-M4 Block 1 (AN/USC-75) terminals.Intellian’s has established its U.S. headquarters is in Irvine, California, as part of the company’s commitment to the U.S. Government’s mission-critical objectives and supply chain resiliency.According to the company, it has implemented a meticulous component-level supply chain control system to ensure that no components are used from vulnerable nation states…

Danish international shipping and logistics company DFDS has entered an agreement with the Danish Defence to provide freight ferries for transport of military equipment.The partnership will support on military operations and missions. The contract extends the scope of the current contract and starts in 2026, running for up to six years.DFDS expands and extends its cooperation with the Danish Defence. Eight DFDS freight ferries, RoRos, are to be made available for the transport of military equipment and other commodities for military operations…

Adapting civilian platforms for military use can speed up defence production while increasing standardization, the CEO of Norway's Kongsberg Gruppen said, as pressure to boost military spending in Europe grows under President Donald Trump."The processes need to be simplified so that we get the speed up," arms manufacturer Kongsberg's Geir Håøy told Reuters in an interview published on Friday."What we see is that, even from the defence side now, the question is: How can we utilize commercial products and systems and put them into military systems and militarize them?"Last week…

Swedish and U.S. Marines gathered in Sweden’s rocky coastal archipelago to improve their littoral warfighting skills and enhance interoperability during Exercise Archipelago Endeavor 2024 (AE 24).“This is an annual exercise between Sweden and U.S., and it is the seventh time we conducted  it, but it's the first time that we conducting the exercise as an ally. Before that, we have conducted the exercise as a partner,” said Lt. Col. Patrik Berge of the Stockholm Marine Regiment…

As the Military Sealift Command (MSC) celebrates its 75th anniversary, it is looking to the future through the eyes of a forward-thinking “innovation cell” named for a ship from its storied past. USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) was the first Navy replenishment ship that was operated by civil service mariners.The Taluga Group is a three-person team of Director John Bruening, Dean Vesely and Jerit VanAuker who are focused on capability development and adoption of innovative practices.The Tulaga Group team have diverse backgrounds to help them look at problems in different ways.

Human rights lawyers have filed a court appeal in Berlin seeking to block a 150-metric-ton shipment of military-grade explosives aboard German cargo ship MV Kathrin which they say is to be delivered to Israel's biggest defence contractor.The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) said on Wednesday the action was filed on behalf of three Palestinians from Gaza, arguing that the shipment of primarily RDX explosives could be used in munitions for Israel's war in Gaza, potentially contributing…

Norwegian shipbuilder Vard, a subsidiary of the Fincantieri Group, has presented the next generation of military vessels - the VARD Resilience series.To answer the Norwegian Navy’s demands for the new vessels, VARD has developed VARD Resilience series with a design that meets the request for standardization, modularization, adaptation to the customer's needs and purpose of the vessel.According to Vard, the Resielince series has been designed with a long service life in mind.“One…

U.S. and British strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen were a limited act of self defense and London does not immediately plan any further missions, its junior defense minister said on Friday.The two countries launched strikes from the air and sea against Houthi military targets in Yemen in response to the movement's attacks on ships in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October.British Armed Forces minister James Heappey said the strikes were a proportionate response…

Hyundai Mobis has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republic of Korea Marine Corps for cooperation on technology that is expected to alleviate motion sickness for marines traversing rough terrains from sea to land, enhancing combat performance.Last year, Hyundai Mobis developed the 'Smart Cabin Controller,' analyzing a driver's posture, heart rate, and brainwaves to prevent drowsiness, stress, and motion sickness.The MoU marks the first application of the technology in the broader mobility sector…

Florida-based Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG) has announced that the Military Sealift Command has awarded the Overseas Mykonos a time charter contract to provide ongoing fuel transportation services.The Overseas Mykonos will be delivered to the Military Sealift Command at Pearl Harbor in August. The time charter awarded is for a one-year base period with the option to extend the contract out to a maximum period of five and a half years.The vessel, built in 2010, is a medium range product tanker with 12 cargo tanks and a cargo capacity of 333,000 barrels. The ship has the ability to perform consolidated cargo replenishment at sea operations, providing flexibility and options for refueling the U.S. military fleet while underway.

SH Defence of Denmark; DA-Group and FORCIT Defence OY AB, both located in Finland, signed an MOU to explore the potential development oflaunching, laying, and storing sea mines via the Containerized Multi-Mission Module system called The CUBE.“The CUBE System from SH Defence is rapidly becoming the standard within modularization of maritime mission capabilities for naval, coast guard, and SAR vessels around the world, especially within NATO and around the Baltic Sea." said Lars Gullaksen…

IMO announced that the Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) will be removed on 01 Jan 2023. It was a rare but really reassuring example that international cooperation can be successful.Meanwhile at the time of this writing, the war in Ukraine carries on. Ukranian resistance has been bolstered by very significant western democracy support in the form of weapons supply that have done a great job of stopping Russia in its tracks. However, the Ukranian Crisis shows it is extremely difficult…

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Maritime Administration announced the appointment of Rear Admiral Joanna M. Nunan (U.S. Coast Guard, Ret.) as the next superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA). Nunan, who spent more than three decades in the U.S. Coast Guard, has commanded units at every level both afloat and ashore. She will begin work at the Academy in a few weeks.Rear Admiral Nunan retired earlier this year as the Coast Guard’s Deputy for Personnel Readiness.

OPV P71, a new 246 ft. (75m), 50-million Euro flagship of the Armed Forces of Malta -- the largest patrol vessel ever built by Cantiere Navale Vittoria -- today entered the port of La Valletta to start its missions of surveillance, coastal and offshore surveillance and SAR operations in the Central Mediterranean.Measuring 74.8 x 13m with a draft of 3.8m and a full load displacement of over 2,000 tons, OPV P71 can accommodate a crew of nearly 50 and an additional 20 staff. The platform is characterized by an elevated bridge with 360-degree vision capabilities…

Israel Shipyards (ISL) unveiled a new corvette- SAAR S-80. The S80 vessel is based on ISL's S-72 platform, from which several designs have been evolved, including the Israeli Navy Light Patrol Corvette– the RESHEF Class an advanced multi-roll vessel.The new generation of the S-80 class features greater versatility and higher payload capacity, with increased weapon suite capacity and wider spread of Electronic Warfare (EW) systems as part of the platform offensive advantages.The S80 length is 80m…

The Chinese survey vessel Yuan Wang 5 docked on Tuesday at Sri Lanka's Chinese-built port of Hambantota, a port official said, a move likely to stoke concern in neighboring India about the growing influence of its bigger and more powerful rival.The movements of the ship have fuelled contention between India and China, two of Sri Lanka's biggest allies in its current economic crisis, as India fears China could use the port, near the main Asia-Europe shipping route, as a military base."The vessel will be berthed for three days," the official, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters from the southern port."The purpose of staying at the port is to stock up on fuel…

Driven by the need to organically protect maritime Task Groups from the threat of sea mines, the Royal Australian Navy is introducing a deployable Mine Counter-Measures (MCM) capability under the first phase of Project SEA 1778.The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) SEA 1778 deployable Mine Counter-Measures (MCM) capability is both a small step forward in the spiral development process and a “technological leap” into autonomy.”The RAN is looking to replace its four legacy Huon-class minehunter coastal ships (MHCs) with a new deployable MCM capability.